Are you afraid of failure? To be honest, I’m quite terrified of it! I have visions of future me in 10 years looking back at the now me and wistfully remembering how determined and motivated I once was to do something great with my life only to realize that I now work at a grocery store (and no, not those giant awesome ones with a huge health food section) with huge, ghastly wrinkles and about 3 single hairs left on my head. Ok, perhaps overly dramatic, but you can see that I clearly have pretty strong fears to battle from time-to-time.
If I’m not careful, things can get out-of-control quickly when I start down this path of wondering and self-doubt so of course, in true Jacqueline style I have steps that I try to work through in my head and on paper (which I will definitely go through in another post) but one big one to focus on for now is to re-think what failure actually means.
The word “failure” sounds SO harsh and abrasive to say. I really have to choose carefully how I use it day-to-day because it can have such a bad emotional impact on people. And what for? I think of failures as stepping stones and evidence that we are trying. No one who set out to do anything great ever succeeded at everything. (tweet me!) If someone can say that they have never failed anything before, then I would be curious to know what it is that they have tried.
Re-Think “Failure”
[[Failure]] –> If you fail doing something that you are passionate about, you have permission to be upset and feel what you need to feel, this is normal, but just know that all failures that root in passion branch out towards your dream. These failures are the universe guiding you and helping you to learn hard lessons that will be required for later challenges. So embrace the failures, learn from them and do not fear them.
One last thought
I believe that as long as we are sure to follow our inner guide or heart, then we will always be led down the path that leads to our dreams. This does require taking chances and believing in things that no one else may yet. Be a guiding star for your life and inspire others through your acts of bravery – even if for now they are “failures”.
Similar reading: here
Do you have a fear of failure? How do you define “failure” to yourself? I would love to hear!
Beautifully written & well put as always. :)
“I think of failures as stepping stones and evidence that we are trying. ” — I couldn’t agree more!
I am somewhat scared of failure, I’m not going to deny it. However, I also see the positives of failing… or at least not reaching the goal that you set forth, or achieving what you thought. But you’re right, all mistakes are stepping stones. It breeds motivation. At least it does for me. :)