The Inner Voice That Says You’re Failing

Monday, 02 June 2025 Written by Leo Babauta Views: 10714

When I fall off my meditation practice, I often feel disappointed in myself, because it feels like I’ve failed.

It seems to me that this is such a common experience — we often feel like we’re failing at a lot of things.

Think about what you feel like you’re failing at: keeping up with emails and messages, staying on top of your finances, exercise or following a healthy diet, keeping on top of clutter, staying in touch with friends or family, moving forward with your goals, getting back to certain people, and on and on.

What effect does this feeling that we’re failing at things have on us? I believe it has a corrosive effect, like rust. That is often taken to mean harmful, but I mean “corrosive” in the sense that it changes us at a fundamental level. We feel bad about ourselves, we feel discouraged and defeated, we don’t feel joyful or inspired or playful or lit up.

It’s worth noticing when you’re feeling like you’re failing, and just noticing what kind of effect it’s having on you.

I think it’s also really helpful to notice what you’re succeeding at. Right now, I’m succeeding at writing. I’m succeeding at loving my family. I’m succeeding at supporting people. I’m succeeding at enjoying the beautiful spring weather, and appreciating my life, and practicing noticing things. Sure, I have a bunch of emails and tasks I haven’t done, but that will probably always be the case.

When we notice our succeeding, it starts to shift something inside of us. I wonder if you’d be willing to explore this for yourself?

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