Fail so good

Before I started working at 5+8, I rarely tried my best at things because I feared failing. The thought of getting a bad review or a negative remark on anything that I did caused me to shy away from giving my all at whatever I was trying to do. In my mind, anything that I said, thought, or did that wasn’t “good” was an automatic failure. I’m sure some of you reading this can relate, whether you’re a student about to turn in a final project, a graphic designer submitting a round of logo designs to a client, or just you deciding to post about something you like on social media.

We’ve all gotten criticism on whatever we’ve worked on, and it sucks when that happens. But over the years, I’ve learned that failure is okay. It took time, but I started to notice that the notes on what was wrong with something also came with suggestions on how to improve my work. I began to shift my thoughts away from fixating on doing bad or failing at something. I understood that I might end up failing, but I could learn from my mistakes and get better the next time.

Thinking like this has had a huge impact on my growth in my professional life as a creative but also in my personal life as well. I’m not saying that I aim to fail or perform poorly, but I’m not scared to now. Take this blog entry, for instance. One thing that has been running through my mind is whether or not this is going to be good and if anyone will like this. But just because someone might not like it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try it out.

Don’t let the fear of failing stop you from doing anything. Get out there and do the best you can. If you mess up or it comes out bad, that’s okay. Learn from those mistakes and get better.