Failure

Not reaching your full potential, not getting the grade you wanted on the test you have studied so hard for, or not making the sports team you have dreamed of being on. All these have to do with failure and it is something everyone deals with.

Almost everyone including myself in someway has a fear of failing something and not being able to achieve what they want to do and for some it is the first thought in their mind when tasked with achieving something difficult. Failure is the worst possible outcome of a situation and for some it is, unfortunately, their only thought; I cannot do this, I cannot do that. These are the things that first come to mind for someone terrified of failing.

For myself, the fear of failing looms around every corner. Thoughts of not having work as good as someone else or not being as good at a sport as another person are thoughts that have always run rampant in my mind and have negatively affected the way in which I think. I think this fear I have along with these thoughts I have felt many times throughout my life are very common to people but sometimes they make you feel trapped and alone. This feeling of being trapped and not achieving your full potential is one I believe most college students tend to feel. What am I going to do with my life? Where am I going to work once I am finished school? Will I even graduate? These questions are questions I have asked myself and questions I am sure run through minds of others every day.

Those who fear failure and those who feel inevitably doomed by everything I think approach these questions with the answers, I am going to fail in life, I am never going to find a job, and I don't know if I can get through school. This is where the fear of failure takes hold and does not let you go, leaving a person trapped and without a voice. The fear of failing causes complete anxiety and makes life completely miserable. The only way to combat this feeling of failure and feeling of self doom is through your own mind.

I myself tend to look at school and life with a very negative attitude feeling as though I am not as good as anyone else, and many of the questions posed above are things that run through my head everyday. Although I am still scared of failure I have begun to look at getting through things with a clearer mind and head. Telling yourself that you are more than capable and what you do is good is the first step in achieving your goals and completing things you normally fret about. Relaxing and not becoming anxious at the first thought of being assigned a difficult task is another step in this process. The next step is remembering that you are capable of doing hard things, you have gotten through a lot before and you can do it again and again you just have to be willing to work for it. Remembering everything about failure is all in your mind is a huge part in succeeding in the end. To that point, only you can decide if you succeed or you fail!