Failure only has the power you give to it. Do you need to hear that one again, mama?
“What if I fail” only means something if you let it.
This is a hard topic, especially for the perfectionists in the group.. but also for those who have a mental illness. Although failure is a common fear, when you have a mental illness, it’s easy to let your illness dictate your abilities, instead of the other way around.
The TOUGH Questions on Failure
- Would you rather try and fail, or fail because you never tried?
- Are you okay with letting a POSSIBILITY dictate your potential?
The tricky part about all of this is, if you never try, you lose regardless. You don’t have a possibility of succeeding, if you never give it a shot!
Keep in mind that I’m there in the trenches with you. Scared to fail, but scared to succeed, too (now isn’t that a conundrum!!).
The difference is, I keep pushing, keep moving, keep trying. Even though secretly (or not so secretly, now) I’m terrified.
Keep Moving Forward
So how do you keep pushing, keep moving, keep trying when you are terrified?
The million dollar question.
- Baby steps
- Keep records of your progress to look back on when discouraged – even if that progress is simply earning two cents!! #BeenThereDoneThat
- Ask yourself “would you rather”, with failure on one side and trying on the other (regardless of potential outcome) – I.E. “Would you rather fail by default, or have a chance at success by TRYING ___ (x, y, or z)”.
- Act as if
- Know your limits, but don’t use them as an excuse to not try at all. Even slow progress is still progress!!
Are you terrified of failure? How do you push yourself to try regardless? Let me know in the comments below.
Pssst! Do you need help organizing your goals so that you can more easily make progress every day? If you are ready to push past your fear and see some forward momentum, read Using a Planner for Reaching Big Goals. It’s a great help in organizing your thoughts and getting the steps for each goal on paper so that you can know what you need to do and when – and see progress!!
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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