Growth Mindset Tip: Drop Your Fear of Trying

If you’ve ever been told “Don’t say you’ll try!” by a parent, coach, or motivational speaker—you’re not alone. The idea that “trying” is weak or pointless has been passed around like a badge of mental toughness. But in reality, this mindset can crush confidence, keep people stuck in fear of failure, fuel anxiety, and get in the way of learning.

In this post, I’m pushing back on the anti-try attitude. I’ll show why trying is a strength, not a flaw—and how embracing effort can actually improve your mental health, build resilience, and unlock personal, professional, and relationship growth.

What You’ll Learn About Trying and Growth Mindset

Trying is a Good Thing

You can’t accomplish anything unless you try to accomplish it. And you can’t know if you can’t do something unless you try to do it.

If I didn’t try to write this article, this article would not have been written.

Gold medal athletes can’t win their medal the first day they begin a sport. They keep trying to get better, hoping they will reach their goal.

There are only so many gold medals. Some of those who try for them get there, and many more don’t. For those who don’t get the big prize, there’s still plenty to be learned and gained by the trying.

If you think that trying to do something is a bad thing, then the idea of doing something that is challenging or new will create tension, fear, and anxiety.

Let go of the "Don't say you'll try!" mentality and embrace the "It's good to try" philosophy. 

When to Try: Assessing the Risk and Reward

Some things have to get done. The bills have to be paid (though you may not be the one who has to pay them). Your schoolwork has to get done.

If you put off doing things that have to be done, then you may be dealing with procrastination. (Click for my post about procrastination.)

For the things that are optional, you get to decide whether you will try them, and how, and when. You get to make a risk and benefits assessment before you decide to try, and reassess as you proceed with the trying.

Find Your Motivation: The Why Behind the Try

When you are assessing something to decide whether you want to try to do it, figure out why you want to achieve the particular goal.

The why is your motivation. Keeping in mind the why will give you energy to begin and sustain you through challenges.

The why can clarify the important aspects of the goal. It will tell you which aspects are priorities as you move forward. It will help you decide how to make changes to your initial plan because you’ll see more clearly what parts of the plan are and aren’t important.

For my month of anxiety information posts, my goal is to help more people deal successfully with their anxiety and improve their lives. Being clear about that goal helped me let go of my initial everyday posting idea and alter it to a schedule I think is more doable. Either way can advance me toward my goal.

Motivational Quotes to Encourage You to Try

When self-doubt creeps in or fear of failure holds you back, a few encouraging words can help reignite your determination.

These encouraging quotes are here to recognize that trying is strength in action.

Let them boost your confidence, support your growth mindset, and inspire you to take the next step, no matter how small. Because progress always begins with trying.

Here are some quotes about trying as reinforcements to back up the “It’s good to try!” idea.

1. "As a person, I'm just trying to be better than I was yesterday and continue to elevate." ─Gabriella Wilson

2. “All the great speakers were bad speakers first.” ─Ralph Waldo Emerson

3.  "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." ─Arthur Ashe

4. “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” ─Wayne Gretzky

5. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." ─Michael Jordan

 6. “That which we persist in doing becomes easier─not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.” ─Ralph Waldo Emerson

 7. “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.” ─Steve Brown

8. "I'm continually trying to make choices that put me against my own comfort zone. As long as you're uncomfortable, it means you're growing." ─ Ashton Kutcher

Fail Forward: Inspiring Quotes About Learning From Mistakes

Fear of failure can stop you from trying—but mistakes are how we learn, grow, and improve. 

These quotes offer encouragement to move past fear and embrace imperfection.

They encourage you to reframe mistakes and failures as useful data points—information your inner GPS can use to revise the route and keep you moving forward.

9.  "A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." ─ Albert Einstein

10. "If you're not making some mistakes, it probably means you're not trying hard enough." ─ Evan Davis

11. Mistakes should be your teacher, not your attacker. Mistakes are a lesson, not a loss. Mistakes are temporary, necessary detours, not dead ends. 

Discover what the reframing CBT skill is and how to use it in this easy-to-follow workbook:

Try This: A Practical Growth Mindset Challenge

Note: This exercise can go hand in hand with the learning and exercise from my earlier blog post on stretching your comfort zone. 

What can you try to do today?

It could be something that has the potential of being fully accomplished today or started today. It could just be that you start a plan today for something that you will put into action soon.

Try to do something today that has intimidated you in the past. It doesn’t have to be big.

Stretch your ability to try.

Use the quotes, my words, or your own words to help inspire you.

Take note of:

• Why do you want to try this thing
  
• What gets in the way of you trying
  
• What helps you try
  
• How it feels to try something different

Enjoy the try!

Overcome Roadblocks to Trying: Self-Help Print Workbooks That Build Real-Life Skills

I've helped hundreds of counseling clients overcome roadblocks that get in the way of success. And turned what I've learned about what works and doesn't work into books that can help you too. 

Two of my print workbooks, Becoming Calm: Silver Lining Anxiety and Stress Resilience Workbook and Journal, and Building Skills to Uplevel Life: Silver Lining Emotional Intelligence Workbook, include worksheets directly related to developing the ability to try.

Reframe Mistakes and Failure: PDF Workbook Support for Moving Forward

My Reframing Mistakes & Failure: CBT Coping Skills Workbook is made to help people shift how they think about mistakes—offering straightforward guidance and easy-to-use worksheets for developing a healthier mindset around trying, learning, and being human.

It's designed as a self-help tool and a professional aid for teachers, school counselors, coaches, and therapists to use with their teen and adult students, teams, and clients.

What's inside the 14-page Reframing Mistakes & Failure workbook:

✅ What reframing is and how to use it

✅ Exercises for noticing and challenging negative messages you received about making mistakes

✅ Motivational quotes graphics to inspire a positive mindset

✅ How to's for reframing mistakes and failure using CBT-based strategies

✅ 4-step process for using mistakes and failure—Own it, Learn from it, Use it, Let it go— explanation and worksheets

Get your copy today -- AnnSWellnessDigitals. 

Disclaimer: This post should not be taken as therapy. Reach out to personal counselors for individualized therapeutic advice.

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