All About... Fear of Failure!
"The greatest mistake
you can make in life...
...is to continually be
afraid you will make one."
So says Elbert Hubbard, and I'm sure so say all of us, too! Yet, still, this is one of the most common fears that there is: failure! This fear of the unknown, of change - call it what you will - limits all of us to a life that is less.
- So
you'll find fear quotes, and thoughts by Nelson Mandela, myself (and others) about
how important it is that we all overcome this fear. How to do so? Change
our habits. Today!
What do you say? What are your thoughts on failure? And would you, like so many others are doing, turn to self hypnosis to overcome this fear?
Fear of Failure
What I say...
Hey, fear is good sometimes, it is!
If we weren't frightened of falling to our death, for example, then we'd all be leaping from roof to roof a la those Parkour boys in France, or we'd be driving at 90mph down a windy country lane, etc.
Fear of failure is good for you. Sometimes.
But, mostly, this pervasive
fear stops us from living, from growing, from being
the magnificent human beings that we all are.
And, to coin an appropriate phrase, 'that sucks!".
So, let's begin with identifying this deepest fear, so we can at least be aware of it. And, with most of the top 10 fears (or fear, in general) overcoming fear of failure begins with awareness!
What My Failure Fear Looks Like...
So, in my own particular case, my fear of failure has presented itself in the last few years in the following places:
- In
romantic relationships - what if it's the 'wrong' relationship for me? (Or, what
if it's the right relationship?)
- At work - what happens
if nobody wants to buy it, or read it?
- At play - what happens if I'm no good (at being a stand up comedian)? ("You, funny Steve? Don't make me laugh!")
This
fear of change - because that's what it is - has held me back, it has! It's kept
me in my shell, made me stay safe, and thus limited my life!
And that's not the point of life, is it, to stay safe? Instead, it's to grow, to have fun, and to be who you're intended to be.
So I say 'no' to fear
of failure, and I particularly say 'no' to fear of fear of failure. Do it! Begin.
Take action. (Today.) Try your best. Give it a shot. Measure your success,
and repeat!
And if you need to read some fear quotes first, that's fine - inspirational quotes can quite often get us going in the right direction, after all! But actions must then be taken, they must...
"Fear
stops a lot of people. Fear of failure, of the unknown, of risk.
And it masks
itself as procrastination."
-- Lisa Anderson
Today, is a day for taking action - that is why you're reading this page, after all - a day of overcoming procrastination. It is going to be a long journey, this 'battle' with fear of failure (as David Viscott's words below suggest), but the journey is a rewarding one where you get to be the person you truly are...
"To fail is a natural consequence
of trying, To succeed takes time and
prolonged effort in the face of unfriendly
odds. To think it will be
any other way, no matter what you do, is to invite
yourself
to be hurt and to limit your enthusiasm for trying"
--
David Viscott
Now let's see have one last Nelson Mandela fear quote, then I'm going to leave you to take actions, even if that action is ONLY investigating one of the recommended overcoming fear resources I've listed below...
What Nelson Mandela has to say...
"The greatest
glory in living not lies in
never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
--
Nelson Mandela
Thank you Mr Mandela. And thank you for the example that
you set us all: an example of determination, belief, and even more importantly,
compassion - leadership in action, indeed...
What these recommended resource says...
- Why People Fail - Free Download (PDF)
"Why People Fail - 14 success-killing traits that people have and don't recognise" is written by Ken Evoy, the founder of SiteSell.com. It's based on his experiences of why some succeed (and others fail) with SiteSell's business-building software service called SBI!. But the lessons learned - particularly in recognising yourself in Ken's list - are invaluable to us all, whether we're trying to 'succeed online', or 'succeed with self-help'.
So it's not about fear of failure, but how we conspire to fail quite often despite ourselves.
Download Why People Fail here... (Free, Adobe PDF format)
- Overcome fear using Self Hypnosis
Self-hypnosis offers a quicker way to reprogram your mind and thus enable you to get through a particular personal stumbling block. And it's no different with overcoming this fear.
(HypnosisDownloads.com is the resource I recommend you turn to for self-hypnosis solutions - whatever the 'problem' - because the scripts are produced by qualified professionals, online since 1995.)