Sometimes it’s worth doing something just to get over the fear of failure. I have had a love-hate relationship with writing these posts since I started. I love them when they are done, and I stress out thinking about doing them. Now I know why. I am afraid I will look stupid. They will be bad. I will #loseface. I will lose the good opinion of others. That is why it is so good for me to do them, to get over the #fearoffailure. As human beings, we are motivated much more by the fear of loosing something than by the anticipation of gaining something. Therefore, it is a good practice for me to get over that fear by putting these out each week. I finished reading From Strength to Strength (and started it again) this week, and he talks about workaholism. When we are completely identified with our work, we are objectifying ourselves. In studying The Anatomy of Peace, by the Arbinger Institute, years ago I learned the hazards of objectifying other people, as the root cause of all violence. But I never thought I might be objectifying myself. When I was deep in my workaholism, I was surely objectifying myself, seeing myself only as a productivity machine and not a human being. And that objectification was largely driven by the fear of what others would think about me if I wasn’t the perfect productivity machine, or leader, engineer, salesman, executive, employee, husband, or father, let alone actually failing. I do like actually writing these #FridayReflections, however I stress out thinking about writing them because of my fear of not being enough. It is really good for me to practice getting over this. by writing these and by letting go of my job, my title, my status. I found myself starting to cling to another status this week in order to feel like I was enough. As soon as that was pointed out to me and I let it go, my day and week brightened at once. It is by not trying to be specially or significant that I can be real, connected, and happy.I really appreciate your part by being willing to read my public posts, some of which are good and some of which are not, to help me get over my fear of looking bad. As I practice getting over that fear, I am experiencing more and more freedom and look forward to my feeling of freedom continuing to expand each week as I put them out. I am curious what you do to practice getting over your fear of failure. Does doing that help you see yourself more as a full human being and less as an object? Does it help you be more compassionate towards yourself? Do you feel more free?
And this sunset wasn’t bad either!
