My Confession: The 7-Year Prison of "I Can't"

My Confession: The 7-Year Prison of "I Can't" (AI Generated Image)

I've been thinking about how much time I've truly wasted in my life—about six to seven years. During that time, my days were spent reading comics, manga, and novels, and binge-watching dramas. I could have started my learning, my growth, and my progress then, but I didn't.

The only reason I stayed stuck for so long was the simple, paralyzing thought: "I thought I lost everything. I thought I was too late, and I thought I cannot succeed."

The Simple Lie I Lived By

When I was younger, I believed the path was simple: get an education, get a job, earn money. But life didn't follow that script. After I lost everything with an early internet venture, I started drifting. I even tried college, hoping to learn about managing money, but the economics class was just about memorizing for exams, so I left.

I realized my failure wasn't external; it was internal. When I first started learning English, I genuinely believed that only college graduates could speak it. It took me two years to break through that barrier and realize that anyone can learn English with effort. I was creating self-limiting beliefs.

I was giving myself very simple tasks, but I couldn't do them because I was constantly telling myself, "I can't do it."

I saw this same doubt in my partner. She was willing to watch YouTube to learn a recipe, but when I suggested she fix her sewing machine using a video, she insisted, "No, I can't." I tried it myself, followed a simple video, and fixed it instantly.

The main reason we fail is not because we are incapable, but because we think we can't.

The Chain of Old Fears

My past fears were literally controlling my present actions. For three years, I avoided parking my bike inside the house because of a fear rooted in an old memory of falling off from scooter when i tried to park inside the house.

I was only able to overcome this when I had no choice—I had to bring the bike inside to prevent theft. When I did it, I realized it was not as hard as i imagine to be, it was like easy for me.

The fear of doing something you want to do is only there when you have a choice. When survival or necessity forces your hand, you simply do it, and the task feels not as hard as you imagine to be like it is easy. Like the fear of riding my bike over a small obstacle—that fear was just an echo of an old fall, stopping me from doing a simple task today.

Breaking the Rope

I realize now that my struggle is like the circus elephant that doesn't try to break the small rope because it thinks it can't. I've been finding excuses—"I'm tired," "I'm hungry"—to justify my inaction, especially when it comes to things like getting fit, where I blame food or money instead of admitting: "I think I can't be fit."

The world has changed. With AI tools, past knowledge barriers like coding and design are gone. The only things I need now are imagination and the will to apply the tool.

I truly believe that if I dedicate four hours a day of focused effort for six months, I can learn any skill and start earning money from it.

I am writing and speaking this to myself to hold myself accountable. The reason I was not successful, and the reason I am not successful today, is due to my thought process, not a lack of ability.

I am going to break that chain. I am going to be successful. I am going to achieve my financial freedom. That is my goal.