Almost every time I hear someone say they can’t do something, I don’t believe them.
I truly believe that in the vast majority of situations, “can’t” is some combination of “Someone told me I can’t”, “I tried once and couldn’t then”, and “I don’t want to try and fail.”
All are variations on “I decided I can’t.”
There are things I can’t do because I haven’t tried hard enough (so far). I can’t write an opera.
There are things I can’t do because I don’t want to. I can’t throw a football.
There are things I can’t do because I don’t have time to practice. I can’t make a crossword puzzle.
There are relatively few things I can’t do because of innate mental or physical limitations.
When those limitations exist, it’s perfectly fine that you can’t do something. But when, as many do, you decide you can’t do something because of some other reason, I wish you could hear the decide part.
In those situations, it’s not “I can’t.”
It’s, “I decided I can’t.”