Don’t let fear hold you back
So many people get stuck in their life and never get what they want because they are immobilized by the fear of failure. They are afraid to take chances, or try something new in case they fail and that they may look foolish. Or that they make a decision and it may not be the right one.
Some have felt fear and ridicule all their life and been made very aware of their own fear. And others push their fears and doubts to the back of their mind and settle for less than they deserve. They never take the challenge, they don’t examine who they are or what they are all about. Or what they are actually capable of.
It’s safer and sometimes easier for some people not to even explore who they are or what they want.
What is the fear of failure
In many ways it’s not surprising so many have these issue. We all have to learn but there’s something very intimidating when you are young and most impressionable attending school. This is often the place where you are being judged and assessed. You are graded on how and what you learn. How you do in tests or exams.What if you don’t know the answer or god forbid you give the wrong answer and look and feel like a fool. You get some kids that don’t even hesitate when teacher asks a question, their hand shoots in the air almost every time.
Others may really believe that they know the answer but because of self doubt they never put their hand up in fear they’re wrong. This has created a lot of deep rooted beliefs leaving people fearful of failing and that they lack trust in themselves.
Don’t fear failure…it can be your friend
Failure teaches you some great lessons and you should never feel bad about trying something new and not succeeding first time. That’s all part of learning and growing. You just try again and keep going until you succeed. There’s a saying a lot of very successful entrepreneurs that I know would tell you, “fail fast and fail forward”.
Give yourself a break and expect that you will fail and that it’s par for the course. Take what you consider a failure as a step closer to your success.
Failure and fear are in the mind only!
And you can help yourself by replacing them with success and confidence.
This is something for you to think about. What if everything you’ve always wanted was on the other side of a bridge which was over a fast flowing river. And all you have to do is get to the other side to claim it.
And what if that bridge was built of your fears, nagging doubts, excuses and false beliefs? What if this was all that’s standing between you and everything you really want. Wouldn’t you want to overcome these obstacles? Would it be worth the effort to get to the other side?
Procrastination and fear of failure
A lot of people spend so much time in fear that they are stuck in inaction doing nothing at all. In fear of taking action because you’re not sure if it’s the right action. This can lead to procrastination constantly putting things off. And often making things a bigger deal than they need to be.
They over think and analyze things to the point it leads to paralysis. It’s fear of the unknown that gets most people. While there are those that are excited of facing a new challenge of exploring the unknown others just freeze. Here’s something to think about…the feelings in your gut both of fear and excitement are actually very similar feelings.
Everyone makes mistakes
When I was growing up we heard the old saying “if at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again!” and
that’s it in a nutshell. Everyone makes mistakes and that’s expected, mistakes are how we learn. They are also how new things are discovered and improved upon. We learn what doesn’t work then we don’t usually make that same mistake again. We try something else!
Most of us will go on and keep trying until we get it right, until we find a solution for what works.
Consider failure as feedback. Get some failure behind you to get you closer to success. Being successful comes from not quitting, it comes from perseverance. It’s about getting up and trying again, each time it’s taking you closer to what you want.
Let fear go…move forward in life
A lot of very successful people will tell you to fail fast because it’s going to happen, then you move on. Many extremely successful people will tell you that they have failed miserably many times before they experienced success.
What’s the worst thing that can happen anyway? Ask yourself this question when faced with something new or you’re unsure about. We can either build an image of doom in our head or we can build an image of a positive result. When you start off full of doubt, you’re already starting with a disadvantage.
Fear of failure and fear of success
Oddly enough while some are afraid failing others are afraid of success. I’ve known people that are working towards a major goal and they’ve almost reached the finishing line and then stop. It gets so close to finalizing then they sabotage it.
A lot of people know that being successful will change their life and they’re not sure yet how that will look. So some people may prefer the comfort of what they know for sure and where they are now. And that not knowing can create fear for them, fear of the unknown.
Why are people afraid to try new things?
Sometime you are faced with a situation where you’re forced to make a choice. Maybe you do something and it doesn’t work the way you expected or wanted to. And if you’re asked why did you do that, then you can give an answer. On the other hand you’ll never be able to explain why you did nothing.
- Whether you want that job or not
- If you want to be in a relationship or not
- Did you want to start your own business or not.
- would you want to be wealthy or not
- Do you want to live the life of your dreams or not
You either do or you don’t, the answer is either yes or no and these are just a few examples of choices you may be faced with.
Don’t be paralyzed by fear
Decide to do your best and not let the fear paralyze you! What makes it harder for some is the fear of the unknown, the fear of what others may say or think and even the fear of rejection.
Focus on moving forward and leave the fear behind you. Most of us can think of times we regret not taking action. How many times have you wished you had taken action on something? Sometimes we fear that we may not know what to do, or that we don’t know enough.
Making a decision is the first step to action. Put what you already know and have learned into action. As adults we become more afraid to try things. Kids don’t have that problem they are trying new things all of the time. What if they were afraid to try walking or give up once they took a tumble? Or riding a bike, learning to read and write and so on.
Stop letting fear control your life
What we need to do is to give ourselves a break. Ask what’s the worst thing that can happen? If it doesn’t work out the way you hoped, you get up and try gain. And if you don’t go for it you’ll never know.
It’s not the mistakes we make but the lessons we learn from them that are our greatest teachers. It’s those things that makes us who we become.
Time to stop letting fear freeze you dead in your tracks. Will you look back and regret not taking action? How might it change your life to take a leap of faith?
These are two great quotes from Richard Branson
“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”
”If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later”!
Richard Branson is known for taking huge chances both in business and in his personal pursuits. And he’s had some amazing adventures trying many things most would never dream of doing. Also he’s not let fear stop him doing anything.
Also he’s made at lot of mistakes and had failures too. And as Richard Branson says, always say yes to a great opportunity even if you’re not sure you can do it, and if you don’t know how, learn to.
False evidence appearing real
This is what FEAR is…false evidence appearing real.
There are many very successful people including celebrities have failed many more times than they’ve succeeded. Expect to fail in order to succeed. If you persevere success will come! Have good intentions create a positive outcome in your head.
We create the pictures and words we have in our head. Those images we create and the thoughts we have. And this leads to the results we are going to get in life, they can be positive or negative. You get to choose your results.
It’s entirely up to you and no one else to change the pictures, thoughts and the words in your head if it’s not what you want. Replace what you don’t want for what you do want!
FEAR is the biggest obstacle to most people’s desires
Notice and feel the fear but do it anyway.
There’s a time and a place for real fear, it’s job is meant to protect you from imminent danger. For example jumping off a bridge is dangerous , as is jumping out of a plane without a parachute. or when someone trying to attack or kill you. That’s danger is present and it’s the time to be fearful. This is the time when you should feel fear and pay attention to it and react.
It’s not your everyday life and thoughts that you should be reacting to with fear. That’s the times when you’re not in danger so feel the fear and do it anyway!
If You make FEAR your enemy it will defeat you.
If you make FEAR your friend it will guide you.
You’re fears are a treasure map to your superpowers…Coach Dave
The one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve… it’s the fear of failure and deciding not to try at all!
