You know. I know. And frankly, you’ve got to give a damn.

Somewhere among the notions of I Can, I Do, and “Frankly, my dear, I Don’t Give A Damn” are where most people sit.

There are the I Can people—the ones who think they can, and try with all their might just like The Little Engine That Could to achieve their goals. We can’t help but adore these folks. As an educator, I get the biggest thrill from watching students who’ve adopted this attitude find their way. They give it their all, because they believe they CAN do it.

Then there are the I Do-ers. These people are the ones that actually do it. Talk is cheap. These people don’t just talk; they follow the Nike mantra and Just Do It. They are present and present solid work, two key aspects of the I Do attitude. They set their goals and they reach them with hard work, dedication, and drive.

And then there are the ones that, well, Scarlet O’Hara forced Rhett Butler to want to hang out with.

Do Rhett’s cohorts think we just fell off the turnip truck? Do they not know that we know all the tricks in the book? Do they not know that we know what they are up to and that knowing what we know prevents them from understanding that we know the psyche of this style of thinker? Ask anyone in corporate America, retail, non-profits, education, or any other fields that require you to have a Can-Do or Just-Do-It attitude: we know what we’re talking about. And frankly, Rhett, you’ve got to give a damn.

Moreover, I know you’re not confused by all of this; I know you’re still with me.

The fact of the matter is, as we get older, we tend to know a lot more than we did when we didn’t know much at all. Knowing what we know now enables us to share what we know as educators, employers, parents, confidants, family members, and friends.

Adopting the Can-Do and Just-Do-It attitude will help if we want to achieve something in this life.

As Yogi Berra once said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

Knowledge is the key to learning, after all.

Know what I mean?