Overcoming the fear of failure by failing.
Fear of failure is something that seems to have been amplified over the past decade. We’re sure that social media has a stake in that, as it seems to be the reason for many of our modern-day troubles. We see a perfect version of perfect lives every day. We don't see the context, the pain, or the mess that goes on behind them. This makes us question and doubt ourselves. How come I don't have it together as everyone else seems to? Thus, putting yourself out there, in a very raw and honest way - like trying something new - where the outcome is not guaranteed, is terrifying.
As a designer, fear comes in many forms. Fear of not winning a project, fear of starting a project (blank page syndrome - we’ll come back to this later), fear of clients hating your work, fear of presenting your work, fear of rejection, fear of not getting paid, fear of forgetting how to design anything good. In fact, I’m not sure how or why we’re all in this profession...?!
But I digress…
Letting all of the mentioned fears take hold of you would stop you from doing anything. Why try? You’re just going to fail. Yep, you probably will at some point, but you'll also succeed. Without trying, without failing, and evolving you'll never actually make it to the glorious destination of succeeding. In some respects, failing is a form of success, at least you put yourself out there, and you can learn something from the experience.
Once upon a time, we thought that being a designer meant that everything that came out of my head and onto paper had to be perfect. It was a paralysing thought. The first design had to be incredible, the font, impeccable, and the colour palette inspired. Spoiler, literally no one is that good. Yes, you hone your skills, and you get to the ‘impeccable’ stages of a project quicker, but in reality, we all start by creating utter drivel. Even the big shiny agencies that just seem to knock it out of the park every time. What you haven’t seen are the large team behind it and the 30 to 70 designs before that just ended up in the bin.
'Blank page' fear is an uncomfortable feeling we will all have felt at some stage, whether you’re a designer or not. The start of something where all that is in front of you is nothingness. We have been very lucky in the fact that I’ve seen that as an exciting thing. To us, there is so much opportunity there, so many ways it could go, some many ideas - but for many, it is a crippling fear that stops them in their tracks. Where to start? Our advice to you is - JUST START.
Sometimes we want everything to be all figured out, we want to have had all of the meetings, done all of the workshops, brainstormed, and researched the project to within an inch of its life, but honestly, there is value in just starting something. A lot of the kinks and issues can be explored in the process. Sometimes you need to see it to understand it. My second piece of advice - get comfortable with the fact you’ll design some reeeeeeal crap. I mean real stinkers. We come to expect it now, it’s part of the process. At the start of a project, the ideas will all have been floating around since the beginning, and we need to get them all out on paper/the screen. Sometimes it’s just an act of getting them out to confirm to yourself it won't work - sometimes you’re sure it’ll work, but in reality, it's not great. Don't be disheartened by this. Yes, it's hard, you'll feel exposed and panicked that nothing good is going to come, but you just need to keep the faith. Take a break, come back and reassess where you're at. Nine times out of ten there will be something hidden in all of the badness that has a little glimmer to it, something to explore. A day later I can almost guarantee that you'll have a handful of ideas that get those butterflies going, the excitement of knowing that you've found something good and want to share it.
Whether you're a designer or not - we honestly attest to the idea of 'just start something'. Whether it is writing that blog post (Hiiii...all our posts start us utter trash whilst we throw words onto a page before starting to assembling them into so sort of sense), starting a proposal, planning an event, cooking dinner, making a dress, weeding the veg patch or renovating your house. It may feel uncomfortable and forced to begin with, but pluck away a while longer and you'll surprise yourself with what you're capable of.