Fear can be a prison. It glues your feet to the ground so you are unable to move forward. But let me tell you from experience, its not super glue or gorilla glue. This is the white Elmers glue that we used to put all over our hands to let dry and peel off. In other words - this glue can be unstuck.
Sadly, I am not all knowing and cannot directly give you a magical answer to make you unafraid of trying new things, but I CAN give a few tips that I hope will give you the tools and courage needed to take the leap.
It is fine and normal to not get it right the first time
YOU. ARE. HUMAN.
Go in with a positive mindset
Ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy? This is when an originally false expectation leads to its own confirmation. In other words - if you go into it with the mindset that you will hate it or be terrible at it…well, chances are you will probably hate it and be terrible at it.
Clear your mind. Do some meditation. Have a drink. Do whatever you need to do to flick the devil off your shoulder and start the new thing with a clear head. Hopefully, a positive clear head.
Patience
Be patient with yourself. You are a beginner and should treat yourself as such. Imagine you are teaching a skill to another person who has never tried it before - you’d go easy on them (I hope…if not, then that’s a whole other blog post). So rather than the whole “treat others as you’d want to be treated”, you need to treat yourself as you’d treat others. If you immediately set expectations of mastery on yourself, you are setting yourself up for failure and lowered morale. **This does not mean that you WON’T immediately be great at some things that you try for the first time, this is just about mindset.
Prepare before you start
Preparation can make things seem a lot less daunting and scary. Fortunately, we all have the magical access to YouTube and Google. Do a little research to ease your nerves.
Don’t compare the new things to the old things
As much as we long for the comfort of familiarity, it will be easier to accept the new thing as it is when you aren’t stuck comparing it to other things. For example, if you try to paint abstract, don’t compare to the realism painting you’ve done your whole life. Abstract is not realism. Skiing is not swimming. Speaking Norwegian is not speaking English.
Sometimes trying new things really sucks and can weigh on your confidence, but the trick is to switch up your perspective. Now you’ve been there, tried that and know it’s not for you. But it doesn’t always suck. Trying new things allows you to expand your mind and skills. Did I mention its also good for your health? Trying new things is associated with eudaemonia (basically a fancy word for happiness), which is associated with lower cortisol levels, better immune function AND better sleep.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times…The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Psychologist
So get on out there. Spread your wings lil’ bird. Dare to try something new.