Recently, I have adopted a new mindset on how I view things I do in my life. I view my trial and errors as a series of experiments. I noticed that it has toned down my perfectionistic tendencies. When I try new things out with the experimenting mindset, I don’t focus as much on the possibility of success or failure, so it helps me not be stuck in the fear of failure. Because after all it’s just an experiment, right? It helps me access my more relaxed side, and I’m more able to laugh at myself if things don’t go according to my plan. It makes me feel more calm in going about my daily life.
Oftentimes, we stop ourselves from trying out something new or out of our comfort zone, for example a new habit or a new hobby, because we fear failure. But treating them as an experiment lifts off some of the fear of failure, because it’s common for an experiment to have a different outcome from its predicted outcome. Treating them as experiments also separates our self worth from the experiment outcome, because we know that a “failed” experiment (aka an experiment that did not produce the expected outcome) doesn’t necessarily mean that the experimenter is inherently flawed/unworthy/bad. Because isn’t that the essence of the fear of failure? We don’t actually fear failure itself, but we fear that the failure is a testament that we are inherently flawed/unworthy/bad.
So what experiment do you feel called to try out at the moment?