The Message of the Rock, or I Wanna See You Be Brave

Fear of failure? What's the worst thing that could happen?

Time to read: approx. 1 minute

First off, consider that this is a highly subjective question. Some situations have personal life or death consequences. Sometimes the lives of others hang in the balance, and must be considered in the decision to attempt something. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question.

For the situations that don't fit in the above category, fear of failure is a common reason why a person does not attempt something.

As @jokster said in reply to my first article on this topic,

Sometimes it's easier to say than done. Fear of failure can be strong sometimes.

Why is this? After all, none of us was born with a mastery of anything at all. And if you have observed young children you may have noticed that they are always trying to do things that they have no idea how to do. Healthy young children often want to give new things a try.

A person may not be able to say why they have fear of failure, but it still impacts their life, and can keep them from experiencing their dreams. And this brings us to the question I posed at the beginning of the article, "What's the worst thing that could happen?"

It is a question worth thinking through.

Listing out the benefits as well as the costs of attempting or doing something can give a clearer perspective, and possibly help the fears to become less threatening.

Putting words to your thoughts and fears can remove the power of the fears over your life, and give the power back to you. You can look at and assess your fears from an outside perspective once you get them out of your head, and on paper.

Finally, give yourself room to learn and get better at the things you are attempting to do. Be kind to yourself. Don't expect perfection the first go around. Depending on what new thing you are attempting, it may take many tries to achieve your goal. Be as patient with yourself as you want others to be with you.

The message of the rock is meant to be lived out by you and me. Think about what you might like to do. Believe in yourself! The song, Brave, by Sara Bareilles is the perfect ending for this article. I hope you give it a listen, and are inspired to attempt to do something even if you fail at it the first time!

Read my first article on this topic here: https://steemit.com/life/@mitneb/what-would-you-attempt-to-do-if-you-knew-you-wouldn-t-fail-or-why-not-believe-in-yourself