Face-Planting Into Greatness: How I Learned to Stop Fearing Failure and Start Living Boldly

Let me tell you something—I have messed up a lot. Like, the kind of mess-ups that make you want to rewind time and high-five your past self in the face. I’ve sent texts to the wrong person, tripped over my own feet in front of people I wanted to impress, and even managed to burn toast in a toaster. (How does that even happen?) But you know what? I’ve learned to own every single one of those moments because they’ve taught me something important: failure isn’t the enemy.

For the longest time, though, I treated it like one. Fear of failure had me playing it safe—avoiding risks, sticking to what I knew, and convincing myself that “perfect” was the only option. But guess what? Perfect doesn’t exist. And trying to avoid mistakes doesn’t make life easier; it just makes it smaller.

Take the time I tried to bake a “simple” cake for a friend’s birthday. I thought, How hard could it be? Well, turns out, very. The batter overflowed, the frosting looked like a sad puddle, and the cake itself tasted... let’s call it “experimental.” At first, I was mortified, imagining everyone secretly judging me. But when I brought it out, my friends burst out laughing (in a nice way), and we ended up eating the messy cake anyway. It was still delicious. And honestly? That cake disaster became a memory we still laugh about.

That’s the thing about failure—it’s often way less dramatic than we fear it will be. Sure, it stings at first, but then life moves on, and so do we. And when we give ourselves permission to try, even if we fail, we discover something amazing: we’re capable of so much more than we think.

Here’s the secret: failure isn’t a stop sign; it’s a detour. It’s a chance to rethink, readjust, and try again—smarter and stronger. I’ve learned that mistakes are like little arrows pointing the way forward. Each one teaches us something valuable, whether it’s what not to do or how to approach things differently next time.

And let’s not forget the best part: failing means you’re in the game. You’re showing up, trying, and learning as you go. Think of all the greats—Beyoncé, Einstein, whoever invented nachos (an unsung hero, honestly)—none of them got it right the first time. What made them stand out was their refusal to let mistakes define them.

So, here’s my advice: mess up. Fall flat on your face if you have to. Burn the cake, say the wrong thing, and take the leap that scares you. Because even when it doesn’t work out perfectly, you’re still growing. And every so-called “failure” is just a stepping stone to something better.

At the end of the day, life isn’t about getting it all right. It’s about getting back up, laughing at the spilled batter, and realizing that the real success is in the trying. You’ve got this—and if you need me, I’ll be here, probably burning toast again.