Fear or Shame of Taking Initiative

Do you recognize yourself?

Have you ever had an idea you wanted to test, a suggestion you wanted to make, or a person you wanted to start a conversation with—but did not dare?

What stopped you? Was it fear or shame of being judged?

From an evolutionary perspective, fear is an essential emotion that developed to protect us from danger. But how has this protective mechanism come to prevent us from saying what we think, approaching strangers, proposing new ideas, or trying something innovative?

Is fear of taking initiative innate—or is much of it learned?

Could it be a social construct, shaped by our family, school, culture, and experiences during childhood?

What happens to a child who repeatedly hears:

*“Don’t do that.” “Don’t disturb.” “What will people think?” “Don’t make a fool of yourself.”*

Think about the rule “better not to risk looking foolish.”

Has following this rule brought you success and safety?

Or has it prevented you from trying things that might have changed your life?

What opportunities might we lose simply because we are afraid of embarrassment, rejection, or failure?

When you hesitate because you are afraid of what other people will think - who are these “other people”?

How much do they actually notice?

How long do they remember our awkward moments or failures?

And an even more interesting question: who actually dares?

What distinguishes people who take initiative despite the possibility of rejection, criticism, or embarrassment?

How do you react when you see someone trying something for the first time?

Do you encourage them, admire them, ignore them—or judge them?

How do you react when somebody suggests an unusual idea, approaches a stranger, starts a new project, or fails publicly?

Are you more judgmental toward yourself or toward others?

How would you act as observer of a situation between two other people - one who presents novel idea and another who criticizes?

Why might we easily forgive another person's awkwardness while being ashamed of our own?

Can courage exist without fear—or is courage just a decision to act despite a chance to fail, with a hope to succeed?

How can we learn to distinguish between fear that protects us from real danger and fear that merely protects us from discomfort or embarrassment?

How can we become more supportive of initiative—in ourselves and in others?

And finally:

If you want to share - what is you biggest dream which you have, but yet did not dear to start acting for?

Warm welcome!

Vilija and the leaders' team

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Practical Philosophy is a weekly meet-up that brings critical thinkers together for an opportunity to dive deep on a topic, practice communicating, and building a community. All with no ‘official’ philosophy knowledge required! 😎

Practical Philosophy is based on the idea that philosophy should be accessible to all, and not something reserved only for academics. Each week we choose a topic, and the goal is to use the conversation to develop our critical thinking and communication as we explore that topic.

The goal is to help develop our Critical Thinking, Communication, and Community 🙌

📓 HOW DOES IT WORK?

Each week, we pick one topic and discuss it. The topic for the week is shared, generally in the Whatsapp groups,

along with jump-off points to get the conversation going.

When groups get bigger than 7-8 people, it’s important that we break into smaller groups. This way we are able to maintain a conversational flow as opposed to having our meetups feel like a discourse or lecture.