How To Overcome Fear Of Failure

Fear of failure happens to the best of us. We all want to succeed, we want to appear in control of our lives and we want to ensure we keep those around us safe and secure. But fear of failure is what stops people from trying to be successful in the first place. So what if we re-programmed ourself into re-defining what failure means to us, and then established what we can do to overcome this? In this blog I aim to help you identify what the hell failure actually is, and how I think you can overcome it!

So what is failure and why are you so goddamn frightened of it? Failure to me, and too many others, is putting yourself out there in a task and getting it wrong. It's messing up, making a mistake and not completing something. So why is that so bad? Firstly; congratulations on attempting the task in the first place. Secondly, if you have messed up you have a seriously amazing opportunity to learn here! Often the only way to find out certain stuff about yourself, your work or your business - is by failing at it and learning how to rebuild or try again! I've failed. I failed at a business before even making a sale!

So how can you overcome this feeling of fear of failure when approaching a task?

Don't be afraid and see it as a positive! I can't stress enough how important taking risks is, despite the probability of failing. If you never reach out of your comfort zone you can best believe you will never reach the same success as you would if you dived right on in to something uncomfortable and gave it your best shot. If you re-evaluate your expectations of the task you are about to attempt and think that no matter the outcome if you can learn anything from the situation regardless then even if you fail you will have reached a goal!

Creating a list of all the things you are scared of happening to you if you fail and detailing the consequences/outcomes of that failure can sometimes put stuff into perspective. It can make you realise that by not getting that client to take you on, you are not going to lose your job and be out on the street, but will learn how to make sure you secure the next one and the next one after that!

Another great thing to do is talk! Something that sometimes we are reluctant to do, but if we talk about our fears to a loved one, a peer/colleague or even our boss we can often feel so much more reassured. When the person you are afraid of failing tells you not too worry, you know you have the green light to go ahead!

These are just a few of the techniques that I personally use to overcome my own fear of failure. However my main take home message is; if you are about to do a task, whether you fail or not - commit to it and OWN IT. See it as a confidence boost. You made a mistake... so what?! You had the courage and drive to try something in the first place and I my friend, applaud you!

With Love,

Leanne xx