When Trying Too Hard Backfires


Have you noticed that each time you try to impress someone, or rather, the harder you try, the more likely you are to mess things up?

This happens to me mostly with cooking. There are days I’m effortlessly a badass chef, you know how it goes. And then there are days when I really need my expertise to shine and boom! It comes out Za-Rubbish.

The other day, my friend Esther came over, and I decided to make her my signature jollof spaghetti. I had everything ready. I wanted the meal to sweep her off her feet. Omor, that’s how I ended up making the worst spaghetti in the history of spaghetti. It was bad! But we still ate it like that.

What went wrong? The pressure to impress her, to sweep her off her feet, to outdo myself. It’s not wrong to want to give your best, but doing so with anxiety and obsession can be unhealthy.

Dearest reader, the harder you try to get a hold on something, the easier it slips away. Always remember that. Instead of trying to outdo yourself, strive to do better—be you, enthusiastically and proudly.

I’m pretty sure that spaghetti would’ve slapped if only I wasn’t so anxious about making it perfect.

In the words of Huwa, “Why try being perfect when perfection is you?”




@favvy_Okwansđź–¤.

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