If I act and fail:
- I replace speculation with certainty. I know that I did not succeed.
- I gain the opportunity to assess what led to this outcome.
- Understanding how I failed, I can refine the skills required to succeed.
- I can change the actions1 that led to failure, and succeed.
If I fail to act:
- I create doubt from uncertainty.
- I deny myself the ability to learn.
- I avoid risk, yet gain nothing.
- I still do not succeed.
So why do people give up before trying?
In a word, fear. The paralyzing fear that they are not good enough, that they may fail, and that they may have to face that as reality, rather than possibility. Anyone can claim anything, as long as no need for proof exists. When faced with an opportunity to prove those claims, fear begins to take hold, chipping away at confidence, sneaking questions in that serve no purpose: Can I really do this as well as I thought? If I can't, what will people think of me?
Society has ground into us the (flawed) perception that failure is shameful. This suggests that it is something to avoid, when the truth is that facing failure head-on is an act of courage, one of self-reliance and trust in yourself.
We disguise this with clever terms like "risk management", but a name doesn't change what it is or what it means. To be ruled by fear is to accept that you will never be more than you are in this moment. And that is simply not acceptable.
Empower yourself.
strong stuff for an early saturday morning, but it resonates