About this quote

Belief in your own defeat before you even begin is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You look at a massive task and decide it is impossible, so you only put half your heart into trying. Why waste energy on a guaranteed loss, right? That attitude guarantees the very failure you dread. You have to change what you expect of yourself before any real work can start.

When to use it

• You are staring at the steep hill at mile ten of your half-marathon, telling yourself your legs can't handle it, and you slow to a walk before you even reach the incline.
• Your coworker complains that the new database software is too hard to learn and refuses to open the tutorial, deciding they will just fail the transition anyway.
• You want to pitch your freelance services to a major client but convince yourself they only hire big agencies, so you never send the introductory email.