How to overcome the fear of failure: 7 practical tips

It is natural to experience fear in certain situations; Contrary to what many people believe, fear does not represent weakness. Instead, fear works as a way to preserve our species, ensuring that we avoid exposing ourselves to dangerous situations.

But paradoxically, fear can turn against us. When our fears are irrational, that is, they do not respond to situations that are really dangerous for us, they become limiting fears. In this article let's see how to overcome the fear of failure, through various tips.

• Related article: "What is fear for?"

Why are we afraid of failure?

The fear of failure can respond to multiple circumstances. It is an irrational fear of a multifactorial nature. Among the most frequent circumstances we have the low self-esteem, mismanagement of expectations, dependence on others to perform almost any activity, etc.

These kinds of behaviors and thoughts are mainly those derived from unfounded fearsTo know how to overcome the fear of failure, we must first be able to recognize in ourselves any of these cognitive distortions.

How to overcome the fear of failure?

In the next few lines we will review some effective techniques, which can greatly help to overcome the irrational fear of failure. let's see what they are.

1. Recognize your own emotions

Recognizing your own emotions is essential to face the fear of failure. When we are able to recognize that we are feeling fear we can deal with it in a much more effective way Than when we refuse to accept it

Thus, overcoming the fear of failure begins with being able to analyze the situation from which we started and explore those sources of fear, what makes a project make us fear or make us feel anguish.

2. Identify the exact focus of fear

Feeling that we are afraid of failure is something that is quite general, what we must do in these cases is to identify what exactly motivates our fear, what exact part of the process is the one that generates anxiety and anguish.

Once you manage to specify the real reason for your fears, you will know what are the aspects to improve to overcome them. It's about analyzing from the most general to the most specific to find our Achilles heel, he who knows his fears becomes stronger.

3. Motivation techniques

Sometimes the fear of failure may be subject to a general lack of motivation. In these scenarios, what we must do is strengthen our motivation and contribute to its maintenance over time. There are various personal motivation techniques that can help you solve your fears.

It is important to bear in mind that motivation can be internal or external; when it is internal it is because we enjoy the process of doing something that we like, while when it is a external motivation what drives us to meet our objectives is the concrete and objective reward that we will receive for it.

4. Transform your way of thinking

When we think failure will haunt us everywhere, and that there is nothing in which we can stand out, we must stop for a moment and carefully analyze our situation. Ask yourself: do these thoughts make sense? What is really stopping me from being successful?

When you realize that the main obstacle between you and success is your own thoughts, you will have advanced on your way to overcome the fear of being wrong. Success is relativeThink of it as something everyday. Every day you succeed at something. If you see failure as a learning opportunity for future success, you will seize it.

5. Plan realistic goals

Realistic goals move us away from the probability of resounding failure, as we plan our goals more assertively we will begin to see our success more achievable and consequently we will dispel the fear of failure.

We must make a habit of this so that little by little it becomes a habit, and we completely lose the irrational fear of failing in our aspirations. Evaluate the resources you have available and works based on them.

This is one of the easiest tips on how to overcome fear of failure to follow, as it is based on easy-to-determine actions, such as setting a schedule, dividing some general objectives into more specific, etc. If, on the contrary, we set ourselves unattainable goals, we will end up frustrated and assuming the idea that nothing works for us, which in the long run paralyzes and leads to passivity and defeatism. We must find a balance between the present state and what can be achieved with the means available now.

6. Try to be the best version of yourself

This point refers to gradually overcome what has been achieved. When we start an activity it is normal that we are not so good at the beginning, but eventually we will improve as time passes and we are constant. So, take each advance as a personal triumph.

Always try to improve yourself without obsessing over it. Remember that all excesses are negative, and too much self-demand could lead to high levels of frustration that are counterproductive to our cause.

7. Don't run away from the possibility of failure

As you begin to think of failure as just another possibility, without necessarily being something catastrophic, your fear of it will begin to dissipate.

The less you try to avoid failure and the more you focus on the process of doing what you set out to do and enjoying it, all your performance will get better, and your fear will disappear, being replaced by a more adaptive way of looking at failure.

Bibliographic references:

• Carleton, R.N. (2016). "Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?". Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 41 (June2016): 5 - 21.
• Martin, Nick; Otowa, Takeshi; Lee, Minyoung; Hartman, Catharina; Oldehinkel, Albertine; Preisig, Martin; Jörgen Grabe, Hans; Middeldorp, Christel; Penninx, Brenda (2017). "Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies of Anxiety Disorders". European Neuropsychopharmacology. 27 (10): 1391 - 1399.
• Olsson, A.; Phelps, E.A. (2007). "Social learning of fear". Nature Neuroscience. 10 (9): 1095 - 102.