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Here’s What My Younger Self Can Teach You About Failure
You never truly fail until you stop trying (Einstein)
Growing up I had hundreds of brilliant ideas, or at least I though those ideas were brilliant. From quick money making schemes to longterm success plans, my young brain was always churning out new ideas. Whether they succeeded or failed I was always willing to see them through to the end, that end often being miserable failure but the process was fun. As I grew up I started losing the enthusiasm to try new things. The once inconsequential failures that served as part of the process to succeed now had consequences.
With puberty came a new type of self awareness that was previously absent in my day to day life. Interactions with others became less innocent and now held deeper meanings. With age came feelings of anxiety, envy, inferiority and competitiveness. Success meant gaining the recognition of others and failure now meant losing that recognition. As those feelings continued to grow within me as I aged I began to fear that failure, the expectations of others and run from the possibility of failure.
