We often make choices out of fear. We keep living at a place we don’t like, we keep doing a job that drains our energy or we are stuck in unfulfilling relationships. In the first case, we might stay in this situation because we are afraid that we won’t be happy in another city or that we won’t make new friends. Secondly, we often settle for a job we don’t love, because we are afraid that our dream job doesn’t exist or that we will fail tremendously if we start our own business. lastly, we don’t stand up for ourselves in fights and keep pleasing others, because we are afraid to be alone.

All of these choices make us feel miserable. Doing nothing about a bad situation is actively choosing to be in that situation. Yes, that’s right. Even if we do nothing, we make a choice and we are responsible for our problems.

So why are we, humans, inclined to carry our problems around like a backpack full of stones? Why is it so difficult to just take a leap of faith and make a change? The answer is: We are afraid to fail. Our brains trick us into thinking that it’s better to be stuck in a bad situation instead of risking something that is even worse!

Now the question is: How can you possibly gain the confidence to make that change? How can someone in their right mind decide to grow? The solution is simple: make sure that you’ll never fail. That sounds quite impossible, but it isn’t! The concept of failing is made up, by people who were too scared to try something new. Take the word ‘failing’ out of your vocabulary and replace it with ‘learning’, because that’s exactly what it is!

As soon as you realise that learning is the only thing that exists, your life will change for the better. All the ‘mistakes’ you make, teach you a lesson and all the setbacks make you stronger. You won’t get scared when things turn out differently or when you can’t control a situation, because you’ll understand that it’s part of the experience we call life.

What did you learn when you took a leap of faith?