Because of fear. The fear of trying and failing. The fear that your best efforts will fall short. I hate that we feel this way. I hate that it stops us from pushing forward even when our skills are not up to par yet.
So as humble as my dreams may be and as many times as I stumble and fall, I pursue them with vigour. You’ve heard me say it before, but it deserves to be said ad naseam.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Thinking about how close I was in choosing not to continue as a writer after being knocked back numerous times for not being good enough makes me emotional. I could feel the distance between where I was and where you wanted to be. That chasm felt unassailable, so why bother.
Thankfully I was stupid enough not to care and instead embraced the uncertainty.
You can do the same.
You have to take action towards that skill or goal even when you’re crap at it. Because the only way to get the results, you want long term is to master that skill or achieve that goal. And to do that, you’re going to be awful at it for some time.
Do you want to write something groundbreaking on your first effort, you want to paint a masterpiece straight off the bat or compose a song that will take the charts by storm fresh out of the studio?
Highly unlikely, so discard that thought.
For mere mortals like you and I, we need to go through the shit to get to the other end. Trust me, it is the best way and the only way if you want to learn the fantastic lessons taught by failure.
We don’t have to be happy with it, but we must embrace it.
At first, nothing comes to you easily at all. Everything is difficult. You learn that not only are there major skills you need to acquire but little micro-skills with those skills.
I’ve been writing for over twenty years, so many of the skills I’ve internalized, so it feels seamless. But don’t be fooled; as I acquire new skills, I’m back at square one, embracing my uncertainty and feeling the fear.
Going through that morass of hardship will transform you into a well-rounded individual by equipping you with vital knowledge and understandings that you’d never receive if you were unwilling to embrace the challenge.
Life is messy, it’s complicated, and it can sometimes feel like it is actively working against you. But that’s the beauty of being alive and why it’s critical to be the best version of yourself at all times.
And never forget, embrace the struggle.
