By Scott Campsall
Horse blinders are pieces of leather that are placed on either side of a horse’s eyes to keep it looking directly forward. Horses spook easily, and blinders help to keep the animal focused and unaware of something that could make it panic. If they don’t see the perceived threat, they’re less likely to react to it and therefore it can be ignored. If only we could ignore our fears so easily!
Truth is, most of the things we worry about don’t come true and most of the time we give our fears power over us. This denies us a chance to overcome them and experience things in our lives that we otherwise might miss out on.
The fear of failure falls into this category. It’s something that can easily be conquered by keeping a couple of thoughts in mind such as…
- What’s the worst that can happen? After any safety risks are accounted for, any risk to an action is usually minimal. What’s the worst that can happen when you jump out of a plane? A lot. Get your parachute and learn how to skydive correctly. What’s the worst that can happen by participating in a martial arts or fitness class though? Not much, and you may have fun doing an activity that several people love with a great community.
- What will people think? The short answer is nobody cares if you fail. They’re more worried about them. If you fail, most people won’t know or won’t remember it happened. To prove this, take a video of you doing something that challenges you (e.g.: Pushups, pullups, some gymnastics move, or yoga pose). Post it on social media. If you accomplish it, brag about it. If you don’t succeed, you’ll be surprised at how many people don’t see it and the ones that do usually end up encouraging you to keep trying!
- Failure is how we grow! Weightlifters use the term ‘failure’ to describe when they can’t lift a weight after they have done as many repetitions as possible. It’s also the time when muscles increase in size and strength. Failure is embraced because if it doesn’t happen, improvements are not made. The same goes for failure in other things. Instead of worrying about not accomplishing our goals, it’s better to use our failures as a steppingstone as we work towards them.
Everyone fails. Even the greatest athletes miss shots and goals or go home without medals occasionally. The difference is that those people take the risk of trying in the first place. They keep their blinders on so they can ignore their fear and then easily take them off when they realize there was nothing to be afraid of in the first place.