The Courage to Begin: Why the Hardest Step Is Simply to Start

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.”
— Amelia Earhart

That line from Amelia Earhart — “The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity” — captures a truth that sits quietly at the heart of all human achievement. It reminds us that the moment before we begin is often far harder than anything that follows.

🌅 The Power Hidden in a Single Decision

Every great endeavor — every book written, invention built, or mountain climbed — starts not with action, but with a decision. And that decision is rarely easy. It’s the point where fear wrestles with hope, where comfort resists change, and where the mind whispers “what if I fail?”

Amelia Earhart understood this intimately. When she chose to become an aviator in the 1920s, the world was not kind to women with wings. People told her it was impossible, impractical, and improper. But she made one fateful decision: to act. And that decision — that first leap into uncertainty — mattered more than any storm she later faced.

Once the decision is made, Earhart says, “the rest is merely tenacity.” Why? Because once you begin, movement itself becomes momentum. You stop asking if you can — and start learning how…