Break the spell of inertia and frustration

All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right-about-face which turns us from failure towards success."
~ Dorothea Brande

Failure is impossible!

.

If only it were so easy, right? If all we had to do was "act as if", then why would anybody still be stuck in that state of inertia and frustration? Why wouldn't we all be exulting in abundance and joy? A simple look around shows that's certainly not true!

Yet, something so simple and paradoxical really does have power behind it.

"Acting as if" means putting all our efforts into this focused direction, without holding back, and continually thinking "maybe this really won't work", or "maybe I'd better not", or "what if I can't do it?". How much mental effort is normally wasted worrying about things that never do go wrong, and visualizing worst case scenarios? If you can focus your mental state forwards instead of circling in endless worries, you can make progress a lot more easily.

"Acting as if" means trusting that solutions to issues will appear, and that you will figure out how to make things work, even if you don't know all the details yet. This helps avoid the "analysis paralysis" syndrome, where you spend so much time trying to analyze every possible problem up front, that you never move on to getting things done. If you wait for all the answers first, you'll never go anywhere.

"Acting as if" means heading in your chosen direction, confident this is the path to the success you want. It's not about going a few steps down this path, then deciding "no, maybe I would be better off going that way instead", then later still "probably safest to go back the way I came and start over". This leads to starting down many paths, but never getting far on any of them! If you act as if, you can continue down a path long enough to see the results.

"Acting as if" means visualizing the success of our venture, visualizing the good things that can come from it, and getting that feeling into our bones through the process of acting. It helps us to achieve that winning mindset, seeing ourselves as successful, rather than losers. That helps develop confidence, which in turn can help us develop real results. Confidence leads to better results, leads to more confidence. It's an upward cycle, and you can jump start it with a little acting.

"Acting as if" means taking risks, as you would if you knew it was impossible to fail. Every undertaking requires risks of certain sorts -- whether it's financial risk, risk of trying something new, risk of being different than your friends, risk of looking foolish, etc. If you're afraid to take the necessary risks, then you're afraid to move forward. Act as if it's impossible to fail, and you take those risks, and get on the way.

"Acting as if" means pursuing your dreams instead of settling for normal, realistic, or status quo. It means that you get out there and go after what you want. Don't let anybody - family, friends, experts, or even your own negative thoughts, tell you that what you want is impossible. Of course it is if you never get started! But if you "act as if", and start moving down that road... Well, that's the way to get there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People often ask me how I started Adventurous Wench, or how I got to be so lucky to have a job that lets me travel all over, meeting people and doing cool things. It all starts with an idea, and then you have to turn the idea into reality. There's a definite leap of faith -- that critical period at the beginning, where you have to start "acting as if".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~