Never go backward. Attempt, and do it with all your might. Determination is power. — Charles Simmons

Never go backward. Attempt, and do it with all your might. Determination is power.

Author: Charles Simmons

Insight: There's something bracing about this line that cuts through a lot of modern hand-wringing. We live in an age where second-guessing ourselves has become almost reflexive—we agonize over decisions, wonder if we should have taken a different path, and often use past mistakes as reasons to hesitate on new attempts. Simmons isn't saying pretend your past doesn't exist. He's saying: don't let it become your address. The real power move here is the middle part—"with all your might." Half-hearted effort followed by regret is a trap we know well. It leaves you vulnerable to the thought that you didn't really try, which becomes permission to spiral backward into doubt. But when you commit fully, something shifts. Failure stings less because you know you genuinely gave it. And success tastes real because it was earned, not stumbled into. What's slightly counterintuitive is that this isn't about toxic positivity or pretending problems don't exist. It's actually practical. Determination isn't some mystical force—it's the decision to direct your energy forward rather than sideways into regret. It's recognizing that the only thing worse than failing at something hard is never gathering the nerve to try.