How To Overcome Fear Of Failure

Look deeper into your fear of failure. Often, the fear of failure is just a general understanding of what we are really afraid of. If this fear of failure is examined, it can be discovered that there are other fears underlying. These specific fears can be addressed and dealt with once they are identified.

• Fear of failure is often just a broad understanding of what the problem is.
• We may be afraid of failure, but failure is often associated with other ideas such as self-worth or self-esteem.
• Some links detect the fear of failure or shame.
• Examples of more specific fears may be worrying about losing security due to a risky investment or being exposed to the humiliation of your peers.

Avoid personalizing and generalizing failures. It can be easy to see something you interpret as a failure and attribute the lack of success to yourself. You can also take a single case of failure and apply it to your whole life and self. You may think, ‘I’m a loser, or ‘I’m worthless because your efforts do not have the results you hope for.  Although common, it is not useful, nor is it.

• Study the scripture in your head about this event. We often let our minds slip into predictable texts that are not helpful. For example, if you’re working on an invention and have just bombarded the 17th attempt, you might experience this text: ‘Yep, I’m never going to get it right. I’m a failure. ‘ The facts of the situation are simply that this attempt did not work. The facts say nothing about you as a person or about the possibility of future success. Separate the facts from your text.

Reject perfectionism. Some people believe that perfectionism is the same as healthy ambitions or standards of excellence, but on the contrary, perfectionism can cause failures. Perfectionists are often obsessed with the fear of failure. Often, they categorize anything that does not meet their unreasonably high standards as a ‘failure’. It can cause you to procrastinate because you are so worried that your work is imperfect that you can never complete it. Set healthy, ambitious standards for yourself and acknowledge that sometimes your work will not fully meet them.

• Studies have shown that professors who are perfectionists produce fewer research studies and papers than professors who are adaptable and open to criticism.
• Perfectionism can also make you more likely to develop mental health conditions such as depression and eating disorders.

Stay positive. It can be quite easy to focus on past failures and prevent them from achieving future success. Instead of focusing solely on how bad it seems to be, focus on what went well and what was learned.

• Even if your main goal has not succeeded, you can still achieve success if you learn from experience.
• By concentrating only on negative aspects, it will seem that the situation is entirely negative.
• By focusing on successes and positive aspects, you will learn what works and be better prepared for the future.

Continue learning. If you are afraid that you will not succeed in a new task or are worried about the fact that you will not fail a known task, you can keep your skills up to date to help with this. By practicing your skills and proving to yourself that you are proficient in whatever field you are focusing on, you will increase your self-confidence. Recognize what you are doing well, as well as the areas in which you can further develop.

• Strengthen your existing skills. Always keep abreast of the new best practices used in the skill set.
• Learn new skills. By learning new skills, you will enrich your skill set and be better prepared for a wider range of situations that may arise as you pursue your goals.

Take action. The only real failure is the one that happens if you never even try. Taking the first step is generally the most difficult; however, it is also the most important. It is natural to feel scared and uncomfortable when trying something new. You can take a few steps to help you deal with this discomfort.

• Permit yourself to feel uncomfortable. Everyone has moments when they feel uncomfortable or afraid of challenges, even incredibly successful billionaire businessmen. Recognize that this fear is natural and okay, and stop fighting or suppressing it. Rather decide to work, even if you feel scared.
• Remember to divide your bigger goals into smaller ones. If you have these smaller phases that you know you can achieve, the larger goal will be less intimidating.
• Moving forward will give you new information and enable you to adjust your way of success.

Expose yourself to failure. If you actively expose yourself to failure, you will learn that failure is not as frightening as you may believe. This is a technique known as exposure therapy and can be used to reduce the effects of fear in your life.  This type of exercise gives you experience in dealing with fear or discomfort and discovers that you can work through it to experience success.

• Find a new hobby or activity in which you are uneducated. Start practicing and look forward to the failures you face, knowing that it will only increase your success in the future.
• For example, start playing a new instrument. Failures along the way to proficiency with this tool will be common. These failures give you many opportunities to become comfortable with failure. They will also show you that failure is not total or degrading. Just because you failed the first hundred times trying to play the Moonlight Sonata does not mean you will never succeed.
• You can also try asking strangers for simple things, like mint or discount when buying something. Your goal is to fail, to turn failure into success again, and to destroy the limiting effect that fear can have on your behavior.

Realize that you are panicking. Sometimes the fear of failure can cause reactions in the body, similar to panic or anxiety attacks caused by any other fear. Your first step in stopping such a panic attack is to realize the symptoms at the beginning of one. Look for some of the following symptoms:

• Increased heart rate or irregular heartbeat.
• Difficulty breathing or anxious throat.
• Tingling, trembling, or sweating.
• Light-headed, dizzy, or as if you are on the verge of extinction.

Take a deep breath. During a panic attack, your breathing is likely to consist of short, rapid breathing which only helps to maintain the panicked state. Take control of your breathing and take deep, slow breaths so that you can return to a normal rhythm of your breath.

• Inhale slowly, for five seconds, through your nose. Use your diaphragm, not your chest, to inhale. Your stomach should rise with your breath, not with your chest.
• Exhale again through your nose at the same slow pace. Make sure you fully exhale all the air in your lungs while focusing on counting to five.
• Repeat this breathing cycle until you begin to feel calm.

Relax your muscles. Your body will probably be very tense during a panic attack, and this tension will only contribute to the feeling of anxiety. Work to release the tension in your muscles by tensing, holding, and releasing the muscles.

• You can stretch and release all the muscles in your body at once, for a quick and complete relaxation technique.
• Begin to tense the muscles in your feet, hold them for a few seconds and then release the tension for greater relaxation. Move your body up and tighten your lower leg, thigh, back, chest, shoulders, arms, neck, and face.

Try to stop. This useful acronym can help you respond with immediate fear in situations. If you experience the fear of failure, practice the following:

• Stop what you do. Whatever you do, stop and take a step back from the situation. Give yourself some time to think before you react.
• Take a deep breath. Take a few moments to cleanse yourself with a few deep breaths. This will restore oxygen to your brain and help you make clearer decisions.
• O observe what’s going on. Ask yourself a few questions. What’s going on in your mind? How do you feel? What is the “writing” in your head now? Are you considering the facts? Do you give more weight to opinions? What are you focusing on?
• P ull back for perspective. Try to imagine the situation from an impartial observer. What would she see in this situation? Is there another way to approach this situation? How big is this situation in the big scheme – will it even matter 6 days or 6 months from now?
• P proceed based on your principles. Continue with what you know and have established. Practice what suits your values ​​and goals.

Challenge negative self-talk. We are often our own worst critics. You may find that your inner critic is always dissatisfied with you, telling you things like “I’m not good enough” “I will never get it right” or “I should not even try.” When you discover these kinds of thoughts, challenge them. They are helpless, and even more, they are untrue.

• Think about how you would advise a friend. Imagine that it is a friend or loved one in your situation. Maybe your best friend is afraid to leave her day job to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. What would you say to her? Would you immediately suggest her failure, or would you find ways to support her? Give yourself the same compassion and conviction that you will show a loved one.
• Think if you generalize. Do you take one specific case and generalize it throughout your experience? For example, if your science project did not work, do you extend that failure to every aspect of your life and say something like ‘I’m a failure?

Avoid catastrophizing. When your catastrophe, you fall into the trap of assuming that the absolute worst thing that can happen will happen. You allow your fear to get your mind out of control and make logical leaps. You can challenge this by delaying and asking for evidence for your assumptions.

• You may be worried that you will fail if you change your university major to a subject you want to study, but which is challenging. From there, your mind may catastrophize: ‘If I do not pass this major, I will drop out of university. I will never get a job. I will have to live in my parents’ basement for the rest of my life and eat ramen noodles. I will never be able to go out or get married or have children. ‘ Obviously, this is an extreme case, but it’s an example of how fear can send your mind wild into the left field.
• Try to put your thoughts into perspective. For example, if you are afraid to change your university subject because you are worried that you will fail, consider this: what is the worst thing that can happen, and how likely is it? In this case, the worst thing that happens is that you are not good at organic chemistry (or whatever subject you are pursuing) and fail a few courses. This is not a disaster. There are many actions you can take to help you get past these failures, such as hiring a tutor, studying more, and talking to professors.
• The more likely situation is that you are difficult at the beginning of your new subject, but you are learning and growing and finished with your college happy that you have pursued your passion.

Acknowledge that you are usually your own worst critic. The fear of failure can stem from the belief that others are investigating every move you make. You may feel a small slip being noticed and spread. The fact is, however, that most people are so preoccupied with their problems and worries that they do not have the time or effort to explore every little thing you do.

• Look for evidence that contradicts your assumptions. For example, you may be worried about going to parties because you’re afraid you might say something silly or make a joke that makes bombs. This fear of failure can keep you from having social interactions with others. However, you may want to consider past experiences and others’ experiences to help you overcome this fear.
• For example, you might want to think about whether any of your friends or someone you know has ever made a social faux pas. It is virtually guaranteed that you can think of someone who has had a social slip. Did their mistake lead them to be avoided or did everyone consider them a failure? Probably not.
• Remind yourself the next time you fear that you will experience failure and be judged on it: “Everyone makes mistakes. I give myself permission to slip up or look stupid. It will not make me a failure. ‘
• If you come across people who are harsh judges or too critical, you need to realize that the problem is with them, not with you.