Fear of failure.
Fear of looking stupid.
Fear of making a mistake.
Fear of being judged, criticized, and ridiculed.
It’s a fear that one simple fact might be true: you’re just not good enough.
Which for the record, is NEVER the case.
Listen, every single person, on some level, wrestles with this fear. Your mentors, friends, parents, enemies, professors, bosses, strangers, kids, adults, famous people, rich people, ‘flawless’ IG models, everyone. Okay?
So let’s shine some light on this.
First, let’s get one thing straight: needing to develop new skills and strengths to achieve something is one thing. But believing the notion that you fundamentally don’t have what it takes is just completely untrue. Know the difference.
Second, social media is not reality. This image of “look at me, I have it all together” that is so easy to present on social media is simply not real life. And frankly, it takes more effort to keep that persona up than it does to actually put in the work to get where you want to be. Remember this next time you’re scrolling.
Lastly, no one knows what they are doing. We are all just trying to figure it out, which is really refreshing to remind yourself when this fear creeps in. Be mindful of this.
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What if you allowed yourself the space and grace to be a beginner?
To completely mess something up? To stink at something, then stink some more, then stink some more?
We all have to start somewhere. The secret is not to be the best, the secret is to JUST BE. Just start.
Remember, even the best of the best experience fear. The difference is some choose to feel the fear and do it anyway, and others don’t.
“The fear of not being good enough is universal.”
We are all in this together.
Hope Guidry, BA, is a Case Manager at Samaritan Counseling Center. She graduated from Lamar University and began a career of online coaching when she was 19-years-old. She completed her 200-hour yoga certification over her summer breaks while in college and learned many valuable life lessons. This lead to helping others on their journey. She also completed an internship at Girl's Haven in Beaumont where she feels she learned a tremendous amount. She has always had a desire to help others and feels Samaritan gives her that opportunity. Her goal is to apply for graduate school and she is looking forward to seeing where that will lead her. Hope finds her greatest joy in leading by example and showing up for people when they need her most.