Surviving in this world #3: Procrastination
Procrastination is basically avoidance.
Let's suppose Mark has an exam in two weeks and he fears failure. What failure means is subjective: not passing the exam, getting a low grade, or getting a good grade that isn't perfect. People can even perceive a grade of 99/100 as a failure, this is naturally tied to perfectionism.
Mark starts studying for the exam, and this is where procrastination begins. He does anything except study. He plays video games, doomscrolls on Instagram, and watches YouTube videos. He wants a reason not to take the exam, or a built-in excuse to justify a potential failure: "I didn't study that much anyway, so that's why I didn't pass."
By procrastinating, we simply lose opportunities to succeed or fail. It doesn't really matter which outcome occurs, we must fail in order to learn and eventually succeed.
We are all scared of losing our value when we fail, fearing that others will perceive us differently: "If I fail at X, I am not good at X, so I am useless."
But as humans, we have intrinsic value that is completely decoupled from what we do and how good we are at it. That is something worth keeping in mind.