
Ask HN: How do you get over the initial fear of learning something hard or new? - whitepoplar
Particularly with regard to new software projects, languages, concepts, etc.
======
everdev
Two ideas:

1\. Keep reducing the goal until it's no longer scary. Instead of "learning
X", maybe try "reading about X" or "try X for 10 min". Keep taking more off
your plate until you feel that "I can do this" feeling.

2\. When a fear pops up, respond to yourself with "I know". For example: "I
might waste my time and never get good at X" -> "I know". If you repeat that
process some contend that by giving your monkey brain (or flight response)
attention and respect it starts to diminish. It just wants you to know how
risky it thinks this activity is and can keep repeating or getting louder
until you acknowledge that it's been heard.

~~~
wccrawford
In addition to that, it helps me to think of the consequences of failure.

For instance, my wife and I recently redid an entire small bathroom. I
replaced wallboard, replaced toilet and cabinet and sink, and laid tile. I'd
never done any of that before.

It was incredibly scary at first. But I finally said, "What's the worst that
can happen?" We paid a plumber for the hard stuff like moving the shutoffs and
replacing the cracked flange (my fault!) and did the rest ourselves.

The worst thing that could happen was that we damage something (which happened
with the flange!) or that we decide we just can't do it to our satisfaction
and have to pay someone.

The alternative was to just pay someone.

In the end, it was still scary, but it was the logical thing to do, and so I
tried it.

It went very, very well. Except the flange.

~~~
quicklyfrozen
In case it happens again :-): [https://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Flange-Repair-
Kit-Flanges/dp/B...](https://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Flange-Repair-Kit-
Flanges/dp/B078HGCYYJ)

~~~
wccrawford
Thanks, but unfortunately that wasn't the part that cracked, It cracked
vertically all the way down to the pipe it was connected to. The whole thing
had to be replaced to make sure it wouldn't leak.

------
mbrock
One thing is to learn not to fear jargon. It's just a bunch of made up words,
and you can quite easily learn them, and then you will sound just as clever
and sophisticated as those people you saw in discussions.

Like, you might be getting into woodworking and see someone casually saying
this, a real example I ran into earlier today:

"I built a jig to hold my boards down and run them over the stacked dado with
the miter guide. Despite this, the cupping that some of the boards had made
the cross cuts uneven. I opted for half lap joints because I've seen people do
miter joints on this bed design before and they don't seem to hold up very
well over time."

That's actually a self-proclaimed beginner talking about one of his first
woodworking projects. When someone asked him how he learned all these words,
he said "You can learn a lot from YouTube."

Indeed those concepts aren't advanced; a miter guide is just little gizmo that
holds your plank at an angle, a half lap joint is just a particular way of
gluing two planks together, etc.

But reading stuff that has unfamiliar vocabulary can be tiring, so keep an eye
on that and make sure you look up the words you don't understand, maybe
keeping a small lexicon in a text file.

~~~
sevensor
Also, watch out for bullshit artists using jargon. Most jargon isn't B.S., but
a lot of B.S. manages to hide behind jargon. You'll begin to notice this if
you immerse yourself in academic writing. Being widely cited and having lots
of collaborators is no guarantee that you actually have something useful to
say.

------
doggo86
Step one to solving any problem is recognizing there is one. In words from
Rambo, you need to come full circle with your fear that...

1) You don't know shit

2) Learning requires patience and time

3) It's ok to take a step back and start from square one

I approach learning new programming languages, hardware design concepts and
software design concepts very similar to how I might approach hiking through a
forest, mountain, etc.

If I'm hiking i'm usually taking the most interesting scenic route I can take
out of pure curiosity. This drives my interest as I'm hiking wondering what
might I see around the bend or just over the next ridge. This part is crucial
for me to keep going otherwise lost of interest is high and the end goal of
getting to the top seems less rewarding.

The same concept should be applied to learning. There should be an elevating
amount or sustainable amount of interest towards the end goal of learning
something new. Each chapter of a book or functional line(s) of code that does
something should excite you and elevate or at the very least sustain your
level of interest.

I'm probably one of the weakest software engineers (or possibly was) at my
company mostly because I'm a first generation college student and engineer out
of my family. I grew up on a farm and ranch where most of these resources were
limited. I've had to spend more time on improving my skills and learning new
things than probably the vast majority of individuals in our software
department have. This methodology I've mentioned above has done wonders for me
and has shaped my character/personality to how I approach problems and
learning new skills.

------
turc1656
I need something pushing me. Usually it's a demand placed upon me that
requires I learn it to meet some kind of deadline. It's got to be something
time-bound. If it's just a general request, for example, from a higher up that
I learn something or look into something for some unknown reason or for some
theoretical future project, odds are I'm not going to actually do it. But if I
know that if I fail to do it and there is actually a consequence like me not
being able to fulfill a goal that has been set for me, then I'm going to make
sure that it gets done if for no other reason than not wanting to fail or be
embarrassed.

If this is not for work where you are accountable to others and instead this
is for a personal project it becomes more difficult. If possible, work with
someone on your side project because then you will be accountable to them like
you would be on a team at work. If it's just yourself and you are taking the
approach of "well it doesn't matter if I don't meet my made up deadline for
myself", then things tend to never get done. I had this issue. When trying to
balance side projects with life and family, the projects kept getting pushed.
Once I had a business partner, I'm far more productive because I have a real
reason to get stuff done - no one wants to fail the person they are in
business with.

~~~
kefabean
+1 to this, doesn’t really matter how vague the push is so long as someone is
putting the monkey on my back. There’s always some stress but it’s infinitely
better than no push and I always learn loads in the process.

------
Pamar
Fear of learning something new...?

I have real problems understanding the question. Honestly.

The only way it could even remotely make sense to me is something like:

"Fear of _failing_ to learn something that is required knowledge to save your
(your) job/livelihood/life.

Case in point: am I "scared" of learning German? No, but I can think it will
be too hard _for the level of energy I will be able to put into studying it_
compared to the benefits.

So - at least in my case - the only "scaring" element would be "scared of
wasting my time/money pursuing this".

(EDIT: typo)

~~~
saberience
Sounds like you're having trouble with honest empathy or understanding what
other people might be thinking or feeling.

This kind of feeling is EXTREMELY common, especially with engineers. You sound
like you're over-indexing on logic and not really trying to understand how
other people might think and feel. You might not get this now, but working on
these other skills will make a bigger impact on your life and career than
being a better programmer.

~~~
Grustaf
I can’t understand this either. Of course you know very little about something
when you are just starting out, that is expected, where is the shame in that?
Hopefully you’ll learn it eventually, and if not, well then it wasn’t for you.
We can’t all be good at everything.

/another (ex-) consultant.

------
tomhoward
Try to take on a contract or job role that's a significant but achievable step
above your current level of capability.

It's amazing how quickly you can learn something when you throw yourself into
a situation where you just have to do it, or else.

Obviously you need to take care to ensure that your employers/colleagues will
be supportive and understanding that you'll need some time to develop new
skills. But you also want them to push you to raise your level to what
you/they know you're capable of.

------
muzani
It requires a certain amount of energy to "punch through" a problem. You just
have to focus and commit enough energy.

Most people have unfocused energy. They try to do too many things and never
hit the boiling point on the harder things. Because they don't succeed, they
start to lose confidence on attacking hard problems, and start to give up
earlier.

You might be playing a game. It's easy to give up on them. Commit to a certain
stage, maybe a level, a round, try out a build, or play until one defeat.

I'm reading a tough book. Instead of commiting to properly reading it, I've
committed to highlighting major points in each chapter.

I tried to learn to use a breadmaker today. It's quite intimidating - the
instructions are very precise, ingredients have to be collected, and there's a
lot of unknowns. I committed to just doing one loaf of bread. It took me the
whole morning's energy, it was quite pointless, and it failed. But I learned a
lot and I'm glad I did it.

Want to learn to do mobile programming? Commit to it until you can do a to do
app or something.

Want to learn a concept? Then do it until you learn and can repeat the
concept.

Phrase it as a challenge, a puzzle to yourself, not something you _have_ to
do.

What I strongly don't recommend you do is to only commit a certain amount of
minutes. It works for some, but often I see people stop before hitting that
boiling point. It's actually incredibly fun to focus on something for a few
days, just as long as it's not an endless treadmill.

------
dkaplowitz
Fear can be normal. Assuming you already know how to break a problem down into
its smallest/most manageable steps (trying things like working backward from
the end goal, using what you already know/learned previously, etc.), if the
fear is overwhelming and getting in the way of getting started, then dealing
with the fear might be a first step.

Write them out. What are you afraid of? "I can't learn this." "This time I
will be proven to be an impostor", "Everyone will think I'm stupid". "I'll be
ridiculed." Sometimes just doing that helps.

There's a lot of critical thinking that fears don't hold up to. "Have I
learned anything hard or new before?" "Was I ever ridiculed for being a novice
at something?" "Will _everyone_ really think I'm stupid?" etc. Sometimes just
analyzing the things your fear-based reactions are telling you is enough to
dispel them, or at least make them less paralyzing.

Ask yourself "what if I knew everything would turn out fine here, and that
I'll be a success. How would I act in that case?"

Stuff like that. Sometimes the technical problems are easier than the
psychological ones.

------
sethammons
What is the most important step a person can take? It is the next one.
--Stormlight Archives (at least the spirit of the quote is from there).

I think the first step is easy, but continuing is hard. I think the most scary
project I took on was being a very inexperienced home improvement person and
decidiing to tear out our rock chimney, replace the whole wall and install a
big window and create a new hearth with a wood burning stove. I had a week of
vacation to do get the house at least back to livable.

I broke it down into parts or mini-milestones. Estimated what I would need and
what I would do. I did research. I took the first step of removing the first
stone of the chimney. Then the next stone. Then the wall. Then then next step.

------
alexgiorev
Learning should never be unpleasant. If it is, consider exploring
supermemo.guru. It has many articles on learning, memory, sleep... and is
maintained by one of the most knowledgeable people on the topics of learning.
For this particular question, explore the articles on toxic memories, to see
why some people experience anxiety before learning.

I am not in ANY way affiliated with this site, I just read it often and the
articles have helped me more than I can describe in words.

~~~
muzani
I second it. The site looks a bit old and the articles are quite long, giving
it that rambling madman feel. But it's all good stuff by a qualified
researcher.

------
edw519
Grab a successful project already done by someone else, put it in your
repository, back it up, and start changing things, one at a time. You'll start
to see how little things work, maybe understand why the original author made
choices, and surprisingly, find better or more interesting ways to do the same
thing. (I'm always looking for ways to do the same thing with "less". I
usually find them.)

Keep restoring the original and repeat. Then start adding new functionality.
Experiment. Break it. Play "what if". You can always restore and start over.

Before you know it, the mystery starts to fade and for some people, the fear
does too.

------
segmondy
Why will you have fear of learning something new or hard?

------
j45
For me: start small.. keep moving, inward, onward, upward..

Check out the book mindset by Dr Carol Dueck.

She walks a person thru recognizing where we have a fixed mindset vs a growth
mindset. It was a refreshing read.

------
klyrs
Recently I started learning VHDL. I have some very personal pep talks... look
to your own past for something more applicable.

    
    
      * "you've learned over 20 languages"
    
      * "this won't be as annoying as brainfuck, Piet, or FRACTRAN"
    
      * "you've absorbed the basics of analog circuit design, this digital crap is gonna be easy"
    
    

And then it's all about setting reasonable goals, breaking the work into
discrete chunks and tackling them in an orderly fashion.

    
    
      * my coworker whose FPGA board I'm using tells me "just get to a point where you can turn on an LED with a switch and it's downhill from there"
    
      * I tell myself, "your algorithm is a series of interconnected state machines.  Figure out how to make a state machine and it's downhill from there"
    

And then there's the expertise I have access too -- I know that memory and
timing issues are going to be a nightmare. When I get to that point. _When I
get to that point_ , I can worry about the PCI bus and API. At that point I'll
have the basics down, and I'll be able to have more fruitful discussions with
my coworkers and they'll take a greater interest in my work.

------
proverbialbunny
We are all born ignorant. Life's mysteries give meaning and passion to life.
If I knew everything, I'd have to find new passion, so I'm grateful I'm
ignorant. There has never been nor ever will be anything wrong with not
knowing.

Assuming you're studying alone, so it's not fear based on māna (comparing
yourself to others without taking in the back story of all parties being
compared):

Generic fear is recognition of the unknown. Recognizing when there is
something to learn is a beneficial skill to learn. Recognizing this is how
fear works, the emotional response ceases its control when the logical mind
understands what is going on and how to deal with this unknown; learning is an
opportunity for a reward.

Learning is pattern matching our previous understanding (neighboring concepts)
with a new idea. (And understanding the story of how that concept came to be,
and what its intention is eg, leading to how it is used and in what
situations.)

When one is learning a concept within a subject matter they are already
familiar with, there are a lot of similar concepts, making the learning easy
or effortless. However, when it is a new subject matter, especially if it is
an atomic concept with its only neighboring understanding comes from
isomorphic concepts that exist in other domains, it can take a bit more work
to really "get it".

A trick I employ when learning is I forget time. I forget any goals. If I'm
learning a thing so I can solve an issue in a issue tracker, then I will feel
pressured on time. But the harder or more foreign the subject is that needs to
be learned, the slower one needs to go to really get it.

If I am okay taking a day or even days pondering a new idea with the patience
of learning the concept for it itself, then the learning process will be
enjoyable instead of stressful.

If you have "all the time in the world" to learn, then it becomes easy to
recursively dive depth-first into the concept and it's prerequisite concepts,
as well as its neighboring concepts. Instead of learning a single concept, why
not learn an ecosystem of concepts? This will help one retain what they've
learned, make what they learn far more useful than learning a single stand
alone idea, and it makes it easier to learn more of that topic. Once the first
2-4+ concepts in a domain are learned, learning anything else within that
world becomes a cake walk.

~~~
Sebb767
> māna

I like that there's a word for this :) Which language is this from?

~~~
proverbialbunny
Pali. Usually if you want a precise word to describe something psychological,
there is a word in Pali for it.

------
saisundar
This might not be a direct answer , but reading " Peak: Secrets from the New
Science of Expertise
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29369213-peak"](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29369213-peak")
certainly helped nail down in my head that learning is a skill, and the only
barrier to learning (and becoming an expert) and doing something is yourself
and time (it explicitly says that you can't hope to be an expert by mindlessly
repeating it or going through the motions though) . The book also lays down
effective lessons for how to optimize for learning the skill fast
(specifically with short iterational feedback loops) and effectively.

The book is fairly well researched, draws from credible academic sources and
breaks down the "genius" construct fairly well. It left me knowing that any
new subject or skill is approachable to anyone and everyone, as long as they
are prepared to put in the time, and effort and an effective feedback loop in
there.

------
hnrodey
Tim Ferriss publishes a piece called Fear Setting. You might find that useful.

Another suggestion is to actually write down and articulate the specific
issues you're facing. I find that the act of writing helps me make sense of
thoughts - much more so than simply thinking about my thoughts.

Although I find I'm better at execution than planning so I like the mantra
"just do it".

------
Takizawa
I can think of a few strategies, alongside the other good ones people
mentioned. 1\. Reduce your initial expectations. When you start something hard
and/ or new you will be awful at it. Just acknowledge that fact and move on.
2\. Focus on time as the goal. Instead of saying, I have to master A or B,
focus on time spent, focus on the raw number of hours spent learning. You
should still chunk the learning, but start by tracking time. 3\. Seek
immersion opportunities. The person who authors
[https://waitbutwhy.com/](https://waitbutwhy.com/) focuses on a new topic
periodically. These topics can get quite complex and yet sometimes he only has
a week or so to get himself up to speed. He'll do things like find all the
videos on the topic on Youtube that are informative, authoritative and yet
somewhat entertaining. He'll mass watch those videos, all the while gaining a
feel.

------
maceurt
If the reason for your fear is out of deadlines, then simply ignore the
deadlines for the most part and focus on learning overall. Obviously you can't
ignore them completely, but if you actually let yourself just focus on
learning instead of the deadline you will actually have a better chance of
completing your goal by the deadline rather than if you focused only on the
completing something by the deadline.

If it does not have something to do with a deadline, then I would suggest just
pursue the new language, concept, etc. like you would something you are
naturally curious about. If you are a fan of a certain science fiction
universe, it is not scary to try and learn something new about that universe,
because you will be naturally curious about it and be focusing on the joy of
learning new information about the universe. Treat whatever you are trying to
learn like that by finding ways to get naturally curious about the new
subject.

------
mrburton
I can't say I ever had fear of learning something new. I really enjoy
learning.

I suspect you don't have a fear of learning, but a fear of how people might
perceive you during the phase of learning? Don't get me wrong, I also struggle
with "perception fear", just in different areas of life. I'm also working on
overcoming that.

Here's my 2 cents that's worth less than 2 cents.

Face your fear head on. Instead of beating yourself up for mistakes, remind
yourself that making mistakes is natural. Adjust and try again.

Hope you break out of this fear because it's a mindset. Most fears are
bullshit. Learning won't kill you, people judging you along the way won't kill
you.

Enjoy yourself and go easy on yourself.

------
overcast
Don't look at it from the view of a complete project. Think of it like
compound interest in your retirement account. I learn by building slightly
more complex projects on top of a previous simpler project knowledge.

Want to build an entire website, with authentication, payments, dynamic
interfaces, real time notifications? Learn HTML by putting your resume on the
web. Then take that knowledge, and build something that takes a basic form,
and maybe saves to a database. Then you take that, and build something that
takes that user input, and thanks them by email. Onward and so forth.

Going from 0 to 100 for someone that hasn't done all of these little projects
over the years, is way too daunting and unrealistic.

------
SmushyTaco
If you're going to learn a new language or software being organized takes out
all the stress. For example, when I learned Rust I made myself the perfect
Sublime text setup for rust when on udemy got a course for it and would code
along with the course instructor. I'd also make a folder to containing the
code for each source with a folder in there for each lesson which would
contain the source and the compiled program and I got through that and it was
actually fun. As long as you're organized and don't rush yourself you should
be fine.

------
Dowwie
Google "Tim Ferris fear setting". I've gone through the fear setting technique
several times and have gotten through pretty rough patches in my personal
development with it.

------
TACIXAT
Come up with a small first step. This is usually writing the hello world
equivalent or reading through a paper or article. Once I get my head around it
I make a list of todos and start knocking them out.

------
laythea
Pick any _aspect_ of said subject and dig in. If possible, have a project to
study said subject. Do not look at other aspects of the same subject. Focus.
Less thought is more at this point.

The minute you start thinking "oh no the subjects so big, where do I start",
you start tying yourself up in mental knots.

Also, have another subject, so when you get fed up, you can take a break and
switch subject (maybe forever). You can "find your spot" like that.

To learn is to live! Good luck!

------
lukifer
Give yourself permission to define your own goalposts, however meager or
humble. It's not unlike learning a new spoken language: just because you have
a massive vocabulary in your native tongue, does not mean it's not an
achievement to learn to count to ten in a new one.

It's not enough to "crawl before you walk before you run". It's important to
_feel good_ about successfully crawling, even if one is accustomed to running
marathons in another context.

------
EliRivers
Call it "excitement" instead.

For example, there is no stage fright. It's stage excitement. All those
feelings some people get before speaking in front of a large crowd? That's all
excitement. Wow, I'm looking forwards to this! This is going to be _great_!
Surprisingly effective. Apply the same self-psychology here.

Being excited about it makes more sense; maybe it really _is_ excitement
you're feeling. Easy to confuse the two.

------
abakker
Not on the topic of software, but with other crafts, I like to think about the
idea "Nothing is hard, it is just slow". the biggest beginner mistake in
woodworking is trying to work to fast, same with welding, same with music. If
you just content yourself with working on new, hard things slowly and don't
try to be fast it all ends up less daunting. FWIW, this has been my experience
learning the little code that I know, too.

~~~
convolvatron
this is key with hand work. there is an expectation that, if for example you
are shaping a piece of sheet metal, it seems like if you know what you're
doing just can just bang it out. so if you keep trying to bang things out
you're supposed to get better.

knowing what you're doing really means having the patience to make a subplan,
trying to execute it carefully, seeing how well you did and repeating the
process.

initially that might take several days and be painful. it will get faster over
time, but you have to learn to let the work steer you, and to put it aside
when you no longer have the focus or stamina. that internalization, regardless
any any of the particular skills you may pick up along the way, is what makes
you a practitioner rather than a hack.

------
strikelaserclaw
Meditate everyday. Mindful meditation for 15 minutes a day has helped me just
start things without thinking about them. Most people enjoy doing something
once they get started, it is getting started that is difficult. Set a small
objectives, and just get em done. I'm not even exaggerating, mindful
meditation has been the greatest tool I've ever found for being consistent
about things and starting things.

------
pessimizer
As a neurotic, I conquer fear through excessive preparation. I honestly don't
know what to do about a fear of preparation, though. If I find myself
intimidated by learning something, I look for a prerequisite to that something
that isn't intimidating, and start there.

Maybe what you have is a fear of _committing_ to learning something hard or
new? Something with a deadline, that you'll be judged on at some point?

------
voltooid
I see a lot of comments asking what a fear of learning something new is. I
interpret is as the fear of appearing stupid when trying to learn something
new. This means, that one doesn't ask questions, doesn't take big steps in the
presence of other people, the fear of failing at this new learning experience.
The fear of appearing incompetent at something that one "should" already know.

------
jqcoffey
We have this problem all the time where I work. It usually manifests itself as
a “slow engineer.” When you dig a bit that usually means the engineer in
question is afraid to ask questions, generally out of fear of looking silly.

My advice is to ask questions and read up. You can ask trusted
advisors/friends what to read up on before asking questions to the scary folks
(who are usually not that scary anyway).

------
padraigf
For me, I use the power of habit, and just keep at it every day.

A few benefits to this:

\- The power of habit can be an impetus to overcome the initial fear.

\- The knowledge that you did it just yesterday, and it wasn't so bad.

\- Learning gets solidified overnight, and often things are easier the next
day.

\- And then just doing something every day means it gets a lot of repetitions.

 _" I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock
every morning."_

― William Faulkner

------
Grustaf
Fear? Learning new things, especially hard things, should be the most
thrilling and rewarding thing in life. Starting on a new subject is like being
a child again. Instead of jaded indifference you look at the world with fresh
eyes, full of fascination. Everything is new, you don’t know what to expect,
it’s an adventure!

------
claudiulodro
I use this formula for everything, from learning new domains to working on
side projects to doing exercise:

Improvement = Consistency + Effort

If you consistently put in effort, you will improve. Improvement over time
becomes success.

If you just keep consistently showing up and trying your best, eventually you
will get very good at anything. On a long-enough timescale that is a
certainty. There is no reason to fear the new.

------
deeteecee
I'd say you have to accept the reality of having a lot of unknowns in new
software projects. By doing that, I guess I mean embracing the fear since
there's always going to new situations that come up in reality. In my mind, I
can't actually get used to anything since something new always crops up so I
just take that as the norm.

------
ianrentsb
Fear is normal, though sometimes because of that fear i get too lazy to start
to learn something new. So just think positive, nothing is impossible.

Maybe my advise isn't so good but i like to buy new pens and have some sweet
stuff like chocolate. If i pass first hard part i can encourage myself with a
bar of chocolate.

------
AnIdiotOnTheNet
Do something with it that is simple, useful, and for which it is uniquely well
suited.

For instance, I wanted to start working with Lazarus (A FreePascal IDE with
WYSIWYG GUI designer) so I used it to throw together some simple GUI launchers
for a portable LAN gaming pack I put together.

------
unforeseen9991
Realize you are going to die and there is nothing you can do about it.

Helps in all fear based situations.

------
nbardy
I don't. I just suffer through the anxiety. Mostly trying not to pay attention
to it until I've made something. Once I've made something with a new
technology I've got evidence for myself, than I can start to find comfort.

------
blawson
You keep doing it. The more you try, the more you get over that fear, and
understand you can learn what you put your mind to.

That also means you get better at understanding how you learn, and
prioritizing what to learn as there is just to much!

------
marios
Take a look at this: [https://azeria-labs.com/the-process-of-mastering-a-
skill/](https://azeria-labs.com/the-process-of-mastering-a-skill/)

------
rifung
If I get discouraged I just tell myself this is good because I am adequately
challenging myself. If you're only doing stuff that you feel is easy then you
aren't really going to improve.

------
oh-4-fucks-sake
If it's a really big tech to learn, I tell myself "the first 6 weeks are going
to suck, and then I'll be fine". Has seemed to be a decent rule of thumb for
me.

------
dstroot
I took a personality test today. (Really). The results were uncanny. I LOVE
learning and trying new things and if it is hard then I might fail. But I if I
get up and try again again I might succeed. My Dad used to tell my sister “if
you never fall you aren’t skiing hard enough”. I fell all the time.

Baron von Hilton went bankrupt numerous times before founding Hilton Hotels.
Failure is how we learn. It’s the main ingredient in “experience”.

It’s also a way to find your own path. I tried Angular. It just didn’t click
for me. I tried React. At first I didn’t like the idea of JSX. Then everything
clicked. I might have never tried it had I not failed with Angular first.

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croo
Keep in mind that in this case fear is a good indicator that if you proceed
you will grow as a person. It is a good sign to feel fear, embrace it.

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cjbprime
Can't say I have this fear. What's it a fear of?

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kuroguro
It doesn't exactly feel like fear. I'd say it's more like the goal is so far
that you give up even before trying / push it back forever / procrastinate.
For ex "I'm going to learn how to do security research / do bug bounties /
write exploits" and never do much. It is fear based tho. I'd say it's fear of
wasting time and not getting anywhere.

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cjbprime
I wonder if it might just be not knowing how to start, rather than fear, then.
I don't expect I'd be very good at achieving those goals unless I had a
specific project in mind that touched on them.

Like, I wanted to do kernel development for years and couldn't get into it,
and then suddenly I had a job with buggy kernel drivers that needed to be
fixed and it was surprisingly easy. Fear wasn't holding me back, but not
having identified a realistic small project in the area that I was motivated
by was.

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euparkeria
Just do it.

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shamod
accept failure and use it as a stepping stone.

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draw_down
The only answer I've found is to set that aside and just put one foot in front
of the other. Over and over and over again.

When I encounter uncertainty or doubt, I have a bad habit of distracting
myself so I don't have to think about it. I have learned to catch myself doing
this, stop distracting myself, and continue to press on.

If something isn't working after trying and trying, it can be really
frustrating. But instead of thinking about how stupid the thing is that I'm
trying to make work, or why it was designed this way, or whatever, I have
learned to just keep trying. Maybe I'm even correct that the thing is poorly
designed or whatever- but it doesn't matter, just keep going.

This is not easy- but the upside is that it is simple. You just have to
remember to keep going. Again, not easy, but also extremely uncomplicated, no?

If you're anything like me, you can be very thoughtful, but that can manifest
as constant thinking about "what ifs", which honestly doesn't help anything.
Make your head like a rock. Just keep going. Everything besides "keep going"
is a distraction. So just keep going.

