The fear of success - Part 1

Success and ability to succeed are not cut from the same cloth. One is an outcome and the other is a process, a verb, something that we work on. Success and the feeling of accomplishment is something we passionately seek. To give meaning and value to our efforts which are thus approved by others and ourselves. That awesome feeling of, “Yup! I nailed it!” But what if I told you that success is not the outcome you should strive for? What if I told you, that success comes at a cost. It’s not free. You’re not entitled to it, you are not owed it and nobody is going to give it to you. Success needs 2 essential ingredients, and they must work together. In this article I will discuss the first ingredient and its importance. You have to make mistakes...lots of them. You have to fail, you have to know what it feels like to lose. You have to be resilient, because it’s not going to go the way you want it all the time no matter how much you want something. Some days, it’s just not your day! Which is normal. You’re going to mess up, and you know what, everything will be fine! We fear success because we fear making mistakes. How we look when we mess up and what others will think of us when we fail. We may think, “Have I let someone down?” or “I wish I was better…”

The short answers are, “No you haven’t” and “You can be, you just have to work at it.”

This thought process of making mistakes is a terrible thing and is all contradictory. Why? We celebrate success and acknowledge the end product, but we do not recognise the necessary steps and processes of failing, which are needed to succeed. We recognise the trophy, but not the training. We recognise the grade, but not the classwork. Every successful person (or what we perceive as successful) leaves a long trail of late nights, frustration, fear, joy, planning, restless nights of sleep, commitment, guts, focus, repetition, practice and failure...Just to name a few. With every mistake we make, we find a new way not to do something. By order of elimination, you are bound to find the way that works for you. So let us continue to celebrate success, but let us also truly recognise the effort, the drive, the dedication and the sacrifice that one goes to reaching their goals. The resilience displayed and the conquering of the self doubts and/or the physical challenges they faced. For that is the true success. The learning and overcoming of the challenges.

I will finish on this final note: Your thoughts will run and drive your world. If you have a goal and it’s truly important to you, there will never be an excuse. You will never be too tired, mistakes are opportunities and you will always have time. Good luck In the week ahead and I wish you many mistakes and many opportunities to help you become the best you can be!

Fruit of the week - Apples

This week I have been really getting into apples! The apple or Malum in latin has been a staple fruit of many Australian households. Commonly, apples come in three colours: red, green and yellow, each apple having distinct flavours. Apples are tree fruit, which means that just before they are ripe, they fall off. Or in our case, they are picked, packed and sent to our stores. 

Apples contain a variety of super beneficial vitamins and minerals. These are the little things in food that helps our body run! They contain Vitamin C which helps keep our skin and body cells healthy, Vitamin K that supports our blood circulation and potassium which helps the movement of our muscles. Finally, apples have been known to help promote good bacteria, the kind that helps you fight off illness.

So what are you waiting for? Next time you are at the store with your parents, ask if you can have an apple in your lunch! Better yet! Why don’t you go apple picking?