The F word

[More on Fear – III]

Not fear.
But failure.

The fear of failure is perhaps the most motivating and paralyzing force within us. (If that paradox doesn’t resonate, I’ll see you tomorrow, same place, different reflection.)

It gets us to straighten our spines, but it can also get us to slink back.
It motivates us to push on but also to pull away.
It energizes yet exhausts.
It’s a thrill and yet it can numb.

The fear of failure is always on—it’s even active in our dreams.

Some standards by which we measure ourselves are our own creations. They exist in the wold insofar as we project them on it. The judgment and shame of failure is not the world’s doing but delivered by the judge and jury in our own minds.

The bad news: we’re responsible for it.

The good news: we’re responsible for it, which means every day is a new opportunity to look the jurors in the eye and tell them their job is done here.