unmasking fear & failure

When my brother and I were growing up, my father would encourage us to fail. We'd sit around the dinner table and he'd ask, "What did you guys fail at this week?" If we had nothing to tell him, he'd be disappointed. The logic seems counterintuitive, but it worked beautifully.

He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure. They're

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

— Paul Atreides

(1965) Dune by Frank Herbert

It doesn’t get any less scary. All that happens is that you have less life left.

It helps if you do your falling early, and it really helps if you do your reaching early.

— Mary H.K. Choi