Fear of Failure: How to Overcome It
Fear causes you to avoid potentially harmful situations. Fear of failure keeps you from trying, creates self-doubt, stalls progress, and may lead you to go against your moral. It can be so strong that avoiding failure eclipses the motivation to succeed. Insecurity about doing things incorrectly causes many people to unconsciously sabotage their chances for success.
Here are the main reasons why fear of failure exists:
Patterns from childhood
Hyper-critical adults cause children to internalize damaging mindsets. They establish ultimatums and fear-based rules. This causes children to feel the constant need to ask for permission and reassurance. They carry this need for validation into adulthood.
Perfectionism
Perfectionism is often at the root of fear of failure. For perfectionists, failure is so terrible and humiliating that they don’t try. Stepping outside your comfort zone becomes terrifying.
Over-personalization
The ego may lead us to over-identify with failures. It’s hard to look beyond failure at things like the quality of the effort, extenuating circumstances, or growth opportunities.
False self-confidence
People with true confidence know they won’t always succeed. A person with fragile self-confidence avoids risks. They’d rather play it safe than try something new.
Here are tips to help you overcome fear of failure:
Figure out Where the Fear Comes From
Ask yourself what the root cause of your negative belief could be. When you look at the four main causes for a fear of failure, which ones resonate with you?
Write down where you think the fear comes from and try to understand it as an outsider.
If it helps, imagine you’re trying to help one of your best friends. Perhaps your fear stems from something that happened in your childhood, or a deep-seated insecurity.
Naming the source of the fear takes away some of its power.
Re-Frame Beliefs About Your Goal
Having an all or nothing mentality leaves you with nothing sometimes. Have a clear vision for what you’d like to accomplish but include learning something new in your goal. If you always aim for improvement and learning, you are much less likely to fail.
Learn to Think Positively
In many cases, you believe what you tell yourself. Your internal dialogue affects how you react and behave.
Our society is obsessed with success, but it’s important to recognize that even the most successful people encounter failure.
Visualize all Potential Outcomes
Uncertainty about what will happen next is terrifying. Take time to visualize the possible outcomes of your decision. Think about the best and worst-case scenarios. You’ll feel better if you’ve already had a chance to mentally prepare for what could happen.
Look at the Worst-Case Scenario
There are times when the worst case could be absolutely devastating. In many cases, if something bad happens, it won’t be the end of the world.
It’s important to define how bad the worst case scenario is in the grand scheme of your life. Sometimes, we give situations more power than they deserve. In most cases, a failure is not permanent.
Have a Backup Plan
It never hurts to have a backup plan. The last thing you want to do is scramble for a solution when the worst has happened. The old adage is solid wisdom:
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
Having a backup plan gives you more confidence to move forward and take calculated risks.
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Culled from: LifeHack.
