Fear or Excitement?

There is no possible way I can get all the things done that are due by December 15/16th. (The end of my semester.) I need to take my lowest possible acceptable quality of work, and then cut it down further by 3/4ths, and I can probably achieve that, if I work really hard. I don't know if I am capable of reining myself in, though. Which 3/4ths do I cut? How do I cut it, without mangling the end result? Can I force myself to put down the pencil, so to speak, after doing one-fourth of a satisfactory job, so I can do at least one-fourth of a satisfactory job, on my next assignment?

Being afraid of failing at grad school seems ridiculously unimportant, in the larger scheme of things. Yet telling myself this obvious truth does not stop my heart from racing like my ancestors did when he was in the jungle at night, something large and unseen stalking him in the darkness.

Still, I can't spend every waking moment working. I've got too many days to go. I need to plan for endurance, not a sprint. So I'm going to make myself some dinner (I almost wrote breakfast) and try to decompress for a little bit before going to sleep.

Really, this is the perfect situation, I should be excited: I've just been reading and thinking about growth mindset, taking risks, and self-confidence. Here's my chance! It's only scary until I'm not afraid of failure. And if I am ready to learn from my mistakes, then there's no reason to be afraid.



Full speed ahead,
Isaac