It can be especially hard to join an activity where other people have already accomplished what you are trying to accomplish. For example, when I was first learning to waterskii I could not figure out how to stand up. One day in the summer I took a friend on the boat. She decided to try waterskiing for the first time, and on her very first try she was able to do it.
Even though I was happy for her, I was also jealous. I had been trying to skii without success for much longer than she had and I felt that it was only fair that I should be able to do it first. For the next few days I refused to try waterskiing again because I was scared that I would make mistakes and embarrass myself.
However, I eventually decided that learning how to waterskii was more important to me than the embarrassment I would save myself by not even attempting to learn. I used my knowledge that it is natural to make mistakes, and with hard work and lots of trial and error, I learned to waterskii. I would not have been able to do this if I did not allow myself to mess up and then learn from the things I did wrong.
I have realized that It is important to have enough self confidence going into any new experience that even with the awareness that I make mistakes, I can brush them off and keep moving. No matter how hard I try, I know that I can never learn or improve if I never give myself the opportunity to do anything wrong.