I've mentioned before that I'm naturally afraid of being criticized and making mistakes. Looking deeper, I realize I'm "very concerned about others' opinions."
How so? Because I approach everything I do with a serious attitude, but being serious doesn't guarantee a perfect result. Sometimes it's a matter of insufficient skill or unfamiliarity with the field. These factors make me lose confidence in myself, and even when I'm certain I can do something well, I still lack complete assurance. I easily fall into this cycle of self-doubt and anxiety.
Recently, I took on a project involving photography and background removal. I was confident about using Photoshop for the removal, and I even brought professional lighting equipment I'd purchased to the shoot. Everything "looked" professional, and I photographed for two days and completed the work. When I got home, however, I discovered my photography skills weren't quite good enough, making the retouching work "messy." I became trapped in guilt.
Fortunately, the client was my sister's friend and didn't complain. She even welcomed the option of reshoot or taking the items to be photographed elsewhere. I asked my sister, "Did I do a really bad job?" I was so worried she'd lost confidence in me that I'd been in a terrible mood for days. My sister, losing patience, simply said, "Just redo it properly, then!" That's when I realized that others weren't concerned with how poorly I'd done the work — they were thinking about solutions and contingency plans, not questioning my abilities. It was my own lack of confidence."
Since this project had no time constraint, I could revise it, the client was understanding, and there was still room for correction. Only I was trapped in my emotions, unable to move forward, fearing criticism without even understanding why they wanted to reshoot. The main reason was something I already knew — the photo quality wasn't great. But it wasn't a complete disaster either. I even asked a more experienced friend for advice on how to improve, and they taught me adjustments that would help. The problem was solvable. I didn't need to worry needlessly; I just needed to make corrections.
This is exactly what people mean when they say, "People in the old days would find ways to repair broken things; modern people just buy new ones" — have our values been warped from childhood? We believe we must achieve perfection on the first try to prove our competence and capability, so we easily give up when facing setbacks and doubt ourselves when facing change. In reality, things aren't as difficult as we imagine; we're limited by our own thoughts. Only by bravely breaking through these mental constraints can we move forward. Even one small step is progress.
