The Fear of Failure
Why is it holding you back from achieving your fullest potential?
Fear is the mother of all negative emotions
Fear kills potential.
Fear destroys you from the inside
Now, I can go on and on about how terrible fearing something is or how we should learn to embrace our fears, but I think I've got the point across for now.
(Obviously, when I say fear, it refers to the fear of trying something new or continuing something that isn't bearing results. You should be terrified of sharks, spiders, and final exams. That is normal and encouraged!)
My sole purpose for writing this article is simple,
I want to overcome my fear of failure.
For the person who fears failure,
fears success just as much.
As writers or even as human beings, we try new things.
We change our profile a bit, we pin certain articles to gain attention, and we reach out to many publications in the hopes of leveling our chances at
succeeding.
However, when all of our efforts succumb to nothing and no result is to be seen, it means we have
failed.
I faced this, and the thought of giving up crossed my mind several times.
On the bus, whilst eating lunch, and most of all when writing.
Then someone wise told me something that changed my entire perspective on failure:
There is no failure, only feedback.
— someone wise
Which, loosely translated, means that if you fear failure, you fear feedback.
Without feedback, you can never grow as a creator or even as a human.
Even after knowing all of this, the fear that an article might not get as many views or claps will always go through one's head when hitting the publish button, but
- taking a deep breath
- reminding oneself that even if it doesn't get the attention it deserves, that simply means there is room for improvement.
- hitting it nonetheless.
You can only become the best version of yourself if you keep on improving.
That's what failing is here for, not to smack you in the face when something goes south,
but to tell you where you need to work harder.
It takes guts to keep going, to not give up instantly when something doesn't go quite your way, so for that
I am proud of you.
Now, go out there and fail!
(Not your organic chemistry test; that would be a pity)
