Being Okay with Failure

I fixate on things.  When something goes wrong I can't stop thinking about it, worrying about it, and going over everything that I could have done differently.  Simply put it is hard for me to let things go.

This can be stifling both in my career and in my art.  I take criticism to heart more than I should; and when you put yourself out there on places like FunnyorDie or YouTube you can get a lot of criticism.  Here is a quote my friend, Karen Weza, put on Facebook the other day:

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.    -Elbert Hubbard

It's true that no matter what you do someone is going to find fault in it.  If you go around worrying what other people think or if you are going to fail, it can be very difficult to start anything.  This is a battle I have most days.  Once I start something I'm fine, it's the actually getting up off the couch that I find nearly impossible.

One big reason you can't let fear of failure stop you is because it doesn't matter.  Seriously, what's going to happen if you fail?  Unless you are jumping out of plane, failing generally isn't a life-or-death situation.  Okay, so you fail or someone on the internet says mean things about you or things don't happen how you planned - then what?

Then you get up and try again a little differently - the important thing is to keep going forward.  Like I said before Failure is Never Trying.

So, go forth and FAIL.  Seriously, get up and fail in as dramatic a fashion as possible, because this time might be the time that you surprise yourself and SUCCEED.