"No matter how bad things go you're still ahead of those who aren't trying."

When we put ourselves out there we expose ourselves to the real possibility of coming up short. Naturally, we want to do everything we can to avoid that criticism because it threatens our self-belief and affects our self-esteem. However, with a different perspective we can see more positivity in this circumstance. This is communicated effectively in the following quote: “No matter how bad things go you're still ahead of those who aren't trying.”

The real failure, the real thing to be critical about yourself for, is not trying. As long as you pick up the phone and make that call, walk over to that girl and spit a line, roll out of your covers and put your running shoes on, you are ahead of where you would have been if you didn’t take action. And it’s important to recognize that. Maybe they don’t answer the call, maybe she’s not interested in getting to know you, maybe you only go for a short walk instead of a full workout, you’re still better off because you chose to do something.

Out of this natural tendency to self-preserve we overestimate the worst case scenario, and we let it paralyze us from taking action in any form. But outcomes exist on a spectrum, and if things go bad... I bet they didn’t go all the way bad. And it's important to acknowledge that half of the spectrum is allocated for things going well! But remember, "no matter how bad things go you’re still ahead of those who aren't trying."