Don't let anything stop you. There will be times when you'll be disappointed, but you can't stop. Make yourself the best that you can make out of what you are. The very best.

Disappointment Isn't Permission to Quit

Most advice about not giving up frames it as a matter of willpower or stubbornness. But there's something quieter and more practical in what Alexander is pointing to. She's not saying you'll never feel disappointed or that the obstacles aren't real. She's saying those moments are guaranteed—and then what? That's when most people actually do stop, not because they've been defeated, but because they've confused a temporary setback with a final verdict on their ability.

The trickier part is her emphasis on "the best that you can make out of what you are." This isn't inspirational nonsense about becoming someone else entirely. It's actually more demanding. You work with your actual constraints—your background, your starting point, your particular mix of talents and limitations. The ambition isn't to match someone else's template for success. It's to push the version of yourself that exists as far as it can reasonably go. That's harder in some ways because you can't blame external circumstances when you stop pushing. But it's also freeing, because it means you're not competing against imaginary ideals.

The real trap isn't disappointment. It's using disappointment as permission to settle for less than what you're actually capable of becoming.