Ever go to do something and not know how to start? No matter how you approach it you just feel like you will never be able to succeed so what is the point in trying at all?
The feeling of intimidation is daunting. It discourages us from trying new things, from sharing our accomplishments and from being the best we can be. Intimidation is born from many sources: a peer who is 'good at everything', a preconceived notion of how you should look/perform/interact or pressures felt from companies/celebrities displaying their concepts of perfection. One of the biggest intimidation sources is social media. It is easy to think that everyone out there is cooler, better, happier, more popular etc etc than you based on their curated Instagram feed or flawless 'Snap Streak'.
Surely everyone has felt intimidated at one point or another so here are our Top Five Ways to Deal with Intimidation:
- Be confident in your own path. - You make choices every day that shape your life. Those choices make you who you are. As long as you are happy with the path you are on do not worry about what others may think and stay true to yourself.
- Public image ≠ reality. - People generally do not post bad pictures of themselves. People generally do not let you know about their failures. No one is perfect and whenever it seems like person x is living the dream and better than you at life just remember that they have their own fears and limitations that you may not know about. Do not compare yourself to someone else's ideals but rather focus on your own.
- Set goals. - The best way to ignore the crowd is to set some goals. These can be goals to a specific accomplishment or just daily goals like be a better person, help others and try something new. We help each of our campers set goals every day at camp and it allows them to tackle big things without getting overwhelmed. Break whatever you want to do into pieces, master each piece and put it all together to dominate.
- Seek help! - There are resources all around you. Parents, coaches, teachers, peers, online tutorials, the list goes on. If you want to do something chances are there is someone nearby that can help you out.
- Disconnect! - Stop worrying so much about what others are doing and focus on what matters. Put your phone down and do not check social media for a few days. Likewise do not do something new just to post about it to your friends and followers: do it for yourself.
So go learn a new instrument. Try out some public speaking. Ask out the person you have been scared to approach. Do something that would usually make you 'uncool'. Above all, when you feel intimidated by something just take a deep breath and dive in.