September 9, 2025- Afraid of messing up

“Ultimately, your desire to create must be greater than your fear of it.”

~Rick Rubin

Why are we so afraid of messing up? Why were we not cured of that in infancy? All those times our cries were misinterpreted, all the times we fell when learning to walk, all the objects we crammed in our mouth in an attempt to relieve our teething pain – none of them deterred us from trying again.

As we grow up, we become so afraid of judgment. We avoid risks for the fear that we might embarrass ourselves in front of others. We hesitate to try new things, to push our boundaries, to leave our comfort zones, because we are worried about what others will think if we fail.

We fail all the time. We have failed and will fail for our entire lives. What are we so worried about? All the people judging us have and will experience failure, too.

In some cases, our refusal to offer enough grace to those around us makes us acutely aware of the risk of messing up. If we could make a practice of celebrating the courage it takes to try new things, particularly when those attempts are not entirely successful, maybe we could anticipate the reciprocation of others.

What potential could you be leaving untapped due to your avoidance of failure? What potential could you be limiting in others because of your judgment? What changes can you make to let yourself and others be their best?