Fear of Failure #
Todo:
Once per month, or as often as possible, find an error in judgement that I made in the past—something I really and truly believed and fought for, which was 100% wrong—and publicly announce it. It’s gotta sting.
The goal is to build up a thick skin against the fear of failure. Failure is natural, it is a learning process, and important. Resisting the information that comes with failure is disastrous. And fear of failure is a mind-killer. My ego might not like doing this, but sometimes you just have to tell your ego to grow a pair.
The first one is a gimme: getting married was a horrifically bad idea. There’s no excuse for it. It’s an outdated institution, but beyond that, we were just a terrible couple. I wasn’t happy. I should have broken up with her, and instead I proposed. I have defended the decision countless times, even while going through our separation and divorce, because of a fear of admitting to my family and friends and myself that I was just flat-out wrong on many levels.
It is unlikely that any mistake I make in business or in life will ever be as painful, expensive, or full of public fail. And yet here I am, happy and successful. So there is really no reason to fear anything. I’ve learned a lot from that failure, about myself, and about love, and about what I need to be happy.
Admitting failure can be exhilarating. Try it!