What do you want to do? That seems like such a BIG question with life-altering, existential, fear-inducing magnitude. I mean, one step in the wrong direction could mean many wasted hours and loss of momentum, or time that I don’t spend on Facebook, or time that I don’t spend watching that last episode of House of Cards. These are all true, but you know the trope: the mighty Mississippi starts as a stream in Minnesota.

Your personal brand starts with a little blog post. Your big business starts with some bullet points on a page. Your 40-pound weight loss begins with a 10-minute walk. We make the journeys to accomplish our dreams so complicated that we don’t even want to take the first step.

I submit to you 33 valid excuses why, however, you shouldn’t take that step:

• I’m too late
• I will fail
• I’m scared
• I don’t have the right network
• I’m tired
• I’ve failed in the past
• I don’t have enough money
• I don’t have enough time
• Everyone will laugh at me
• This is too big for little-old me
• I don’t have the right skills
• The execution plan must be perfected
• We need an 18-month roadmap
• I haven’t heard back on this email I sent last week
• The bank hasn’t given me a loan
• It’s really tough
• I just know this will fail
• I’m too old
• I cannot present well
• I don’t have the right shoes
• I don’t belong to the club
• I like laying in this bed
• I am too educated
• I’m not educated enough
• My teeth look funny
• I’m too young
• My hair is too thin
• My car is too old
• I’m too tall
• I’m too short
• I’m not wired that way
• I can never get this done
• Someone told me “no”

Here’s the deal: regardless of your excuse, I promise that you can take one step.

If the bank turns down your loan, go to one more bank. Cathy Hughes got her loan after 33 attempts. THAT’S 32 REJECTIONS, 32 defeats, (33 attempts to persevere—each one a little more difficult than the previous) before she got the loan. At any point, she could have said, “I’ve tried this before, I’m done.” On the 26th attempt, she could have stopped and considered it a valiant effort. She had all the excuses she needed, but she got up the next morning and took one step.

Great success is not a perfect plan. You know, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Success is one step, then another, then another. There will always be excuses to not “do your thing,” but I give you one reason to pursue your whim: why not? It’s just one step.

Big thanks to Tanner Vines for making this rad picture available.