Have you ever met someone who is so afraid to fail, they end up not doing the things they desire? They sit in a corner and mope around all day about how they’re unhappy with their jobs.
When you ask why don’t they pursue their passion, they give you a lot of excuses.
- It’s not something they have experience in
- It’s not what they studied in college
- What if it doesn’t work out?
- What if they lose money?
Well, you wouldn’t know the outcome until you’ve tried it. And if in the end, it doesn’t work out the way you had hoped, at least you’ve gained more experience and lessons that you can carry forward.
What’s the worst possible outcome?
Let’s say you pursue your passion for making videos on the side. Instead of spending 5 hours after work binge-watching Netflix originals, you spend it honing your craft.
After 3 years of doing that, what is the worst outcome? Only 100 people are watching your YouTube videos and you missed out the 3 seasons of Game of Thrones.
Is it that bad?
What’s the best scenario?
Your 3 years of hard work could attract some loyal fans who share your videos with their friends. You have 1,000,000 subscribers and 500,000 views on all your videos. You’re able to earn a full-time income from your videos and able to leave your job.
You get to do what you love and get paid for it.
Isn’t that great?
Fear of failure is stopping you from discovering the greatness
Truth is, you can’t know what will happen until it does.
Foodie example
There are people who are afraid to try new cuisine because they fear it might tastes terrible. After being persuaded to try it, they fall in love with the taste. Or they might end up hating it. Then, they learn not to eat that particular dish again.
You would be living the rest of your life not trying out new dishes just because of that fear. It’s the same for fear of failure. You’ll never discover your true potential if you let your fear rule your decisions.
Don’t you want to give it a try?
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Previously published on Medium.com.
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Photo credit: Py Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash