I live in fear of failure all the time because when I was growing up, I had alot of my peers shun me, and I let some mean kids invade my own self-esteem at an age where it was cruical for me to understand that I am a valuable person.

Now I’m having a hard time following my dreams of playing music because of the factor of having to play live. I love writing and recording and playing music and could do it every minute of the day (which is ultimately what I want to be able to do) and I want people to hear it, but I do not enjoy playing live. I have before and am making myself do it because I know I have to but it freaks me out everytime and is not enjoyable….so I dont know how to get over this.

I know that the main reason it stresses me out is because of fear of failure and not being accepted by the audience, and I really have never had a bad experience, so I dont know what my hesitation is and why it’s so hard for me to do this? I do not try and compare myself to other artists/musicians but I do wonder if I’ll ever be comfortable enough to play shows as it seems others are.

@Miles:

Been there, done that! I know how hard it can be, especially at first.

One thing that may help move things along quicker for you is: get blown out early, get blown out often. When you accept that rejection, failure, and even embarrassment are pretty much guaranteed early on, you give yourself the freedom to fail your way forward.

Have fun!

It is a constint struggle. Parents pull you one way, friends another, society another, and then yourself.

My goal has just been to get out of the house. Every day. Not even talk to anyone (small talk of course), I still can’t approach people randomly and have a conversation. But everyday I am getting out and it is uncomfortable. It never used to be.

But it is baby steps. Eye contact. Posture. Confidence. Smile. Everything.

But I am doing it, and its from blogs like yours and sean messenger that are helping me.

Thank you.