Seth Godin calls worrying and anxiety “practicing failure in advance.”
When you worry or you’re anxious, you’re putting all of your energy into the worst-case scenario. You’re dreaming up the awful things that might happen, but probably won’t.
What if I fail?
What if I fall behind?
What if I don’t get a job? What if I lose my job?
To me, entertaining these ideas is worse than a waste of time. It’s practicing to fail.
People will write to me in the weeks before their PANCE asking about the plan for if they fail. “How many times can you take the test? What happens to my job if I fail?” I refuse to answer them. I know I didn’t look into it for me when I took my PANRE. “I know I can’t take it again for 90 days. And I know I want to take it early in the year, so I have time to retake it.” That’s enough. I’m not spending a single second on what happens if I fail that second time and then I’m out of my window.
Don’t practice to fail, practice to win. Spend that energy studying, practicing, and evaluating your progress. Find the flaws and improve them. Don’t take up valuable energy preparing your ego in case you fail. That’s like giving yourself permission to fail.
Practice. Use the time you’d be worrying about failing to study. Use The Final Step and knock it out of the park.
Brian Wallace
P.S. If finances are tight, I’ve got something cooking for you. You’ll get a sneak peek tomorrow.
