When was the last time you took on a challenging task, unsure of the outcome?

Did you procrastinate?

I’ve experienced negative mental health effects when procrastinating due to the high anxiety it can cause.

So why do we procrastinate?

One reason we often procrastinate on things we want to accomplish is because of the fear of failing.

And why are we afraid to fail?

It can be for various reasons, such as the fear of the embarrassment of not succeeding or the fear of a low sense of worth when failing.

I had the artwork in mind for a while (hand molding each letter and the figure) but kept on saying ‘I’ll get to it’. I was hesitant because it was something I never attempted before.

But one thing you need to keep in mind is that when you fail, you learn.

You learn what didn’t work, you learn what skills you need to improve on, you learn resilience, and can even learn a new, innovative way to approach the task on the next go.

When you face a challenging task, and whether you finish it on your 1st or 10th try, or not at all, you come away with changes within yourself.

Such as any new skills you’ve learned, confidence, and resilience.

Yes, even if you didn’t succeed, you can still gain confidence and resilience, with the right perspective.

The perspective that even though you took on a task and couldn’t complete it, you gained the confidence to not let the fear of failure deter you, and you gained the strength in character to become resilient.

As I asked in the Self Reflection question section in Hold Me in Comfort in Clay:

When was the last time you took on a task you were unsure you could accomplish?

What did you learn about yourself in the process and/or after, whether if the task was completed or not?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to hear from you.