It’s okay to be afraid of failure. Just don’t make your plans with fear holding the pen.
RESILIENCE
WHAT THIS MEANS
Being afraid of failing is ordinary and not a problem by itself. The trouble starts when the fear gets to decide, because it writes plans with exactly one goal, which is that nothing bad happens. Those plans come out small, they look sensible from outside, and they quietly leave out everything that could have mattered. Fear is allowed in the room; it should not be holding the pen.
Write your next plan twice. Once the way fear would write it, once the way you would if the failure were survivable. Compare them, then choose on purpose.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Which plan of yours was written mostly to avoid losing?
MORE IN COURAGE & RISK
- Taking the late bus to a new job, alone, with a map on your phone, is real courage. Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.
- Picking up the phone instead of texting is a small risk most people avoid. That’s why it works.
- Before a bull ride, the rider’s whole plan fits in one breath. Big risks need simple plans.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.