Positively reframe situations. Instead of looking at the gym as a place of sweat and pain, look at it as a place for strengthening the body and mind.
Instead of looking at a job interview as a torturous exercise in awkward silences, humble bragging, and sycophantism, look at is as an opportunity to improve the way you project yourself, fortify mental resilience, and potentially enter a fulfilling career.
Instead of telling yourself ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m terrible at this’ include the addendum ‘yet’ and ‘but, I can learn’.
Learn to enjoy challenges as they become opportunities for either success or learning.
Look at failures as chances for error correction and personal growth. Learn to deal with setbacks and failures constructively, without giving up and reverting back to detrimental habits.
Don’t expect yourself to fail, but don’t lambaste yourself if you do – treat it all as a learning exercise.
Many are scared to try their absolute hardest in the fear that they may still ‘fail’ – however the silver lining in this situation is that you’ve now experienced the worst case scenario and lived to tell the tale, thus you become more resilient to future failures, and are able to focus on identifying causes rather than the act itself.
After all, humanity has progressed on the back of countless failures, but wouldn’t have if they were never capitalized as learning opportunities.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.