Overcoming Your Fear Of Failure

Do you have a fear of failure? Or perhaps is a fear of success, all of us at one point or another have experienced one of these feelings, maybe it’s been a while since you felt it or maybe you have felt it really recently.

Fear of failure happens to everyone at some point in their lives, usually when we are pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone or trying to accomplish something new or a big goal or new target.

When it comes to this fear, you aren’t alone, I’ve yet to meet an entrepreneur that hasn’t been afraid to fail but what is less common is a willingness of entrepreneurs to talk about failure.

The truth is our society now is set up to fear failure, in a world of Instagram perfect lives, failure has become a taboo.

Anything less than perfect or successful doesn’t really fit the grid so our failures lay quiet in the background. As a result, our fear of future failures grows and it’s all too easy to let those fears turn our bright colourful dreams into dark shadows of self-doubt. Unchecked this has the power to paralyse us and stop us moving forward.

However, the truth is that failing isn’t something to fear, in fact, it’s something we should embrace and look forward to!

Some of the best lessons in life come to us through failing. Yes it hurts, it can be embarrassing and disappointing but failure is only fatal if you let it stop you.

Failure can actually be a part of your success story if you learn to embrace it. It can teach you valuable lessons, be it how not to do something or just how to keep picking yourself up and keep going.

Accepting that failure is inevitable can be one of life’s best lessons and actually strengthens us. Once you allow yourself to fail and then get back up you will realise that your fear of failure was worse than the actual failure was.

Failing and then trying again, now with more knowledge will build your resilience in a way that immediate success never will.

A quick google search will provide you with a list of famous failures. People who failed more than once before their dreams came true.

People who have reached the top of their fields, who have changed the world with their talents, these people all failed at one point but they embraced their failure as part of their journey and they kept going.

Don’t believe me? Oprah was fired from one of her first TV Jobs. Yes someone out there sacked Oprah for not being up to the job. Needless to say she didn’t let that stop her.

J.K Rowling might be one of the worlds more successful authors now, and one of the richest women but that first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected 12 times before she finally got a publisher to accept it.

12 times she heard no, at a time where her life was at a low ebb as a single mum on benefits. She didn’t let the fear of rejection stop her from trying again and again until she made it happen. Can you imagine a world without Harry Potter? That’s what we would have if she had let failure stop her.

Charles Darwin was told he was a fool for his theory of evolution. His dad called him lazy and too much of a dreamer, his own college called his theory of evolution a foolish pursuit.

Fearing failure is a natural defence mechanism that tries to take control whenever we venture out our comfort zone, and it’s OK to take fear along with us on our journey. As long as we don’t let it drive.

Everything you ever wished for is on the other side of fear you just have to embrace the fear of failing and leap.

What’s your relationship like with failing? Does it terrify you? Have you overcome it? I’d love to hear your story in the comments below!