Sure, Nike made the “Just Do It” slogan ubiquitous, but the essence of this simple phrase is age-old wisdom that’s been handed down since the beginning of time. A bias for action is a character trait of the most successful among us, accomplished by deliberate practice, calculated risk-taking, and trial and error.
Almost 80 years before Wieden+Kennedy coined the famous slogan for Nike, Teddy Roosevelt had a few thoughts on the subject in a 
speech he gave at the Sorbonne:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Those who say something can’t or shouldn’t be done, or don’t want to get up and help do it, will always be there, lurking and wearing. Listen to the words of loved ones, and family, and friends, and kids, and your own words in your own head because those are what really matter.
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