Amigos
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    Anonymous Story2 min read

    How do I stop being scared of being bad at things and actually start something?

    I don't really have hobbies, not because I don't want them but because every time I think about trying something new I talk myself out of it before I even start. I get in my head about being bad at it, looking stupid, or someone seeing me struggle and I just never end up doing anything. It's been going on long enough that I've started to feel like everyone around me has things they're into and I'm just kind of empty in that way. I don't know if it's a fear of failure or just anxiety but either way it's been stopping me from even attempting stuff and I'm tired of it. I started thinking about where the fear was actually coming from. It wasn't really about the hobby itself, it was about being seen as bad at something. Being judged before I had a chance to get good. I also thought about whether there was anything I was even slightly curious about trying and realized there were a few things but I'd dismissed all of them before giving them a real shot. I realized I'd been approaching it backwards. I was trying to find something I'd be good at instead of something I actually enjoyed. Those aren't the same thing. If I actually liked something the embarrassment of being bad at it early on would matter a lot less than I was making it out to be. Talking it through helped me reframe the whole thing. We agreed the best next step was to start with what I was actually curious about rather than what I thought I could be good at. And to start doing it alone first, no audience, no pressure, just me figuring it out without anyone watching. The other thing that helped was remembering that most people are genuinely too focused on their own lives to be paying close attention to how good someone else is at something new. The audience I was scared of mostly existed in my head.

    Amigos’ Advice

    • Starting with what you enjoy rather than what you'll be good at makes the fear of being bad at it much smaller
    • Doing something alone first until you feel comfortable is a completely valid way to start
    • Most people are way too focused on themselves to notice or care how good you are at something new
    • The version of embarrassment you're imagining in your head is almost always worse than what actually happens
    • Not having hobbies yet doesn't mean anything is wrong with you, it just means you haven't found your thing yet
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