Fear of Failure – What You Need To Know
Never Allow Fear Of Failure To Control You
One of the wonderful advantages of owning this website is that I get to work together with folks from all over the world. Those interactions usually center around leadership development advice and how to emerge into an efficient leader and the best strategies to do so. But I am humbled that I am able to offer advice to those that are seeking how to become a leader, that is one of the main reasons why I love having this website. But there are also other topics that come up from people and one I want to address in this article is fear of failure. This has a significant influence on folks who are seeking to become effective leaders but the fear of failure usually paralyzes them to not start down the road of emerging into the leader that they are. So keep on reading to learn more about fear of failure and how you can overcome it and truly become the leader that is inside of you.
What Specifically Is Fear of Failure?
Fear of failure is technically known as “atychiphobia.” What it truly means is that fear of failure stops people from trying to reach their goals, passion, and dreams. This fear of failure in my opinion, is self defeating, it tears confidence right out from under your feet. Fear of failure is real, and we have all dealt with it one time or another. But it should not in any shape prohibit you or anyone else for going after dreams, following passions, and aiming to meet your goals. If your goal is to become the best leader you possible can then strive to achieve it, do not let fear of failure get in the way of you acting and working towards your goals. It may sound simple to do right? But the unpleasant truth here is that fear of failure has a very powerful hold at times and it locks us into a box and we have a difficult time getting out of it. So how precisely do you conquer fear of failure?
Here Are Three Steps To Help You overcome Fear of Failure
Before I get into the three steps to overcome fear of failure I just want to show you very successful people who have failed but also did not let fear of failure win.
- Thomas Edison is widely known saying “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
- Walt Disney was a high school dropout that had multiple failures including bankruptcy before he created Diesney.
- Woody Allen flunked motion picture production at New York University.
- Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all decided to leave college and not let the fear of failure stop them in building what we see today.
These are just a few examples of people who did not let the fear of failure win. Now let’s look at three ways to avoid letting the fear of failure thrive.
1. As author Seth Godin says in his book Poke the Box you just need to act. He says “poke the box” meaning try something and see what happens. You never know what will happen if you let fear of failure outrank your actions. Go and do, try to put yourself out there and go for it. It is down right frightening for a lot of individuals to do this. If you are battling on how to become a strong leader, that is ok, put start doing. If fear of failure has a firm grasp on you then ask for help from another person. Bottom line with this first step, do and see what comes about.
2. Take failing as a time of discovering. We are all likely to fall short at something in our own life. If you have never been unsuccessful at anything then the chances very high that you have not forced yourself past your limits. If you have failed and learned from that adventure and came out tougher on the other side, nice job. Failing is ok if you learn and develop from it. Acknowledge that there will be a percentage of failure vs . being successful in life. Fear of failing has a hard time thriving if you know from time to time you will fail but you will be much stronger from the experience after it is over.
3. Look at the opportunity cost. If you are trying to reach a goal look at a couple different ways in which you plan to accomplish the goal. Figure out which route is the very best then decide if you take path A for example what is the opportunity cost of not taking path B to achieve your goal. This way it will limit your chances of failing and will allow you to kick fear of failure aside.
Closing Thoughts On Fear of Failure
Whether it is becoming a leader, getting healthy, becoming a better parent, or anything in between do not allow fear of failure take control. “Poke the Box” as Seth Godin says and just go and do. If you fail, learn and grow from it, and you can help another person overcome what you just overcame. Ask for help, plot the best path to achieve your goals, and don’t let fear of failure win. Fear of Failure is as powerful as you let it be, so my advice is make it as weak as possible by doing and learning.
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Thank you I like this article.
Thanks for the feedback Susan, I am glad that you liked the article
-James
I think some leaders because of their fair they always do the things in the same way.
Good point, doing things the same way allows people to steer clear of facing fear of failure.
-James