See if you can relate to what this Code Red Rebel says about her fear of failure:
“So I’m on vacation & what a reality check it was. Being overweight is no fun & trying to keep up with everyone walking was hard. (I almost broke down in tears more than once.) So I will be home Wed or Thur & purchasing a custom program. I have way too many ‘why’ reasons to list but I want to be healthy & happy. I want to be able to walk into shops & purchase normal size clothing. I feel like I should’ve done this months ago. My biggest fear is failure, which I hope doesn’t happen.”
Fear of failing is the #1 reason I hear from people who’re interested in the Code Red Lifestyle™, but either don’t start or don’t take the next step (like getting a custom program).
Most people don’t enjoy failing.
Maybe you feel stupid. You feel like it wasted your time.
Maybe someone laughed at you.
Maybe you hate the feeling of letting yourself down, so it’s less painful to not even try.
In the world of weight loss, it could be that the thought of getting your hopes up again, only to have them crushed, is unbearable.
If any of that resonates, here’s what I want you to understand about failure.
The reason failure seems so scary and unbearable is because of the meaning we assign to it.
We think failing at something means we’re failures overall.
But that’s only true because we BELIEVE it is.
What if you saw failure differently?
What if you saw it as evidence you have the guts to go for something, with no guarantee of success?
What if you saw it as an opportunity to figure out what doesn’t work, and use that information to figure out what does work?
What if you saw it as proof that you can look fear in the face and do the scary anything anyway?
All those perspectives are just as valid as whatever you believe now about why failure’s supposedly “bad.” The only difference is which perspective you CHOOSE to embrace.
Another thing to remember: Our brains are wired to look for “evidence” to support our beliefs, good or bad.
Instead of looking for “evidence” you’ll fail, how about looking for evidence you’ll succeed?
It doesn’t matter if you’ve failed at weight loss a million times. You’ve succeeded at other things.
“Success” can be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other, or getting out of bed when you really don’t want to face the day. It doesn’t have to be anything grandiose to count as successful!
The point is, every day there are a ton of things you do successfully. Those things are all the evidence you need to prove to yourself that you can be successful.
What we think about, we bring about, good or bad.
Stop obsessing over failure and stuff that’s gone wrong, and start obsessing over all the things you’ve done right. Focus on those. Let them motivate you beyond your fear to take that next step you know you need.