Ah the dreaded failure. It’s so easy to let it scare us into cowering into a corner & not doing anything. I get it. Rejection can be scary stuff, & by sharing this post, I don’t that I’m over being afraid of failure!
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No matter your profession — musician, teacher, or anything else — the fear of failure can be crippling. But!!! Working on it — especially if there’s a fun way to do so — can open totally new doors!
I think one of the big scaries of failure is a concern over what other people will think. I mean, will we look totally incompetent? Or stupid? It’s easy to say “who cares!?” but that’s not always as easy to get across inside our heads.
Even though I’m definitely not above being scared of failing, I’d like to share some things that have helped me, & might help you too!
The 100 Rejection Letters Challenge
I’m not sure if it was this exact one, but this idea was very possibly-life changing. Yes, that sounds dramatic, but it’s an awesome exercise! I heard about it on a podcast (again, not sure which one) & decided to try out a modified version with only 10 rejection letters. I don’t know that I actually completed a formal list, but a few things I experienced because of it were:
- Ghostbird Theatre Company’s 24 Hour Festival (2017, then I went back in 2018, & 2019)
- scholarship (pretty sure it was one year long) to the artist’s Courtyard
One thing I really like about this challenge is that it makes applications win-win. If you get accepted, that’s awesome! If you don’t you get to add to your list of rejections. I’d venture to say that it really altered my attitude on applying to/for things.
You can absolutely do it on your own; I don’t think I signed up for an official challenge. Just make a list (hand-written, spreadsheet, word processor, whatever you want) & keep track of your applications & results. Maybe I should take that challenge on again soon…
Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang
It’s been awhile since I’ve read this book, but it could be a good read to pump yourself up in tandem with the 100 Rejection Letter Challenge.
One of the stories that’s most memorable (to me) involves custom Krispy Kreme doughnuts (I love doughnuts!).
And, did you know you might be able to borrow an audio book or ebook from the library right on your phone or tablet? This is especially convenient if it’s easy for you to rack up late fees. 🙂
The Magic School Bus Rides Again – “Ready, Set, Fail!”
This series a revamped version of the adventures of Ms. Frizzle’s class. Even though it’s a kids’ show, any of us can pick up some tips! Failure might even get more scary the older we get!
Do you have any tips for working through a fear of failure? I’d love for you to share them in the comments below!
-Barbara
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.