The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself

Rooted deep within all of us is a fear of failure. It’s a fear of being embarrassed because you may not be good at something, or a fear of taking a risk because things may not work out the way that you want them to.  I’m the first one to admit that I’m afraid to fail and it has affected both my personal and professional life for far too long. I can’t make a career path decision because I am constantly worried that it’s the wrong one, and I consciously cut all romantic possibilities for a fear of rejection. I put up a wall and stopped taking risks; I wasn’t failing, but instead plateauing. My life philosophy shaped by fear created a toxic illusion that not failing was the same as succeeding. Embarrassingly enough, it wasn’t until after reading an assigned article in my biodiversity course, entitled “No Limits,” that I discovered how truly wrong I have been.

Most of the time when a professor assigns readings, I roll my eyes and read it with a look of agony and despair as if the professor maliciously planned the literary torture. However,  “No Limits” got me thinking. This article takes a scientific approach to human beings and our talents. It analyses why some people are considered “gifted,” and what makes a select few extraordinary at a skill while the rest of us are categorized as normal and watch in envy.  Yes, our genetics and epigenome do play a large role here, but its also comes down to something called “deliberate practice.”

From “No Limits”:

“Deliberate practice requires a mindset of never being satisfied with your current ability. It requires a constant self-critique, a pathological restlessness, a passion to aim just beyond your capability so that you actually long for daily disappointment and failure. Most importantly, it requires a never-ending resolve to dust yourself off and try again… We do not – and cannot – know our own limits until we acquire and deploy the right resources and find the necessary motivation to push ourselves to them.”

My challenge for myself, and others out there, is to stop over-thinking, over-analyzing, and to do the things that terrify us the most. Fall in love, move to that new city, and take that job. Living in fear leads us to merely exist. We fall victim to our fear of failure, when it seems that failure paves our road to success.

….And other clichés.

 

Click here to read “No Limits”