You are not starting things because your fear of making mistakes and failure impacts you in a big way.
As a creator, you are afraid of making mistakes.
You want everything to be just perfect because your name is at stake.
You have a habit of doing everything with perfectionism.
This simple fear is holding you back.
Fear of failure is widespread among creators and entrepreneurs.
In the Journal of Business Venturing, 33 percent of aspiring entrepreneurs cited fear of failure as the main reason for not starting a business.
As a content creator or digital professional, this can make you a perfectionist, procrastinator and reluctant to take risks and try new things.
Every day when you are working on the job, you believe, “Let me be out of this job,” but fear keeps you at bay.
You do not want to try. You do not want to risk.
You do not want to risk your reputation.
You do not want to risk-bearing failure on your head.
You want 100% sure results.
You have too high expectations of yourself and are trying not to meet them.
Why?
Because they expected you to be a “Superman.” The real you is a “procrastinator, loser, and non-action taker.”
You do not want to see the accurate picture but keep yourself engaged.
We are engaged in meetings in the office.
We are engaged in work.
We are engaged in parties during weekends.
We are engaged in activities with family.
You do not like yourself.
When you were looking for your first job.
Did you have this attitude about yourself?
Were you perfect?
Were you a “superhuman?”
When did it develop, then?
It developed during your working life. When you started working and continued working for few years, you developed an image of yourself.
The image of accomplishments.
The image of a go-getter, action taker, Mr and Miss Perfectionist.
You lived up to your expectations.
The moment you started the journey of the creator. You are thinking
What happened to me?
Is this the same me?
Is this the same as “Ashish,” who was a Superman?
Fear grips you, and you are back to your routine.
A study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that countries with higher levels of fear of failure had lower rates of entrepreneurial activity. [Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. (2021). 2020/2021 Global Report]
You missed many opportunities and faced stagnation in your career and business.
You wanted you should not make mistakes but
- You missed opportunities for growth and innovation.
- Every day, new creators are emerging and becoming your companions.
- The time that elapsed finished your confidence and self-doubt.
- You settle for mediocrity.
- You regret untapped potential.
As author Elizabeth Gilbert writes in her book “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear”:
“You’re afraid you have no talent. You’re afraid you’ll be rejected or criticized or ridiculed or misunderstood or—worst of all—ignored. You’re afraid there’s no market for your creativity, and therefore no point in pursuing it. You’re afraid somebody else already did it better. You’re afraid everybody else already did it better.”
Failure is a Teacher
Failure is an essential part of the creative and entrepreneurial process.
As Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, famously said: “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
Has the mindset changed with the following questions?
- Is failure ordinary and necessary for growth?
- Have you set up small, achievable goals?
- Do you celebrate your efforts?
- Do you learn from your mistakes?
- Do you surround yourself with supportive peers?
Embrace Imperfection To Embrace Transformation
Imperfection and mistakes can unlock your creative potential and help you move forward with success in the digital economy.
In “The Lean Startup,” Eric Ries shares a powerful anecdote about the power of rapid iteration and learning from failure: At IMVU, we once debated for weeks about whether a particular feature should be designed to work one way or another. We were passionate about getting it right. We had a lot of arguments and generated a lot of heat. Yet when we put the product in customers’ hands, they couldn’t figure out how to use it at all. All of our arguments were irrelevant; we had been making decisions based on assumptions that were simply wrong.”
So whatever you are thinking now is just a waste of time.
The customer is the real judge. Your work is to create. You may be tapped into perfectionism, whereas the results lie in action.
The process of fearless creation
Let us understand the roadmap.
- Does some mindset exercise find failure as positive?
- Set micro-achievable goals.
- Do the iteration.
- Take and implement feedback.
- Be in the zone of a supportive community.
Take the First Step
The first step for you is acknowledging fear and making it part of your life.
Every great creator and entrepreneur faces fear and failure.
The difference is in response.
Do you want fear to hold you back?
Or will you use fear as a catalyst for growth and innovation?
Take the first step.
Are you ready to overcome your fear of mistakes and unleash your creative potential in the digital economy? The first step is acknowledging your fear and committing to change.
Remember, every great creator and entrepreneur has faced fear and failure. The difference is in how they respond to it. Will you let fear hold you back, or will you embrace it as a catalyst for growth and innovation?
The choice is yours. Take the first step today.
