One of the biggest traps people fall into is defeatism. The belief that things can’t get better, so why even try. It sounds almost logical: you can’t fail if you don’t try, right? But it turns out you can. Not trying is its own kind of failure.

Defeatism isn’t just about giving up; it’s about a mindset that locks you out of any possibility of improvement. It feels safer, but it’s a trap. When you think you can’t make a difference, you stop trying. And when you stop trying, you’re guaranteeing the result.

This isn’t just some quirk of individual behavior. Defeatism scales up. It’s everywhere, from individuals to companies to entire societies. You can see it when people say, “The system’s broken, so why vote?” or when a team at a company dismisses a new idea because “We’ve tried everything before.” It becomes an excuse to do nothing.

The trouble with defeatism is that it acts like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe nothing will change, it won’t, because you won’t do anything to change it.

So what’s the alternative? Realize that progress doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when people who believe things can improve actually work to improve them. Sure, trying means you might fail. But the only way to guarantee failure is to give up before you’ve started.

In the end, defeatism is just a way to avoid taking responsibility. It’s easier to blame circumstances than to admit you’re not doing all you can. But life, companies, even countries, are shaped by those who choose to try.