Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you decided not to try it at all? Or has a fear of failure meant that, subconsciously, you undermined your own efforts to avoid the possibility of a larger failure? Many of us have probably experienced this at one time or another. The fear of failing can be immobilizing- it can cause us to do nothing, and therefore resisting moving forward. But when we allow fear to stop our forward progress in life, we're likely to miss some great opportunities along the way.
We all have our own definition of failure simply because we all have different values, goals and belief systems. A failure to one might simply be a great learning experience for someone else. The fear of failure is when we allow that fear to stop us from doing the things that can move us forward to achieve our goals. Everyone will experience the fear of failure differently. Some will just be reluctant to try new things or get involved with something challenging aka starting CrossFit! One of our newest members recently spoke beautifully on this topic.
Ashley Schwarzmann " I literally stepped foot in a CrossFit gym for the first time a little more than a month ago, intimidated as ever. Being a month in, Im still intimidated as hell when i walk in for a class! But I quickly have that intimidation replaced with feeling pride in what my body can do."
We asked Ashley, what is one piece of advice you would tell yourself prior to starting CrossFit.
"I would tell myself to not let the fear of failing stop you from doing something amazing for yourself. If I listened to that advice I would've showed up a hell of a lot sooner than I did! I would also tell myself that honestly there is no way to fail when you show up for a class. Its better to go in and modify the crap out of a workout than not showing up at all"
What is very interesting, when we asked more of the members this question we kept receiving this same answer. Many individuals had hesitations about starting CrossFit not because they heard it was difficult but because they were worried about failing. Failing how? Each individual has their own interpretation of failing and they held themselves back for a variety of reasons. Unanimously the consensus was to start sooner and crush all of the self doubt and fear of failure by walking in the door and trusting the process.
There are two ways we can view failure. One is to see it as the end of the world or as to believe we are inadequate. The other way to view failure is to see it as an incredible learning experience that we grow and develop from. Each time we fail we have the option to look for the lesson we are meant to learn or let that failure define us negatively. The lessons we can learn from each failure are how we grow and how we keep from making that same mistake over and over. Failures stop us only if we let them.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Marianne Williamson
Coach Nick
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