Fear Is Holding You Back
Living in a state of fear is costing you your future. Many of us have dreams and aspirations but are waiting for the “perfect moment” to come to execute them, and the perfect moment never arrives.
Perfectionism will paralyze you and stop you from taking action. Here are three ways I’ve been able to remove perfectionism from my life and push fear to the side:
It’s not about you.
This “thing” you’re waiting to do is not about you. God puts dreams and ideas in our heads, not for us but for other people. Reflect: How is this gift going to bless others? Think: How is me not executing this dream or goal affecting other people?
When I was scared of the criticism I’d receive as a new graduate writing a book about navigating post-graduate life as a first-generation grad, I had to focus on what really mattered. In this case, the millions of first-generation grads who were sold a dream and who were struggling with finding a job, finding their purpose as young adults, and building healthy habits. If I had fixated on the judgment, I would’ve never become an author.
Failure is present to expose you to a lesson you need to learn.
How many times have you not failed before? You failed the first time you tried to walk, and you’ve probably failed a test or a quiz before, but you were able to bounce back from that. Failure is a teacher in life. It teaches us what didn’t work and forces us to switch up our strategy and try again or to pivot onto something else.
When you see failure in this light, it becomes less intimidating to pursue what you want. Failure is all around us; it’s inevitable. Some of the world's biggest stars have failed; your parents have failed at different things in life, yet everyone still keeps moving forward. Why? Because living in the past served no one. All we can do is learn from it, focus on what’s in front of us, the present moment, and execute in that moment because we don’t know if we will have another day here.
Life is promised to no one. We’re all going to die.
One day, we’re here the next day, we’re not. We are not immortal. This immortality has forced me to go after what I want today. Seeing people close to me pass away woke me up to the fact that we’re not here forever, and I need to do what I can while I’m still alive.
The more we wait, the more time will pass by. Do you want to die with regrets, or do you want to die having said at least I tried even if I failed? Do you want to die full of I could’ve, should’ve, and would’ve?
Executing your goals and dreams is beautiful not only because it will transform your life but also because, throughout the journey, you’ll impact other people’s lives.
