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Are you afraid to make mistakes?

April 6, 2017 By Christine Field

This post may contain affiliate links.

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Are you afraid of making mistakes?  Do you shy away from taking risks in your career or relationships?

Fear of making mistakes can cripple you.  It can also keep you from enjoying delightful experiences!

afraid to make mistakes

This fear can keep you from developing and maintaining wonderful relationships. It can limit your potential career-wise, and create mental stress and anxiety that lead to physical problems. So, how do you overcome the fear of making mistakes? The following tips and practices are proven to psychologically help you deal with your fear of failure, and move past it.

 

Realize That You Are Going to Make Mistakes

 

Human beings are imperfect in so many ways. That’s why we make mistakes. However, without trying to accomplish things we aren’t sure that we can achieve, our growth is stifled. You are going to make mistakes. Everyone does. Come to grips with this unavoidable fact of life and move past it.

I loved watching my toddlers when they learned to walk.  They fell down far more often than they toddled!  But they were undeterred in their goal – learning to navigate life.  Sure, they bumped their heads and banged their elbows.  But would any parent prohibit their little one from learning to walk?  Absolutely not!  So, don’t stifle yourself when you choose to engage with life and all its possibilities.

 

Understand That No One Is Watching, and No One Really Cares

 

Many times, people are scared of making mistakes because of what others will think about them. The truth is, the world is not centered around you. Your mistakes are your own, no one else’s. It may be a sobering reality, but the world is not waiting for you to fail so they can laugh at you. In most cases, no one is concerned about your failure but yourself, so swing the bat. Who cares if you strike out?

I recall times when my teens were hyper-focused on what people thought of them.  I used to gently remind them that the reality is that most people think about one thing most of the time – themselves.

 

Failure Can Lead to Life-Changing Success

 

Thomas Edison failed a reported 1,000 times before he invented the light bulb. In school his teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything”. He was fired from his first two jobs because he was unproductive. What if Edison had given into those early mental setbacks and stopped inventing?

 

Arguably one of the most important inventions of human history came about because Edison couldn’t care less whether or not he failed. When a reporter once asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times before he successfully discovered how to harness electricity for light, Edison said, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

When I wrote my first book many years ago, I submitted the proposal many times.  At the 42nd rejection, I was pretty discouraged.  The 43rd publisher gave me a contract.  The trajectory of my whole life would have been different if I had quit with the 42nd submission.

Understand That Failure Never Produces the Disastrous Results You Are Picturing in Your Mind

 

The human mind is hardwired to protect us. When you contemplate failing at a certain endeavor, you inevitably over-exaggerate the results of a possible failure in your mind. This is a survival instinct that dates back to the caveman days. Failure back then meant getting eaten by a bear, starving or freezing to death.

 

We still have that mechanism in our brains today, but for most of us, our survival is fortunately not on the line when we make decisions. Think about the times you’ve failed in the past. Odds are the horrific outcome you had created in your
mind was totally overblown. The results of failure are almost never as disastrous as we expect they will be.

When I am on my deathbed, I plan to be at peace.  I purpose to be at peace with my loved ones and to rest in the knowledge that I had chased all the adventures I wanted to chase.   You’ll not hear me say, “I wish I had.”

Filed Under: Adventure, Confidence, Embracing change, Purpose and Passion Tagged With: afraid to make mistakes, make mistakes, making mistakes

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Hi, I’m Christine

Have you been a wholehearted mother, but time, toddlers and teenagers have moved on? If you are wondering what comes next for you, you’ll feel right at home here.

Or, are you a mom for whom family life has been non-Pinworthy and parenting has been downright painful? I hear ya. There are many of us around.

Are you looking for a life full of exploration and adventure after the nest empties, but maybe you have no idea how to go about doing that? Stick around! We’ll explore adventures together to help you gain more clarity for your own path.

After a couple decades of writing books and articles about parenting, homeschooling and adoption, speaking to homeschoolers and other parent groups, and reaching out to the mom in the trenches who was trying to make the best of it - my kids grew up. Some grew up and grew away. I was determined to find a way out of the pain, emptiness and lack of direction.

For many of us, the journey starts with something we moms are not accustomed to. After years of caring for and serving others, sometimes we forget the beauty and wonder of US. We need to spend some time getting to know the parts of ourselves that have lain dormant, and take the time to explore interests and passions that we set aside.

I’d like to invite you to get the “What’s Next for Mom” workbook and jump into this growing tribe of Moms who are emptying the nest and filling the life! Let’s reignite your Mojo after Mothering!
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About Christine

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At Real Mom Life, my passion is to provide resources and reassurances for moms facing the surprising challenges of family life. In my writing and speaking, I explore solutions to unexpected issues in adoption, homeschooling, special needs, and more while encouraging moms to extract the maximum joy out of each day. Read More…

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