“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
— Vincent van Gogh
Introduction
Are you inhibited by fear in your life?
We’re all afraid of something. It’s human nature. I, for one, am DEATHLY afraid of worms. That’s right – worms. I can’t tell you why, but I freak out when I see them.
- Snakes? No problem.
- Gummi worms? No problemo.
- Earth worms? Yuck!
Anyways…where was I? Oh yeah – we’re all scared of something, but there’s one thing we’re all afraid of – FAILURE. (Don’t lie now.)
Don’t know if you have a fear of failure? Do any of the following sound like you?
- I can’t stand failing
- If I fail at something, I think that I’m an absolute failure.
- People will think I’m a loser if I fail.
- I shouldn’t try something unless I am sure I won’t fail.
- If I fail, I might as well give up.
If you answer yes to any of those, you may have a fear of failure.
I like to think of fear of failure as that nagging feeling in the back of your head telling you, “I’m going to fail.” And this fear is your biggest roadblock from creating the life you want for yourself. It destroys dreams and it stops you from getting what you want.
Stop letting your fear hold you back. Confront it! (Easier said than done, right?)
The thing is, you don’t have to be fearless confront your fears. You just need to learn to use the fear to your advantage. Like playing a game of Fear Factor – Chillpill style!
Here are the ways we’ve discovered that will help you deal with the fear of failure.
5 Ways to Face Your Fear of Failure
1) Visualize Your Obstacles
A study found that positive thinking alone doesn’t lead to improved outcomes. You also need to visualize your obstacles that could lead to failure
- Think of a situation in which you are afraid of failure.
- Visualize yourself hitting an obstacle
- Allow yourself to feel the fear
- See yourself succeeding despite of the obstacle
- Plan how you’d overcome the obstacles in real life
2) Surrender to the Fear
We don’t like feeling fear. We try to avoid it at all cost, but by allowing yourself to experience it, you can calm yourself down and control the situation.
The next time you notice yourself feeling fear:
- Sit quietly
- Set a timer for two minutes
- Take deep breaths
- Focus where you feel stress or tension in your body
- and simply breathe into that area for the two minutes.
3) Reality Check Your Fear
For most of us, our perception of failure is way more catastrophic than what would actually happen in real life. Whenever you find yourself stressing out about potential failure, stop and ask yourself three questions:
- What is the worst thing that could possibly happen if I fail?
- What are the odds of this worst-case scenario actually happening?
- How bad is this scenario, really?
By simply reminding yourself of the unlikelihood of your fear actually happening, you can loosen the grip your fear has on you.
4) Breakdown Your Fear
Take a step back and ask this question: “What am I really afraid of?“
Break your fear down into concrete examples, and create a list. Once you know why you’re afraid, you can deal with it rather than suffer from it.
5) Make Failing a Game
“Do what you fear, and fear disappears.”
– David Joseph Schwartz
When you do the very thing you fear, the fear goes away. You fear failure? Go ahead and fail.
Next time you’re at a coffee shop, ask the cashier for a 10% discount. Seriously.
Here’s what you do:
- Go to pay for your coffee
- The cashier tells you the price
- You ask, “Can I get 10% off of that?”
…that’s it.
Think I’d ask you to do something without doing it myself? BOOM! Here you go. (Sorry for the shaky cam, the director went for a Blair Witch Project vibe.)
It doesn’t matter whether you get the discount (I didn’t). It’s about overcoming the fear. If you do it enough times, the fear goes away. (I’ve done this so many times now, it doesn’t even bother me. It’s actually kinda fun!)
And you may even save some money!
Key Takeaways
- Visualize Obstacles
- Surrender to Fear
- Reality Check Fear
- Breakdown Your Fear
- Make Failing a Game
Accept That Failure Will Happen
Failure is unavoidable, and it feels bad when it happens. Because it feels bad, it has to be bad, right?
Well, not necessarily. Failure can actually be a good thing.
If you readjust your view on failure, you’ll see that it’s really a blessing in disguise. Failure is a step towards success. Thomas Edison, for example, had over 1,000 patents, but only one of them ever went anywhere – electricity. (You may have heard of it.)
When you do fail, ask yourself these 3 questions:
It may be hard at first, but you’ll come up with something valuable that will lead you one step closer to success.
“Failure is temporary, but success is permanent.”
– Thomas Edison
Conclusion
I want you to ask yourself one last question: “What good does a fear of failure do you?”
Some of us are so afraid of failing that we avoid attempting to realize our dreams. This fear paralyzes people and they end up doing nothing and missing out on great opportunities.
The fear of failure is never good because it holds you back from what you’re truly capable of. Click To TweetYou can’t overcome fear simply by working harder or paying to have it go away. You have to face it. Don’t be afraid to fail. Move past the fear of failure to get what you really want. It’s been holding you back for too long.
To achieve the greatest success, you have to embrace the prospect of failure. Click To TweetThe cost of failure is nothing. The cost of your fear could be EVERYTHING – your goals, your dreams, your life. Your fears aren’t worth being afraid of. Deal with them. Run towards them, rather than running away from them.
“Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.”
– Jack Canfield
So, what are you afraid of?
Now’s the time to take the next courageous step forward!
FEAR Has 2 Options:
- Forget Everything And Run
- Face Everything And Rise
Which will you choose?
Thanks for reading!
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