Be Brave Enough to Fail at Something New

For the last several months I have been attempting to paint with watercolors. It has been a challenging medium. My goal is to be able to paint very loosely. But my goodness it has been frustrating "letting go".

I have learned that "letting loose" makes for a very interesting painting using this medium.

So for months now I have been thinking about “letting loose”...

what it means, why we find it so hard, and how we can do it.

We live in a world where we want to control everything.

The idea that we can control everything is an illusion and at some point in our lives,

we’re all forced to lose control. I know it’s not easy to "let go" of control,

It has been both challenging and frustrating for me, to "let go" of the details and just let the paint flow…

To work with it rather than against it.

It has been a process to accept and embrace uncertainty. There are times I try to take back control, and when I do the paintings look stiff and lifeless. In order to learn how to "let go" of control, I discovered I need to be ok with all outcomes.

But I get it, it’s not easy “letting go”. So I decided to put together a list of things that have helped me to “let go” and be a little more free. I certainly haven’t arrived yet, and I am no expert. But I hope you find something here to help you "let loose, and be more free" in whatever you do.

1. Stop worrying about what others think of you and your work.

You can’t control what others think about you, so just stop worrying so much about it, and wasting your mental and emotional energy. Remember, no matter what you do there will always be critics out there. It really doesn’t matter how many people criticize your decisions, hobbies, paintings or anything else –

And by all means stop comparing yourself to others.

2. Stop being afraid of failure

We’ve all been afraid of failure at some point in our lives, it’s a natural thing to feel. But at some point, we have to "let go" of the fear. We have to say, “the heck with it” and just go ahead and try stuff.

The truth is that maybe we’ll fail, and that’s ok. We can always learn something from the experience.

Or, maybe we’ll succeed. How great would that be? But it’s not possible unless we try.

The bottom line is that in order to “let go” of control, you have to accept that failure is a natural part of it.

I can’t tell you how many paintings I have crumpled up in frustration.

3. Don’t try to hard.

This one sounds a bit weird, but it’s actually very important, at least for me… being a very driven person.

Trying too hard is the fastest way to failure. Instead, you need to take things easy and learn from the mistakes, rather than keep trying harder and harder to get things done. I have discovered that’s not how real magic happens. Magic happens by learning from your mistakes,

If we feel that we’re doing something wrong or not quite right, maybe we just need to relax and not try so hard.

4. Don’t become too attached to an outcome

It’s very important to accept that you may not always have the outcome you were looking for.

Just accept that you’ve done your best. Don’t be attached to an outcome, or get hung up on the outcome or the result, just do what you can do at this very moment and then “let it go.”

Get back on the horse and try again.

5. Start with small steps

The best way to practice "letting go" of control is to start by taking small steps. It’s all about progress.

This is what I teach my horsemanship students, And it really helps them. I call it the “move closer stay longer” principle.

6. Don’t do it alone

"Letting go" of control will take a little bit of time, and most people find it very hard to do on their own.

It’s important to have support and be encouraged when working towards “letting go” …whether it be of your painting, horsemanship, unforgiveness or anything else in life that is hindering progress.

7. Let go of the need to be perfect

This one has been the toughest one for me. I fear I might fail because I’m not perfect.

Now, most of us have been taught that perfection is the key to success, but it really isn’t.

Forget about trying to be perfect. Instead, focus on improving weaknesses and developing new skills and techniques as you practice and explore possibilities, in order to succeed in life.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means…Just some things that came to mind as I have been pondering the subject and exploring the possibilities.

I hope you got something good out of this...

And if you have some tips for "letting loose" I would love to hear them in the comments.