The Great Fallacy: “If You Don’t Start, You Can’t Fail”

By Dan Nielsen

August 29, 2013


Image: Starting Line
Image courtesy of Ben Tesch on Flickr

 

It is amazing, the number of people whose actions clearly state, “if you don’t start, you can’t fail.”

Remember, actions speak far louder than words. Via their daily actions, a huge portion of the world’s population consistently act out their belief that, “If you don’t start, you can’t fail.”

They are wrong—dead wrong! Best selling author Seth Godin recently wrote this in his blog:

“If you don’t start, you can’t fail. It sounds ridiculous…

It’s (quite possibly) the reason you’re stalling. On the other hand, there’s no doubt that, ‘If you don’t start, you will fail.’ Not starting and failing lead to precisely the same outcome, with different names.”

There is great wisdom in Seth’s words. Think about it, “If you don’t start, you will fail.” Your colleagues, friends and even family may not know you are failing because they don’t know your true desires and goals. But if you are honest with yourself, and take an honest look in the mirror, you know you are failing because you are not starting on what you really desire or would love to accomplish.

If it is something you really want to do or accomplish, here is a guarantee: “If you don’t start, you will fail.” In fact, if it is truly important and high-priority to you, the minute you decide to not start the journey, you have failed.

Don’t be deceived by the fallacy that, “If you don’t start, you can’t fail.”  If it is truly important and you never start, you have failed!

To see Seth’s full blog post, click here.

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About the author

Dan Nielsen is the author of the books Be An Inspirational Leader: Engage, Inspire, Empower, and Presidential Leadership: Learning from United States Presidential Libraries & Museums. He regularly writes and speaks on leadership excellence and achieving greater success, and is available to deliver keynotes, lead workshops, or facilitate discussions for your group. LEARN MORE

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