About this quote

People often protect small hopes long after the odds seem to have moved against them. That protection, keeping a plan, a relationship, or a habit alive, changes what they do day to day; it keeps attention and resources on a quiet possibility. Ask yourself what you are guarding right now and whether your actions actually feed it or just preserve the memory of it. If you want it to flower, pick one small, specific thing to do tomorrow that clearly improves its chances.

When to use it

• After the third investor pass, the founder tells her cofounders, "We guard it because we have hope — faith and fading hope — that one day it will flower," and they decide to build one more prototype.
• At the kitchen table, a dad folds away his daughter's failed science fair model and says, "I guard this because I have hope," as he promises to help her try again next month.
• In the physiotherapy corridor, a patient whispers to their spouse, "I'm guarding this hope that I can walk again," and then starts the exercises the therapist assigned.
• After falling behind in the third set, the team captain says, "We guard it because we have hope," and the players focus on the small plays that could shift the match.