Scared of failure, doubting yourself, thinking: "Just one tiny little slip-up and bye bye my 100% / fc"

That is the biggest problem that I still can't get out of the way. Ever since I started I've had this stupid habit of getting devoured by my pessimistic thoughts whenever I do good on a map, and the longer the map is, the more likely it is to happen.

For example, a while ago when I was close to SSing an insane, my hand actually ended up shaking so bad that I dropped my pen completely (lol). Right now I really don't see myself ever being able to withstand that pressure, for me SS is out of the question.

There probably have been threads about this before, but I wanted to have it posted again.

Any advice on this would be really helpful.

I fcking know that feeling
Failed many times because I get nervous :v

Get drunk and/or high and then play

Almost everyone gets this, the only people who don't get nervous are egoistic people who don't even consider the possibility of failing.

That's why I intentionally fail my accuracy and then continue playing without worries lol.

thelewa wrote:

Almost everyone gets this, the only people who don't get nervous are egoistic people who don't even consider the possibility of failing.

but that is the secret. And it depends on my mood just how "godlike" I feel

enik wrote:

That's why I intentionally fail my accuracy and then continue playing without worries lol.

This always works
lol

[Luanny PhNyx] wrote:

enik wrote:

That's why I intentionally fail my accuracy and then continue playing without worries lol.

This always works
lol

I have many times succeeded at fooling myself to believe I've missed a note early on in order to FC hard stuff

Zook wrote:

Get drunk and/or high and then play

try this before, it works very well

I mean... I get nervous when I play if I've been retrying a song one hundred times, and just now am going to get the score I want, but otherwise I generally don't get too nervous. I play so much that it kind of doesn't phase me anymore. If I am going to get some high accuracy, or what not, then I just kind of don't care, because I feel that it's just another run. I've failed runs like that a thousand times and I'll just retry and do it again. The secret is compartmentalizing. This is not THE RUN where you have THE CHANCE. It's just another try among many. It's also probably something you can replicate pretty quickly if you did it once already. I also combat this by always playing at my level. If the map is too hard for me, then I'm not going to grind it out until my anxiety level hits the roof. I play stuff I feel I can repeatedly do well, and then I play it and try to do a little better, and then maybe I play something a little harder. It's a slow process, but it makes the game very rewarding, and keeps the stress level down.

Edit: Also, half the time when I am playing well it's because my mind is totally elsewhere. I'm thinking about a conversation I had, or a movie I watched, or someone I want to talk to... If I'm not really paying attention to what I am doing, then I just automatically execute everything without worry. I will shift my concentration only at the point where I need to focus on what is on the map. This also has the advantage of allowing me to retry the map fifty times so that I can perfect my rhythm and accuracy on stuff that I don't really need more than muscle memory for without giving a damn that I've been playing it for so long, because I am not really focused on the game anyway, and am instead focused on my own thoughts.

Well I play purely for the intention of having fun so I don't even get nervous.

buny wrote:

Well I play purely for the intention of having fun so I don't even get nervous.

^^

What if we play because osu! is the only thing giving our lives a meaning?

Do we get 200% more nervous?

I'd guess you'd actually get less nervous. If Osu! were the thing that you really wanted to give your life meaning, then you'd get really nervous, because you have something to lose there. If it is already giving your life meaning, then you sort of already accomplished the goal. It's not going anywhere, so there shouldn't be anything to make you nervous.

thelewa wrote:

What if we play because osu! is the only thing giving our lives a meaning?

Do we get 200% more nervous?

You make it sound like you're gonna kill yourself first thing after breaking your combo

Yeah

Its specially worse in maps with sudden 1/4 slider jumps. Mythologia's End, Red Goose, all of rrtyui's maps, Cry for Eternity, etc

kriers wrote:

thelewa wrote:

What if we play because osu! is the only thing giving our lives a meaning?

Do we get 200% more nervous?

You make it sound like you're gonna kill yourself first thing after breaking your combo

you don't?

kriers wrote:

thelewa wrote:

What if we play because osu! is the only thing giving our lives a meaning?

Do we get 200% more nervous?

You make it sound like you're gonna kill yourself first thing after breaking your combo

knowing lewa i wouldnt be surprised

Pro-tip: don't give a damn about FC/SS the map. Just hit dem notes.

(Although most of time I kept on failing to think that way... orz)

Winshley wrote:

Pro-tip: don't give a damn about FC/SS the map. Just hit dem notes.

(Although most of time I kept on failing to think that way... orz)

Most of the time... You have SS on every map you play. >.>

This is something that happens to almost every osu! player and almost any person in a sport/activity where failure is a factor.

The willpower to overcome the fear of failure and doubt is really the only way you can fight it.

A few pieces of advice I have are to just have fun and don't worry about that 100% or FC or do something that can clear your mind from having those doubts and fears.

For example: For the past week I have been working on 2 problems in the bouldering gym I go to. The only reason I have not been able to do these was the fear of failure and injury. Tonight I walked in and jumped right on to those 2 problems and didn't give myself the time to even think about the outcome, but only to think about where I needed to go and how I needed to get there. The outcome from doing this was those 2 problems solved in the first try of both.

Like I said fear and doubt is present in nearly every sport/activity/whatever that has failure as a factor, but teaching and training yourself to overcome it can yield some rewarding surprises.

buny wrote:

Well I play purely for the intention of having fun so I don't even get nervous.

^/thread

I find I do a lot better at this game when I'm not really trying to accomplish anything like making the top 40 on something. Pretty cool how a don't care attitude works in most games, just have fun with it.