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user-inactivated  ·  3183 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How to become a resilient, hard-working person?

I've been down that road, and it's a destructive way to think of things. Granted, sometimes a little destruction is necessary, but most often it worked out badly for me.

You see, it's not that I'm not interested: it's that I'm afraid of failure, and by god, I've never admitted it so many times before. What I forget at such moments is that I WANT IT, and that I'm not going for it is MY OWN FAULT. I fail myself because I'm terrified of the possibility of not succeeding, even if I enjoy the journey.

Some things are only dreams, and I don't really want them. Many people want to be rock stars, but not many want to become them through hard work and many hours of preparation and repetition.

Then, there are things I really want, and because I want them hard, I'm afraid that I might not get it (the inverse wish motivation effect, if you wish). It's nothing more than learned helplessness - I haven't even tried it yet, how can I know if I'll fail? - but it's something to lose, nonetheless, and this will take time and effort.

Thank you for reminding me of that.