Fear defeats more people than any other thing in the world, but the fear of failure may be particularly surprising.
Typical fear is a natural response to a threat: when a tiger chases you, you better run; when you see a truck driving straight at you, you jump to the side; but when we want to succeed professionally, isn't it better to go ahead instead of running away?
Fear of Failure
Of course, we need fear as it warns us of danger, but the fear of failure is just what you THINK is dangerous, and it doesn’t matter if it’s about changing jobs or starting your own business.
Although we no longer run away from the tiger, fear can be paralysing because we are afraid of people judging us, and we are predicting the worst-case scenarios. When you want to grow, take up a new job, but you have been in the old one for a long time, you have friends there, and relatively good stable pay, it might be difficult to decide to change, even if you might be happier in the long run.
Why do we feel the fear of failure?
- Because we are not aware of what is needed to succeed. It often seems that people who succeeded made one good decision, wrote one book, or went to one audition and suddenly achieved success overnight. This is not the case! Do you know why WD-40 has the number 40 in the name? Because it took 40 attempts to create this product.
- Because we have an unrealistic idea about success and think that if we failed at the first attempt, it means that we will never succeed. Remember that each failure is an important lesson that will guide you through your next attempt. It’s the ideas about success and failure that are holding us back. Start living despite the fear.
- Perfectionism—it seems that until we are true experts, we cannot achieve success in our field. But do you think Serena Williams became the world champion the first time she held the tennis racket in her hand? You guessed it – of course not! Only practice makes perfect.
What will you lose if you don't overcome the fear of failure?
- You’ll be afraid to take on new challenges and difficult projects. You will not get promoted or develop your business – you will stay exactly where you are.
- You will stop being creative because you will only make safe decisions. In some situations, a secure approach may be appropriate, but what if the project you are working on requires innovative ideas and because you feel you are under huge pressure, you are afraid of making a bold decision?
- The project you are working on will never be good enough because your pursuit of perfection will suffocate it.
- Self-destruction – are you afraid that the project is too big, too complicated, or that it will not work? You’ll probably delay it as much as possible and come up with reasons why you shouldn’t even start it. Such self-destruction will halt your dreams and stop your hard work.
How to overcome the fear of failure?
- First, accept the fact that you will not succeed in the first attempt, and maybe not even the second or third. How much better would you feel when failure turns into success? Brian Tracy once said that the best way to succeed is to set yourself a realistic goal… 10 failures a day! Think about it this way: if a failure is your goal – it will be a successful day.
- Remember that failure precedes success – the book about the young wizard was rejected by several publishers before it was published and become a worldwide success.
- Focus on the end goal when you feel overwhelmed. Think about where you will be, who you will become and how you will feel when you achieve your goals and with this in mind…
- Start taking small steps toward your goal. Don’t think about all you have to do, just focus on this one step that you can take here and now.
- Meet people who, like you, want to grow and will help you achieve your goals. Thanks to supportive people around you, you will be much more confident and your fear of failure will shrink substantially.
- Find a mentor who will help you take the next steps in the business and guide you through personal development. Remember that finding someone who has already achieved what you would like to achieve will help you get to the finish line faster.
- Write down even the smallest successes, otherwise, you will quickly forget about them and focus on things that do not go your way. It often happens that after a month of hard work, we think that nothing has gone right, nothing has changed for the better, when in fact, we are already further than we think.
- Focus only on the things that you can change. If you can change something, do it right away, if not, let it go. This decision should come from being aware of having a choice. Thanks to this, you will achieve and maintain inner peace easier.
- Start thinking of fear as an integrated part of life. Start enjoying uncomfortable situations and set a daily goal of doing 3 tasks that are uncomfortable for you so you can get used to them. With each day, you will gain greater confidence and the fear will no longer be an obstacle.
- Believe in yourself and your abilities – when you do, you will know, you’ll succeed eventually.
Fear of failure is only in your head, and it’s your choice to ignore it or immerse in it. Currently, we no longer have to escape from wild animals, so when you get stuck, ask yourself whether the fear you’re feeling is real.
Also, think about the worst-case scenario. Will you lose your job, flat or car? Accept it and plan your work so that it never happens: think what could cause you to lose your job – and avoid it! When you predict worst-case scenarios, but still take steps to achieve your goal, the chance of failure, will significantly decrease.
