FACT.

How many times have you wanted to try something new?  Learn something new? Move somewhere new?  Date someone new?  Yet for some reason you couldn’t quite get yourself to take the risk, couldn’t quite get yourself to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.  The fear of failure, or possibly of rejection, is often to blame for those moments where you don’t give yourself the benefit of the doubt, don’t give yourself the chance to see what good could possibly come from taking a risk.  Finding balance between believing in yourself and doubting yourself is a hard trait to master…and most of us don’t do it very well.  Especially females – we tend to doubt our own strengths, our own capabilities, our own self worth more then we believe in them.  This then plays into how we view ourselves and what we are capable of, and more often times then not, it keeps us from being our best selves, from doing things that challenge us, from trying things that might change our lives.

What if, instead of all the energy we put into doubting ourselves and our ability to succeed, we actually poured that fire into BELIEVING in ourselves, BELIEVING in our own strengths, BELIEVING in our right to be who we want to be, to do what we want to do, to try what we want to try without any thought of what could go wrong, but instead, in what could go RIGHT?  Don’t you think that if the thought of FAILURE was erased from your brain you’d be more willing to take risks, to doing something without knowing what the outcome would be?  Don’t you think that you’d live life a little more easily, a little more passionately?  By removing the fear of failure you allow yourself to tear down walls, to break free from the shackles of self doubt that hold you back from being the best version of yourself.

I personally know how the fear of failure can be debilitating, how it can keep you from putting yourself out there.  My world is often times ruled by the thought of not succeeding, of not being my best self.  Years of lacking in self-confidence and self-understanding kept me from pursuing my dreams and my passions.  And one day I had had enough.  I was determined to push back the fear of failure and simply TRY my hand at competing in fitness competitions, at self publishing my books, at writing this very blog.  And boy am I happy that I did!  I finally faced my fear of failure head on and took the necessary steps to succeeding in what I thought I’d never succeed at.  Yes, it was hard, and yes I constantly doubted myself along the way, but I never gave up, I never gave in to the insecurities or the little voice in my head telling me I was crazy for being so galant in my adventures.  But, looking back on it all now, I can smile in knowing it was all worth it, it was all something I WAS capable of.  Once I was able to overcome my fear of failure, I was able to succeed in being ME.  And I got to know me very well.  You can do it, too.  You can overcome your fear of failure and succeed in whatever you put your mind to.  You simply have to TRY, simply have to believe in YOURSELF.  And then, set out on whatever journey it is that you have wanted to embark on and SMILE along the way.