FEAR OF FAILURE: THE GREATEST THREAT TO YOUR SUCCESS - BY LORI COOPER
By Lori Cooper
Fear of Failure: The
Greatest Threat to Your Success
The fear of failure has killed more dreams
than all other fears combined. The fear
of failure is insidious, because it’s largely in your imagination. It can
also prevent you from even trying in the first place, which guarantees failure.
It’s interesting that very small children have
no concept of failure. They couldn’t care less if they fail to do something.
They just try again. There are no negative thoughts or emotions involved. They
just keep on going.
But it doesn’t take long before children learn
to fear the opinions of others. It’s usually around the time they start school.
After that first day of school, we’re all changed forever.
It might not be possible to go recapture the
mentality of a toddler, but you can come close. The fear of failure doesn’t have to impact your life significantly.
Consider these facts:
- Failure is temporary - unless you quit. Failure isn’t final unless you give up. All the most successful
people have experienced a lot of failure. But they ended up being
successful precisely because they didn’t quit. Failure is just a temporary
state that means nothing, because it’s only temporary.
- Failure is common. You’ve
failed thousands of times and managed to survive. Consider how many times
you failed to walk or to talk well. Babies have constant failure.
●
Successful people fail all of the time. It’s a
huge part of how human beings learn. We
realize that our approach didn’t work, we adjust, and we try again.
- Failure is educational. You
can learn something from every single one of your failures. Failure makes
you more knowledgeable and capable. The more you fail, the stronger you
become.
- Others are far less concerned about your failure
than you think. A few people might notice your failure,
but they quickly turn their attention back on themselves and their own
challenges.
●
There’s nothing to worry about.
Feel free to fail as much as necessary. Fail enough and you’ll quickly see that
no one relevant cares.
- Focus on how great it will be when you succeed. Instead of worrying about possible failure, consider possible success. Make yourself feel excited and
positive about taking action.
●
With high enough expectations,
you’ll do just about anything without worrying about failure.
- Redirect your thoughts. Put your attention on what
you’re doing. If a negative outcome isn’t going
to cause any real harm, forget about the outcome. Stay focused on your
actions or something positive. Thinking about failing will freeze you in
your tracks.
- Consider the cost of doing nothing. Taking action might be a little scary, but what will happen if
you do nothing?
●
What will you feel about failing
to take action?
●
What if you’re stuck in your
current life for the next decade or more?
●
Maybe taking a risk is far more
attractive than remaining where you are.
What would you do if you weren’t afraid of
failing? Probably a lot more than you’re currently doing! How much has the fear of failure limited your life?
We’ve all allowed the fear of failure to
influence our decisions. We’ve allowed this fear to stop us from trying new
things or taking risks. We all have smaller lives than we could because we’re
too concerned with what others think.
Rejecting the fear of failure is one of the
greatest things you can do for your future!
You can start today. What are you going to do
today that you’ve been afraid to try?
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