Being fairly new to the world of CG, I'm having trouble just getting started and choosing my first project. I am also afraid of getting stuck or completely failing. I've watched a few of the modelling courses here, but I still don't feel prepared to go make something from scratch by myself. Any tips on how to fix this?
Dont be afraid to fail. There is no learning without failing.
It really depends on your personal interest. Do you want to focus on hardsurface or organic modeling ? Stylized, realistic ?
I highly recommend you to watch modelling bootcamp and complete every exercise there. Then you can decide which way to take.
Good luck.
Pick something easy or achievable for your skill level. Obviously if you have only watched a few videos you are not going to create the greatest artwork ever made in a short time. With that being said, you can create a great artwork for using the knowledge you have gained.
I would pick something you want to learn like modeling, shading, lighting etc. and apply that to whatever you do. Pick something up off the desk where your computer is and try to model it. Try modeling a rock and see if you can even get it to render for example.
Blender has a large array of things you need to learn individually before it all clicks into some of the gallery images you see online.
When you give a solid effort and learn something new to apply to the next attempt, there is no failing. If you can't come up with something from scratch follow along with the tutorials until you build habits that allow you to come up with something from scratch later.
I agree with the others. The best thing is to jump in and try. Maybe you're too ambitious the first time, and that's okay. You're still learning your boundaries. Try something smaller. What will really make a difference is frequent and consistent practice. If all you do is go through the flows and do the exercises each day, it's better than scrambling to learn everything in one sitting. It will stick better, too (at least in my experience.) Once you're feeling more confident, you can enter contests, challenges, and competitions. I learned and improved a lot by entering challenges and it gave me a firm deadline to do something. Go and experiment. Create something. Take the first step. You got this.
Failure isn't failure if you learned something in the process. Like Adam Savage says, "Failure is always an option."