All of us, from time to time, enthusiastically launch on to some learning programs and missions because we find meaning and purpose in it. Feelings of excitement, advancement and fulfilment fill us. Yet, as we begin the journey, we discover that the mission we set out on places demands on us much beyond our ability and comfort. We realise we will need skills, behaviours and traits that may not be natural to us. And that is when feelings of panic, anxiety, self-doubt and helplessness grip us, replacing the earlier emotions. Now as we plod on, these feelings weigh us down and we wonder if we have made the right choice, whether we are the right person for this mission, whether we will be successful in learning. We feel increasingly fatigued and all the joy of the mission and purpose is now lost completely. The mission instead of empowering us begins to debilitate and its Abandon Mission!
Questions about our competence and self-doubt arise much before any actual trouble or failure does. “What if I am unable to do it right? What if I fail at completing what I’ve started …what if ….what if…?” Here I ask, So What if?? So what if you fail? So what if you don’t complete? Its not like the world is going to remain seriously deficient in some ways if you fail. We give ourselves too much credit! J If you fail at this, maybe you will discover something else. Much like Columbus! If you cant learn THIS right, you will create something new while trying. If you can’t follow THIS process to a tee, you will discover a new process which is uniquely YOU! As Lord Kelvin, the Irish mathematical physicist who formulated the first and second laws of thermodynamics, had said, “When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery.”
So go right ahead, explore, discover, learn. Don’t worry that you will fail. Just have fun learning. Enjoy the process of trying and the process of creation. Don’t let anxiety take away your feelings of fun and enjoyment. Learn to laugh …at mistakes, at failures and at yourself at how much importance we give ourselves! Our brains are wired to find all learning fun! Neuroscience has proven that. Every time we’re having fun learning our brains get a shot of dopamine. The feelings of pleasure that follow make us want to keep learning, exploring and pushing ourselves to find out more. We learn more and better when we are having fun! So go ahead, if you have fun, you have won!