We’ve all been there. You have a big task ahead, an important meeting, or a sales pitch that you have to deliver. Sometimes, you cannot help but be completely overwhelmed by your fear of failure.
When fear sets in, it can completely paralyze us. We can’t even perform the simplest of tasks. That meeting? Forget it. Your pitch? Don’t even bother.
It’s important that we all learn how to manage fear, not only to remove its presence but to also use it to our advantage. Fear is an undeniable element of any challenge, especially ones that are worthwhile.
In this blog, I’m going to give you 3 easy steps on how to manage your fear of failure, so you can push through and achieve your goals!
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” — Jack Canfield
What Causes Fear?
Before we discuss how to overcome your fear of failure, it’s important to understand where it comes from.
Fear is often a result of doubting ourselves. No matter who you are, at some point on your entrepreneurial journey you will question your skills and ability to carry out a certain task. You could be the best web designer in the world and still question your ability to set up a simple landing page.
When we begin to doubt ourselves, this is the perfect environment that enables fear to slowly creep in through the backdoor. Before we know it, we’re totally encapsulated by fear, and this can completely halt our success.
Doubt and fear are completely normal, but they’re often just irrational feelings that present themselves to us and are usually based on entirely fictional circumstances. Remember this anagram for fear – False Evidence Appearing Real.
How To Overcome Fear Of Failure
There are many different strategies we can use to help manage and overcome our fears. Here are 3 simple, yet effective ways you can tackle your fear of failure:
#1 Accepting Your Fear Of Failure
When fear strikes, many of us are left paralyzed. This paralysis is mainly down to the fact we’re unable to work through our fear.
One of the best ways to work through your fear is to accept the current emotional state you’re in. When fear begins to creep in, welcome it. Embrace the feeling of fear as opposed to trying to avoid it.
Trying to avoid the feeling will only make it worse. As soon as you accept your fears, you’ll feel them start to work through you. Almost like a water filter, your mind and body will work together to slowly pull out the impure thoughts and emotions.
As soon as you put yourself in a state of no resistance, you’ll begin to move forward, away from fear.
#2 Create A Fear List
Creating a fear list is another powerful way to help you combat your fear of failure.
Start by writing down all the things you fear may happen when attempting a task. For example, if you were about to give a speech, you may fear you’ll forget your words, stumbling over sentences, embarrassing yourself in front of your audience, being ridiculed your peers.
Writing out your fears will help you to accept their existence before they begin to take over you. Reading your list aloud will help you confront your fears head-on, lessening their power and impact.
Writing a list will also enable you to have a much clearer insight on what could potentially be holding you back from reaching a goal. Identify each fear one by one, find its cause, and work on eliminating it.
#3 Change How You Perceive Failure
This can make all the difference. The way you perceive failure can either make or break you.
If you wish to perceive failure as a negative, you’ll find it hard to progress with your ambitions. Failure is an essential part of achieving any goal. At some point along your journey, you’re going to be met with different challenges and obstacles. When these challenges arise, you have two choices – perceive them as a burden, or an opportunity to learn and grow.
Switching your perception of failure from a negative result to an opportunity to learn will dramatically improve the speed at which you can progress. Choosing the latter will enable you to let go of your fear of failure and embrace all opportunities, whether good or bad, as opportunities to learn and prosper.
“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure” — John C. Maxwell
Take Back Control
Fear can penetrate all parts of our life, and can severely disrupt our ability to make decisions, achieve goals, and can harm our inner well-being. It’s time to take back control of your fears, so you can confidently move forward in life and become as successful as you want to be.
I hope the three tips I’ve provided act as a starting point for you to rekindle your inner resilience and lead you to live a lifestyle that embraces challenges instead of being paralyzed by your fear of failure.
If you have any other methods that you use to help you combat your fear of failure, please leave a comment below so everyone else can try them out.
Written by Lewis James