I watched a clip from a speech Denzel Washington gave at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. A few things he said stuck with me:

“If you don’t fail, you’re not even trying.”

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”

He shared this analogy: Ghosts, which represent your unfilled potential, are gathered around your deathbed. They’re upset with you because you never brought them to life, and now they have to go to the grave with you.

It’s a great speech. If you want to watch the whole thing, it’s here.