I've mentioned before that I'm naturally afraid of being criticized and making mistakes. When you really think about it, I'm someone who "cares too much about what others think."
What do I mean? Because I approach everything I do with a very serious attitude, but taking things seriously doesn't guarantee the final product will be equally perfect. Sometimes it's a matter of insufficient skills or unfamiliarity with the field. These factors make me lack confidence in myself. Even when I'm certain I can do something well, I can't feel 100% assured. I'm someone who easily falls into this trap of self-doubt and anxiety.
Recently, I took on a project involving photography and background removal. I felt very confident about using Photoshop for the removal work. On the shoot day, I even brought the livestream lights I had purchased earlier, so I "looked" professional. I spent two days shooting and finished everything. But when I got home, I discovered my photography skills weren't that great, which made the retouching look pretty rough. I found myself stuck in guilt.
Fortunately, the client was my sister's friend and didn't say anything negative. She was welcoming to the idea of reshooting or even handling the photography themselves. I asked my sister, "Did I do a terrible job?" I was so worried that people would lose confidence in me because of this. I've been in a bad mood these past few days. My sister, clearly exasperated, said one sentence: "Just fix it and do it right!" That's when I realized something—others weren't even focused on how badly I did the work. Instead, they were thinking about solutions and contingency plans, not questioning my abilities. It was just me lacking confidence in myself.
Since this project was no longer time-sensitive, I could make corrections, and the client was understanding. There was still room to salvage things. Only I was trapped in my emotions, unable to move past it. I was so afraid of being blamed that I didn't even try to understand why the client wanted to reshoot. The main reason was that I myself knew the photo quality wasn't good. But not everything needed to be redone. I even asked a more experienced friend for advice on how to improve things, and they taught me how to make adjustments. So the problem was solvable. I didn't need to worry needlessly—I just needed to make corrections.
This is just like the saying: "People in the past fixed things when they broke; modern people just buy new ones." So have our values been flawed from the start? We believe we must do everything perfectly on the first try to prove we're capable and competent. That's why every setback makes us want to give up, and every change makes us feel inadequate. But the truth is, things aren't nearly as difficult as we imagine them to be. We're just limited by our own imagination. When we bravely break free from these constraints, we can move forward. Even a small step is progress.
