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What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?
3 steps to overcome learned helplessness and to find an answer to this important question
What was your immediate emotional reaction when you read the headline?
Be honest — Was it fear? Or just a teeny bit of anxiety?
Don’t worry if it is, you are not alone. The majority of people I asked this question to over the years have experienced an immediate reaction of anxiety.
That seems counterintuitive, right? Why would we be scared of guaranteed success?
It’s because we love hiding behind our excuses, our obligations, and our perceived limitations. When those excuses are taken away, we no longer have a reason not to try. And that — can be terrifying.
“I’ve just got to pay the bills right now and establish myself. But one day…I’ll be ready. Just not yet,” we say to ourselves so that we can feel better about not having to try today. We tell ourselves that we will do it soon, just not today.
Ah, the future self, such a handy scapegoat. The one person who can’t complain or protest the burden of expectations being imposed on them. But here is the real truth about that inevitable feeling of resistance we feel when confronting our deepest desires:
