“Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.” Denis Waitley
The fear of failure is human nature. Either from our childhood or when we are out of a comfort zone as adults, we all have that negative thought, that fear present inner us.
Growing up you were told to avoid this or that you’re not good enough for certain things and that lead to the creation of prevention goals, seek confirmation.
This fear built up limits the capacity to succeed. So instead of giving the best version of yourself, you play the safe card or avoid taking action.
Conquer the fear of failure is not always easy when it comes to our lives or for a business matter.
What can you do to prevent fear of failure from setting you back?
1. Identify the reason and the benefits.
The first thing to do is find a quiet place, take a deep breath, then ask yourself where your failure comes from, what are causes. Write them down and ask yourself what the good thing are coming from these causes.
Example 1: if your parent or teachers told you to not do something where you were young the benefits could be because they were protecting you.
Example 2: you missed an important deadline that makes you stepping back when it comes to being a leader because you are afraid. The benefit here is that you learned that you need to prioritize better, say no to more projects, or tone down perfectionism.
You think that the past event the reason why you stuck and do not allow yourself to achieve your goals but looking deep in, you will notice that there is nothing wrong with you.
2. Redefine your Goals.
We are taught that success is better than failure, that winners succeed, and losers fail. But that does not define how we are. When you find the benefits in the cause of your fear, you need to find a motivation that is stronger than that fear of failure. Ask yourself:
– Why this is so important to you.
Find in yourself the way to achieve your will. Create a mission statement that is strong and leads you to achieve the goals you set. Doing this will make your desire to succeed overshadow your fear.
3. Free your Mind by Creating a visualization of what you want.
“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier
Visualization is a technique in which relax and imagine good things you want to happen to you. You can visualize yourself overcoming the fear, which can eventually translate to real-life success in 5 steps
Be realistic. Visualization is powerful. The brain’s response to imagined scenarios is often on par with its response to real-life success and failure
Try visualizing your success gradually. If visualizing the result itself is still terribly overwhelming, break down your visualizations to follow your preparation.
Visualize your success When you must deal with something that frightens you, try to visualize regularly. Close your eyes and imagine success. Take 10 to 15 minutes before bed each night to visualize yourself overcoming your fear.
Go into detail. The more detail you use in a visualization, the better. When you encounter the actual scenario, you’ll be calmer if the moment closely matches your imagination
Provide yourself with physical reminders. Many people make use of physical reminders to aid in the visualization process. It can be helpful to have a bulletin board in your bedroom where you keep images of people succeeding in areas that frighten you. This can inspire you to overcome your own fears
4. Open up your story and welcome fear.
“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” Napoleon Hill
Every human is afraid of one degree to another. Do not define failure as the opposite of success. Instead, define it as the opposite of trying. Remember, you can be afraid to fail, but you can’t achieve success if you are afraid to even try.
Be brave enough to accept failure and smart enough not to give it too much power.
Make it a goal Allow yourself to be comfortable with discomfort and realize that failure is indeed an option on the road to success.
Final Thoughts
To overcome the fear of failure, you can start by identifying where it comes from and redefine your goals and the way you feel about failure. The most important part of this process is to free your mind by doing a visualization exercise and be open and acknowledge that the fear of failure is not a route that leads to failure.
“Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.” Virgil Thomson.
REFERENCES
https://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Your-Fears-Through-Visualization
Don’t Think, Don’t Try, Just Do It Visualization
Powerful Daily Visualization Hypnosis to Condition Your Subconscious Mind to Achieve the Ultimate Success
- By: Will Johnson Jr.
- Narrated by: Robert Gazy
