Every person I do know is scared of failure. It’s in the attribute. Once we get out of our temperature, we feel scared. As a citizenry, our ego and identity become so bound up in what we do, that when things don’t go as we would like, we will literally feel frustrated and have the thought we are getting to die.
Simple ways that will show you whether you are able to learn to use failure for your advantage instead of dreading it. Here are 8 proven strategies to maneuver through your fear of failure.
WHAT’S IN IT
Reshift Your Goals
First, reshift failure by shifting your goals. Extend your goal by including learning something new and you’ll never technically “fail” because there’s always something you’re getting to learn.
For example, rather than having a hard and fast goal like “Earn a minimum of ₹10,00,000 from this new business in one year,” extend your goal by including “You will learn something new about the way to successfully run a business”.
You’ll still target ₹10,00,000 in revenue, while at an equivalent time attaching yourself to the goal of learning something useful about launching a replacement business. This way, you can’t “fail” because no matter the result, you’re sure to learn something valuable.
Imagining Obstacles
According to an experiment, there have been two groups of school students who were asked to write down about what lay the future for the approaching week.
One group was instructed to imagine that the week would be great. and therefore the other group was just asked to write down down any thoughts about the week that came to mind without instruction.
Group one students who were asked to imagine the week would be great reported feeling less energized and went on to accomplish less during the week than the control group.
As a result, positive thinking wasn’t alone enough. because the research has shown that the simplest outcomes are created once we balance positive thinking with visualizing the longer-term obstacles and struggles we’ll encounter.
Imagine a situation during which you’re scared of failure. Visualize yourself now hitting an obstacle, allow yourself to feel the fear, then see yourself moving forward.
Next time, just spend a couple of minutes planning the way to overcome whatever obstacles may substitute your way. Then see yourself succeeding regardless of the obstacles are.
Reveal Your Story
When you take failure very personally, you are always – always – associating the failure with a bigger story about yourselves. You are taking the failure to mean “I am not better enough”, “I will never be successful as a human being”, “My associates are awful”, etc.
When you feel very upset about a particular failure, ask yourself “What are the thoughts I have about this situation?” See if you can reveal the big, heavily overvalue story you are telling yourself about this particular failure.
Try to separate the story from the facts. Facts: New Business launch generated ₹5,00,000 of revenue as compared to the goal of ₹10,00,000. Story: Everyone was right, I’ll never make it on my own. I’m a swore loser.
Once you reveal the story, notice that it is just that. A story. And see if you can re-create it by thinking a more positive response such as “I’m going to take risks, And learn from my mistakes and carry on.”
Questions 3 Things
The best response to perceived failure is to ask oneself these three powerful questions:
1) What I have learned from this situation?
2) How can I grow as a person from this experience?
3) What are three positive things about this situation?
When you first attempt to list three positive things about the “failure”, your mind may be very resistant. But if you stick with this exercise, before you know, you have a new opportunity that can come out of this “failure.”
For example, you might think; “Well, losing a bigger project can give me time to focus on my smaller project and get more clients. And I will also have more time to chase after that other potential new business outlet.
And I learned that my project demo needs to be improved, so I can make changes before targeting these new clients.”
Feel The Fear and Giving it Up
Most of us allow our fear to freeze us because we don’t like feeling fear. But if you simply notice yourself feeling the fear when it shows up, you will learn that it quickly vanishes and suddenly the situation feels more reasonable.
The next time you notice yourself getting stroked out or feeling afraid of something that is not working out, get alone, sit quietly by yourself, set your timer for two minutes, and start taking deep breaths. Notice where you feel rigidness or hypertension in your body, and simply breathe into that area for two minutes.
When the timer sets off after two minutes, chances are the thoughts have shifted. The more you do this, the more you will control your body’s natural calm response and you will move through fear with greater ease.
Not to Be Afraid of Failure
It’s important to realize that in everything we do, there’s always a chance that we’ll fail. Facing fears will have a chance, and embracing it, is not only courageous – it also gives us a fuller, more rewarding life.
However, here are a few ways to reduce fear:
Analyze all possible outcomes
Many people experience fear of failure because they fear the unknown. Remove that fear by considering all of the possible outcomes of your decision.
Learn to think more positively
Positive thinking is an incredibly powerful way to build self-confidence and neutralize self-sabotage.
Look at the worst-case scenario
In some cases, the worst-case scenario may be genuinely disastrous, and it may be perfectly rational to fear failure. In other cases, however, this worst-case may not be that bad, and recognizing this can help.
Have a contingency plan
If you’re afraid of failing at something, having a “Plan B” in place can help you feel more confident about moving forward.
Set approach goals
Goals can be classified as approach goals or avoidance goals based on whether you are motivated by wanting to achieve a positive outcome or avoid an adverse one. Psychologists have found that creating approach goals, or positively reframing avoidance goals, is beneficial for well-being.
When you’re dreading a tough task and expect it to be difficult and unpleasant, you may unconsciously set goals around what you don’t want to happen rather than what you do want.
Though nervous about the process, Rohan’s desire to become an Athlete was an approach goal because it focused on what he wanted to achieve in his career rather than what he hoped to avoid.
Although he didn’t land the first Athlete job he tried to get, he did not let that fact deter him from keeping that as his objective and getting back out there.
If Rohan had instead become discouraged about the outcome of his first C-level interview and decided to actively avoid the pain of rejection by never vying for the top spot again, he would have shifted from approach to avoidance mode
While developing an avoidance goal is a common response to a perceived failure, it’s important to keep in mind the costs of doing so. Research has shown that employees who take on an avoidance focus become twice as mentally fatigued as their approach-focused colleagues.
When failure is possible, view it as a challenge
Completing important tasks—tasks that you could fail at—is stressful. But how you choose to approach this stress is up to you.
If you think of stress as a threat, as many of us do, your body will prepare for battle—and you’ll feel like you’re in a battle. On the other hand, if you choose to view this stress as a challenge, then you’re more likely to think you are capable of handling it. As a bonus, thanks to the calming effect it has on your body, you actually will be more capable and less likely to fail.
To build a challenge mindset, reflect on past challenges that you’ve overcome. Let’s say you’re worried about a meeting with your boss. Take a moment to think back to past meetings.
Did you handle them successfully? What exactly did you do? When you remind yourself that you have succeeded before, the task in front of you doesn’t seem so insurmountable.
Next, visualize success. By imagining yourself doing well, you feel more positive, which can enhance your performance. On the other hand, if you ruminate about what could go wrong, your fear builds, and the failure you fear becomes more likely.
Keep in mind that even if you can shift your brain to stop seeing something as a threat, you may feel similar physical sensations, like nerves and shakiness. If you notice these, try to see them as excitement, energy, and “good” stress—evidence that what you’re doing is important to you.
Conclusion
Everybody has a fear of failure when they think to do a work that is out of their knowledge. It is obvious to get scared while leaving your comfort zone. But, it is the first and crucial step for the progress that you deserve.
Even if you fail at the first attempt, deal with that failure by shifting your goals and going ahead in the right direction by learning from your past mistakes. Instead of giving up at an early stage, ask yourself a few questions and have a contingency plan.
Also you can read our blog on Golden Rules of Goal Setting