Tag Archives: Don’t fear mistakes

Hear Your Fear

Fear– an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

It is often believed that hate is the opposite of love, but that isn’t true. Fear is the opposite of love. Fear is an emotion that stems from beliefs that a situation will cause pain. All things are a choice between love and Fear. To try something you have a passion for, or not give it a go because you are afraid of failure or looking silly or not perfect. The most significant blocks to achievement are the thoughts of Fear, and the purpose of this post is to raise your consciousness about your fears and what they are stopping you from enjoying, accomplishing, or believing.

It all begins by being aware of your thoughts of Fear. They stem from beliefs you have accepted in your mind as undeniably true. They lead to emotions of Fear, words of Fear, and actions based on Fear. You can turn all of it around because Fear is just a thought that you can disregard as quickly as it can be accepted. That is our challenge today. Please find what you are afraid of and then learn how to overcome it. Simple task, right? Afraid not!!

Kinder Self-Talk is the First Step

There is a voice in our minds that talks to us continually. It suggests judges, states, encourages, or discourages us in all situations we face in life. The tenor of that voice has a lot to do with the level of self-esteem we enjoy. If that voice is kind, encouraging, and supportive, then your confidence will be higher, and Fear will be less of a problem. If that voice is negative, discouraging, worried, or judgmental, Fear will have an easy time controlling you. But it can all change.

Our ways don’t exist in stone. Changing the tone of our inner dialogue can happen just by becoming aware of the sound and choosing to change it. Notice how you speak to yourself when you see yourself in a mirror, when you face a challenge or when you think of those you care about. If that voice is negative, recognize it, and refuse to accept it. If you don’t expect yourself to be kind to yourself, it isn’t easy to assume that treatment from others. You are a unique human being with a wellspring of potential to do all sorts of things. See it, make a choice, and pursue it. The self-esteem you accept from yourself will determine your success more often than not. Don’t fear yourself.

Face Your Fear

As children, many are afraid of darkness at night. It is a thought of what might be hiding in the dark that scared us. Once we turned on the light, those fears were eventually let go. There was no monster under the bed, but there is always one in your head. That monster is Fear. That monster is there to tell you: “You can’t do that!” “You will look stupid!” “You have no talent in that area.”, “You will fail!” or any other negative comment you can think of. This hurdle is the monster of Fear in your head, and it is all just a thought.

The cure for Fear is to turn the light of experience on it. Once you shine a light on that Fear, it will lose its power, and you can move past it. So facing Fear is decisive for your confidence and self-esteem. Understanding the difference between danger and anxiety is essential. Danger can hurt you, and it is natural, tangible, and needs to be taken with precaution. Fear is the thought of things that might or might not happen ever. Shine a light on your Fear by facing them. Understanding that this can be very difficult to do, confidence rises inside that will help you meet and overcome more significant fears once it is done. Once the mindset is created that Fear is just a thought, and you can overcome it, what can stop you from doing anything?

Never Fear Mistakes

I have learned in life that people will make choices that lead to pain and suffering of one sort or another. These are viewed as mistakes in hindsight. But are they? All options cause actions, and these actions lead to results. How you weigh them is a point of view. Good, bad, tremendous, or horrible. It is the value you assign to the experience that gives it its value. As a society, we have been conditioned to fear making a mistake.

In school, we were graced by the number of mistakes we made and labeled by our school because of them. If a person never tried anything new and only stuck to what they mastered, they would never make mistakes, and they would never evolve or grow either. To truly learn, a person has to throw their whole self into the process. Create a theory, try it out, evaluate your results, adjust your opinion until you find success. Mistakes are a part of learning, and to fear them is unnatural. The more you shine a light on errors, the more you will see them for what they are, opportunities.

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

One of the most powerful, simple, and actual lines Franklin Roosevelt ever spoke. Fear is the only thing we have to fear in life. It was expressed at the time of the great depression when people were panicking in Fear that the country would collapse. It wasn’t what was happening that scared everybody, and it was the thought about what might happen that hurt them.

This practice is the way it is in life. If you are in a situation, you deal with it. You handle it. It may not be pleasant, but you will live. Then the thought about that thing happening again is the thing that haunts you. Your imagination is excellent at making up dark fantasies about bad things happening. The idea is these are not real, and the Fear of them is being afraid of a thought. It is fearful of Fear itself. Don’t let the fear of what might happen run your life and make decisions for you.

Fear Factor

Take a moment today, look at what scares you, and ask yourself why? Is it the danger of the situation, or are you letting an irrational thought get the best of you? Evaluate all of your dreams on their fear factor. Is there a real danger here, or is it a fear of what might happen? Look at your physical reaction to this emotionally. Look at the things that you want to say because of it. Observe how your actions are affected by it. This is becoming conscious of how Fear affects you and is, in effect, shining your light on the monsters under your bed. Taking action is always the cure for Fear.

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”- Marcus Aurelius

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To Conquer Fear is the beginning of wisdom.”-Bertrand Russell

“Fears are educated into us, and can if we wish, be educated out.”-Karl Augustus Menninger

 

Mistakes

“You make mistakes. Mistakes don’t make you.” Maxwell Maltz

On the surface, make more mistakes may seem like the worst advice you have ever gotten. But one of the most effective learning tools we are given is trial and error. Yet, we have been raised and nurtured to fear mistakes. They are looked on as being weak, unintelligent, or revealing a character flaw of some kind. In reality, mistakes are a valuable part of the learning process. It is not the mistakes that deter us from success but rather our reaction to them, which stunts our progress and causes people to develop negative feelings about themselves and their abilities.  I encourage you to readjust your thoughts regarding the errors you make. They are powerful learning tools. Embrace them.

Why So Negative?

Our society has seemed to develop a perfection mentality.  Parents see their children as a representation of them, and I guess they are, but each person has to be allowed to develop into their own person.  Some are put under the pressure of perfection from the moment they are born, signed up for special programs, competitive daycare to “give them an edge,” and then all of their accomplishments are viewed as resume builders rather than just childhood. There is nothing wrong with looking to the future, but when you discourage mistakes because they may look bad on the surface, you are putting fear behind the behavior. A kid will learn to play it safe and keep in the area he is naturally good at rather than extend himself into new territories.

Each time we extend and learn, we find out valuable information. We learn what doesn’t work to take that information and apply it to the next opportunity we are presented with. That is the recipe for success; I know in my experience there was little support for mistakes, just judgment, and labels. You are “good” at this and “bad” at that. Really I think kids can do much more than we give them credit for if we allow them to go through their own process of mistakes and, rather than protect them from making them, support them and guide them through the learning process.  What worked? What didn’t? What can you do differently? You are doing well in your learning. Try again!!

Trying Again, and Again

All of our missteps provide us with the opportunity to learn how to step better.  Take a look at your life and the things you are proficient at now. Were you always great at it? The odds are you were not and had to take a special interest and develop your skills. It could be drawing, painting, writing, basketball, golf, fitness, relationships, parenting, or any other activity in life you can imagine. You are going to make mistakes because you have ideas, and you are an action taker. Sometimes our ideas are not quite right. The skill to develop is not avoiding mistakes but the ability to readjust your tack and try again without losing your motivation or enthusiasm for the thing you are pursuing.

It is natural to want to be right the first time. There are some things where success will come easy. Enjoy them and find ways to push yourself in those areas as well. But there will be many others you will have to learn before becoming proficient in them or even passable at performance.  It can be difficult to have a fixed mindset, believing you are given some talents and others we can’t develop. The growth mindset will allow you to realize you are not born talented in every area. Some of them you have to work at.  Follow your interests because that is your intuition pushing you into the areas you are supposed to go. Go there, even if it is hard at first. Keep at it, work, try, fail, try again and again if necessary. That is life, and that is learning, and greatness will become your calling card.

What Is Greatness?

We are each great in our own way, but to accomplish greatness in the things you pursue is really going to be developed to pursue what you are chasing. To be a great writer, you have to write all the time. If you want to look at life more positively, learn to look at life from all perspectives.  don’t limit yourself

Define your own greatness

in what you can accomplish, stretch yourself in activities and goals you are chasing.

I have known many people who have greatness within themselves, but they don’t see it, and in that blind spot, they don’t have enough confidence to pursue it and bring that talent to the world.  Because they feel truly great, whatever they do today should produce immediate results and rewards.  That is not the way it works, and greatness is a craft with no one recipe. Sometimes it does come quite easily, sometimes the journey is much longer, and often the longer road is more valuable and insightful. Enjoying whatever path you choose to walk is one of the keys to life. Do you enjoy your choice?

Sticking to It

Holding on to what resonates within when those without don’t support or appreciate it is one of the most difficult things you can do. We are all seeking validation of our contribution to the world. Some will see this easily, and others less so. Only you can decide for yourself what your learning curve and level of self-acceptance are going to be.  Whoever you are and whatever path you are choosing to walk, and the goal you are trying to accomplish. Keep seeking accomplishment and understand that there will be some moments of disappointment and mistakes will be made.  Mistakes are not an indictment of your talent but a calling card of your journey toward accomplishment. Learn from them, try again, and stick to it.

“Mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before.” Anonymous

“Remember that life’s greatest lessons are usually learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes.” Anonymous

“Don’t mention a person’s past mistakes when they are trying to change. That’s like throwing rocks at them while they are struggling to climb a mountain.” Anonymous

 “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Oscar Wilde