Why Do You Fear Failing? How Do You Overcome it?
Failure is not something to look forward to, but the fear of it can sometimes be so solid that the desire to avoid it outweighs all the benefits of success. Without realizing it, people's fear of making mistakes at work ruins their opportunities for success.
Fear is a natural emotion experienced at some point, regardless of the line of work. When fear consumes you, your identity and pride productivity, and you are forced to give up on past passions. In these situations, you must conquer your fears and unleash your potential to live the life you deserve.
Together, we will examine how to turn failure into an asset rather than allow it to control our lives, as well as what causes fear of failure and how to overcome it to achieve success in our personal and professional lives.
What is the fear of failure?
Fear makes you steer clear of potentially dangerous situations, discourages you from trying, saps your confidence, slows down your progress, and sometimes even makes you act immorally.
What Causes Fear of Failure?
The following are the main reasons for fear of failure:
1. Childhood accumulations
Criticism from adults causes children to develop harmful mindsets because it imposes rules and a system based on fear. That makes children feel they must constantly ask for permission and assurances, and they carry this behavior into adulthood.
2. Perfectionism
Fear of failing is frequently rooted in perfectionism. It is terrifying for perfectionists to step outside their comfort zone because they view failure as something so terrible and embarrassing that they dare not try.
3. Over-personalization
Those who take things personally don't accept failures regarding quality, mitigating circumstances, or growth opportunities. That can cause us to over-identify with failures due to pride.
4. False self-confidence
People who truly possess confidence understand that success is not guaranteed, whereas others shy away from danger and would rather play it safe than take a chance.
How does fear of failure hinder your pursuit of success?
1. Unhealthy Organization Culture
A "culture of perfection," or a set of organizational values founded on completely rejecting failure and the conviction that only perfect, pure success will do, permeates many organizations today.
Imagine the tension and fear that might exist in a workplace where managers level unjustified accusations, assign blame for unavoidable errors and mayhem, and replace staff members overnight, especially if they hold senior positions. Then, imagine the employer abruptly losing patience with them and resorting to dishonesty, cheating, data fabrication, and problem-hiding. That all goes on until the situation deteriorates to the point where it is impossible to hide.
2. Not seizing valuable opportunities
Some people may fail to arrive at a complete answer because of the lure of past success, but many fail because of their arrogant attachment to past successes.
Prominent figures frequently exhibit this, particularly those whose reputations were established through significant life adjustments years prior. They are afraid if they fail this time, their past successes will become less impressive, and they won't innovate again.
Furthermore, they think that if they succeed in something new, their previous accomplishments might not have been that great, so why take a chance when they can maintain their reputation indefinitely?
Because they are so invested in their ego and past successes, they would sooner pass up chances for future glory than take a chance, even if there is little chance of failure.
3. Superiors become losers
Every talent has drawbacks that can occasionally be a barrier. Successful people enjoy winning and setting high standards for themselves, but this love of success causes them to fear failure to the point where they ruin their lives. Positive traits, like achievement, have the potential to become significant obstacles in a person's life when they become extremely strong.
Achievement is a core value that has guided their entire life for many successful people. They thrive in all spheres, including work, school, sports, the arts, and hobbies. Every new accomplishment increases the significance of achievement in their lives.
However, since they may never have failed at anything and lack experience in accepting and overcoming it, failure progressively becomes beyond their expectations. They make failure into the terrible horror they must avoid at all costs, their worst nightmare.
The simplest way to give in to failure is to take no risks, strictly stick to what you know you can do, protect yourself, work longer hours, check everything two, three, or more times, and be the most conscientious and reserved person in the universe.
Use every resource to prevent failure if incessant diligence, rigorous work schedules, and obnoxious subordinates aren't enough to keep it at bay. Therefore, inflate data, conceal any unfavorable information, conceal errors, ignore customer criticism, and blame those incapable of facing reality. It's just the way they think.
Large companies' ethical standards issues stem primarily from the fear of failure among old achievers. Most of these people, similar to those at Enron, which filed for bankruptcy following accounting frauds known as the Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals, were successful dignitaries who enjoyed media praise but saw failure as an impossibility that was best avoided at all costs.
4. Loss of creativity
As their love of doing good and their good morals turn into intolerance of themselves, those who are too successful destroy their peace of mind and the lives of those who work for them. They go from being able to form close relationships to becoming unstable individuals who strangle their friends and families with affection; all they want in return is their love.
Everyone enjoys success, but when there is a fear of failing, it becomes difficult to accept that mistakes will inevitably be made and that trial and error is necessary to arrive at the best and most original solution.
Becoming accustomed to being more creative increases the likelihood of making mistakes, as striving to avoid them can also stifle creativity.
Be aware that balance is more important than you may realize; for example, some acidity enhances the flavor of sweet food; even people who love others can benefit from a bit of selfishness. Everyone's definition of success requires a small amount of failure.
We often hear how important it is to have a positive outlook. However, we must also understand that dealing with difficult things can help us succeed personally and professionally.
How do you overcome the fear of failure?
1. Discover the cause of fear
Consider the following: "What is the underlying cause of your negative belief?" Examine the preceding four primary causes of fear of failing, decide which one most accurately describes you, write down the cause of your fear, and try to understand that it is merely an outside influence. If it helps, try to picture yourself attempting to assist one of your closest friends.
Maybe you have a fear because of something that happened to you as a child or because you are insecure about yourself. Finding the source of your fear weakens it and lessens its effect on you.
2. Reframe beliefs about your goal
Having an all-or-nothing mindset may be counterproductive, so make learning something new one of your top priorities and have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. You won't likely fail if you aim to get better and learn new things.
As a fundamental illustration, Pixar animators push their staff members to experiment and create to stay updated with advancements, encouraging them to “fail early and fast.” Despite the possibility of failure, they succeed in realizing their goal of telling compelling stories, and every challenge they encounter presents an opportunity for the business to expand.
3. Learn to think positively
We often believe what we say to ourselves, and the internal conversation with ourselves shapes our responses and actions.
Although success is highly valued in our society, we must acknowledge that even the most successful individuals occasionally experience setbacks. For instance, Walt Disney once lost his job at a newspaper because the editors felt he lacked originality. As a result, he failed at opening an animation studio, but he persisted, and Disney rose to become a household name. After experiencing another layoff from Apple, Steve Jobs rose back to prominence as one of the organization's most well-known workers for an extended period.
You have to be aware of your negative self-talk and figure out what drives you because if Disney and Jobs had taken the criticism they got about their work seriously, they never would have made it this far.
Replace negative thoughts with facts about yourself and the situation that are positive. Create a mental picture of this new scenario you can fall back on when you feel negativity creeping up on you. The voice in your head greatly influences your actions.
4. Imagine all the possible outcomes
It can be pretty scary not to understand how things will work out, so take your time and consider both the best and worst-case scenarios with the possible outcomes of your choice. By doing this, you will be better prepared for potential outcomes.
Your fear of the unknown might keep you from taking a new job, so weigh the benefits and drawbacks, picture your possible outcomes before making such a crucial choice, and be aware of the possible results to help you avoid a mistake.
5. Think of the worst-case scenario
Even though the worst-case situation can occasionally be highly catastrophic, it won't mean the end of the world if something goes wrong.
It's critical to consider the implications of the worst-case scenario in the context of your life; frequently, we overvalue our circumstances, and failure is typically not permanent.
For example, when you start a new project, there must be a turn to learn from it because you will make failed decisions, but your dissatisfaction with them will not last long, so you have to change your strategy and turn things to your advantage.
Even in the worst-case scenario, if the perceived failure leads to the end of this work, it could be the starting point of a new project.
6. Make an alternative plan
It pays to have a backup plan; you don't want to waste time figuring out what to do in an emergency unless it's something you never consider. As said, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Having a backup plan, you feel more confident moving forward and going on deliberate adventures.
Even though you may have applied for a grant to support an initiative in progress, are there any other alternatives for you in the worst-case scenario if you are unsuccessful in receiving the funding?
There are several approaches to solving an issue, so coming up with a backup plan is a terrific way to reduce stress about what might go wrong.
7. Acquire knowledge from all experiences
Even though things might not turn out as you had hoped, you haven't failed.
Learn from anything that happens. Wrong circumstances can even be a significant opportunity to make changes and progress; remember, “You will win sometimes, and learn from others,” and ask yourself:
- What did I learn?
- How do I apply from here?
- Did this lead to anything positive?
If you look closer, you can see a ray of hope. You will undoubtedly overcome your fear of failure once you realize it's a chance for advancement rather than a fatal blow.
Final thoughts
We discovered together the fear of failure and how it can affect our capacity for success. Childhood, the need for perfection, conceit, over-personalization, and insecurity are common causes of this fear.
Fortunately, there are lots of strategies to deal with this fear. We can begin by understanding where it comes from and changing how we think about it. When we view failure as a chance to grow and consider all the options, it becomes easier to overcome the fear.
Think positively, emerge an alternative plan, and take lessons from the situation so your failures are a source of inspiration and knowledge rather than shame. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work," said Edison.
Don't let fear stop you from pursuing your dreams and goals; failure can sometimes be an unnoticed blessing.