Many people put a great deal of value on knowledge and facts, and early on dreams and imaginations are dismissed as childish. However, as Albert Einstein once said, imagination is more powerful than knowledge.
Personally, I have heard people with terrific ideas for inventions, businesses, or books to write but they think themselves out of it and find a dozen reasons not to do it. What are they afraid of? That if they fail, the word loser will be tattooed on their forehead forever and they will appear on national TV for all to scoff at?
Failure is just a stepping stone. When you were a kid you started out by falling off a bike. To find a mate you have to risk, and probably experience rejection. And some of the most successful people in history have gone bankrupt many times.
Personally, I would feel better about myself knowing I had the courage to pursue a dream to break out of the world of office cubicles and commuter drones and fail than not try, which is the ultimate failure.
I admire the kid who has the courage to pick up that guitar and refuse to listen to his doubting family members who tell him to get real, or the person who actually finds his or her way to Nollywood to stare insurmountable odds in the face and still have the courage and focus to give it their all, even though failure is likely. Even if they never make a living doing what they set out to do, they are more inspiring than the average Joe who imprisons himself in a paycheck to paycheck existence and the comfort of living for the weekends and primetime TV.
In order to get over the fear of failure, you need to study the mindset of successful people. They are able to detach themselves from their work and achievements. They don't take too much responsibility for their failures or successes. Instead, they just plant the seeds for what they want to do it, tend to their craft like a Gardner, and let it grow.
Most people are so attached to their career that they feel like if they lost their job, they'd be nobody. However, the career is just a set of activities; it is separate from them as a person.
So, instead of focusing on not failing or thinking failure is not an option, simply throw away the idea of even having a self, or self esteem, which are just ideas that you needlessly are brainwashed to defend and build a wall of self defeating thoughts to defend against it being exposed or put at risk. Just become a Gardner for your success. Without acknowledging the self, or self esteem in the first place, you will not care if you fail, so you will throw caution to the wind and pursue bigger fish.
Sow your seeds, and let your success grow, and feel happy that you have done all you can do. Think not of failure, but focus on success. If failure happens, be thankful that you learned what not do, and that you've crossed one more stepping stone on the road to success.
ARE WE SAINTS
It’s amazing how the world goes
Thinking we know all the flows
Pointing the fingers forgetting the other
And walking in the dark banter
Who knows and who sees?
A question we pose too free
The coin sides are the same
Even our excuses are lame
He is the bad egg we say
But within we hide our tray
The confirmation of tomorrow speaks
All cisterns will soon leak
Who will wash the dirty linins?
The heavens will send lightening
We shall see perfection today
But how can that we say
Salau O John©
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