# Every Word Matters: Not Yet

URL: https://danylovorvul.com/blog/every-word-matters-not-yet/
Author: Danylo Vorvul
Date: 2026-04-29
Tags: language, mindset
Description: A tiny language change: replace “I don’t know” with “not yet.”

I want to start a small series called **Every Word Matters**.

One of the reasons I became interested in NLP was simple: I was amazed by how much words shape our lives.

Not only in books.  
Not only in prompts.  
But in the small phrases we repeat every day.

Today’s replacement is tiny:

**“I don’t know” → “not yet.”**

I was inspired by Carol Dweck’s talk about the power of “yet,” especially the example of a school where students didn’t receive a failing grade. They received “Not Yet.”

That changes everything.

“I don’t know” feels final.

It creates a binary state:

- I know
- I don’t know

Done. Closed. Identity-level judgment.

But “not yet” keeps the system open.

It says:

- I don’t know now
- I am on the curve
- there is a path from here

This is a very small language change, but it shifts the whole mindset from discrete to continuous.

From verdict to trajectory.

From failure to iteration.

So when someone asks:

> “Do you know the best solution?”

The stronger answer is not:

> “I don’t know.”

It is:

> **“Not yet.”**

Because “not yet” keeps you moving.