7 steps to beat failure — an inside job.

3 min readJun 19, 2020

Many times you know you’ll fail at something long before you get started.

You feel overwhelmed with doubt that it’ll work. So it doesn’t. Then you point to the fact that it didn’t work. “That’s my proof!” You knew it all along. Except you didn’t.

It’s your self-sabotage at work.

You don’t believe in an adventure internally so you unconsciously undermine any effort externally. Your internal and external selves look for congruency because, you see, you’d rather be right — right that you’ll fail.

But there’s a way to catch yourself early.

Here are 7 steps to beat this internal war:

🎯Start with a clearly defined goal

You have to see where you’re headed or you’d up spinning in circles. One way to know if your goal is clearly defined is that you can explain your outcome in three sentences or less. Anything more and you need to cut it down.

💪Review your strengths

No matter who you are, there are things that you’re good at. Spend some time thinking of them. And as you reflect, remember specific stories in the past where you were a badass. This will charge up the bold side of your personality and make way for it to take the driver’s seat.

😨List out your fears

Listing out your fear kick starts your mind to find solutions. That’s why this stage is important. As you write, you’ll find that some fears sound silly while others stand out. Sometimes, you’re held by not by the big fears; but the silly ones. List everything out, anyways.

✍️Write a solution to each fear

You don’t have to come up with a perfect solution for each fear. Just come up with a potential solution. Working on a solution will signal to your mind that you still have control. And control is crucial for internal wins.

🏃‍♀️Identify your next tiny action

Identifying your next action is important. But the key here is to make this next action even smaller. Instead of “write chapter one today”, go with “write 150 words today”. Instead of “build a complete website” start with “finish the landing page”. The smaller your next action, the easier it is to start.

🏋️‍♂️Work on the next action

It’s time to get to work. If your action is small enough you’ll feel less barriers to starting. But if you still don’t feel like making any move, it’s likely because your expectation for your next action is too big. Cut it down.

🔂 Hit a block? Return to step 1

You will hit a road block at some point but that’s fine. It’s part of the process. Simply return to step 1.

Overriding self-sabotaging thoughts is a lifelong skill worth mastering. If you lack internal congruency, it’ll manifest in how you go about your work and end up in self-crippling tendencies. But you can catch yourself early. You got this!

Thanks for reading

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