Don't Fear Failure

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." - David Frost

I'm amazed by how many people say to me "I wish I could" (write, fish, take photos, tie flies) and I always ask them "Well, why can't you?" and they usually mumble something about kids, the time or work or school and sometimes "What if I'm not good at it?" I've also seen folks who have immense writing talents, and do nothing with it, all the while professing the desire to write books and become an author.

Why?

It's entirely possible that you might not be good at anything....but how do you know until you try? You may be GREAT at it! One of my favorite quotes by Thoreau - "Do what you love" is something that I believe in with all my heart. All of the work that you put into your project won't be work at all if you enjoy what you're doing....I often think about this when I get behind in writing assignments.

I remember when I first had the notion to write about fishing, I thought "I've never written anything in my life". All I wanted to do was document my fishing adventures, maybe make someone chuckle at a humorous anecdote, or maybe help someone who might be new to the sport. That's why I started writing my blog. Some of my first posts were HORRIBLE, jumping subjects in mid-paragraph and sometimes mid-sentence. But I didn't care. "Who's going to read it anyway?" I wondered. I wasn't worried about failure because I really wasn't attempting to attain anything. Little by little, I improved my writing style. On occasion, someone would contact me and say something along the lines of "You're a good writer, but I don't understand why you use " i " instead of " I " when talking about yourself." I scoffed at this advice at first, thinking "That's just how I write, man" but, secretly, I entertained the fantasy of what it might be like to be on a writing staff for a major fishing publication.

Another aspect of my writing style that came under fire was my penchant for using bombastic words. Anglers (and this doesn't mean anglers are stupid) aren't typically going to use a word like "uncontemporary" in a sentence to describe something in regards to fishing. So I learned not to write over my readers heads.

It's very easy to dream up a grandiose scheme. It's even easier to self-sabotage it by allowing fear of the unknown or the "what-if's to make a home in your head. I know that it's wise to plan ahead a little, but very rarely does anything ever go just how you plan. Battlefield generals almost always have to make spur of the moment decisions and improvise on the fly. It doesn't mean that they weren't prepared, it only means that they had to alter their battle plan based on how the enemy reacted. A good football coach will have a game plan, but will also be smart enough to know that if conditions or the other team does something that's not conducive to the plan, then he knows how to change it on the fly. Be prepared, but also be prepared to change your plan.

I can remember the first time I received a real, honest to goodness, paying writing assignment. After all of the "practice" writing on my blog, it was time to do it for real. Every sentence would be under a microscope, every punctuation critiqued, every paragraph had to matter. I didn't know where to start. Doubt and fear crept in for the first time. Who was I trying to kid? I had no formal training about how to write, The only way that I knew how to bang out a story was from reading so much. Luckily, I slopped my way through it and wrote it and re-wrote it several times. My "Editor" (A close personal friend of mine who will tell me with no bones about it if it sucks or not) read it and said "This is the most comma-spliced piece of crap I've ever seen" (Which I really do appreciate) and helped me change a few things around. It's one thing to tell fishing stories on your own blog and totally a different animal when someone is paying you by the word to do the same thing....but I did it! And I didn't let my fear of failure or my "what if's" persevere. Fear is common. When a relief pitcher comes into his first World Series game with bases loaded and no outs, do you think there's doubt and fear pumping through that players heart, no matter how good he is or how much he's prepared for this very moment?

Don't let fear win...no matter what you're trying to achieve.

Now, I write for various fishing publications and websites. I have a few pro-staff positions with gear makers that I love, and I host a fishing radio show. I present fishing events and seminars, too. Pretty much everything I set out to do...

I just wasn't afraid to do it.