Fear of failure: How to neutralise it

What one thing would you love to do that you’ve just never taken any action on? What’s stopping you?

Today and tomorrow we’re going to be talking about the things that hold us back.

The ‘big one’ in this area is FEAR. Fear can affect us in many ways but most commonly it’s FEAR OF FAILURE that stops us from getting to where we want to be. Fear of failure can be so paralysing that no action is ever taken.

So imagine this… if you could neutralise that fear of failure, what would you do with your goal? And then where would that take you? And how would you feel?

Today and tomorrow I’ll be sharing two great tips for neutralising fear of failure.

Tip 1: In a quiet moment, write down all the things that you fear about failure.

Be really honest. Challenge yourself.

Maybe it’s “people will laugh at me”, “I am not good enough”, “I’ll have let my family down”, “I’ll have wasted money”, “I’ll feel humiliated”, “I don’t have time to fail”, etc. etc., the list can go on and on for many of us.

Be aware that the phrases written down are affecting your goal.

The next way to begin neutralising the fear is to do the following:

Visualise someone who you deeply respect and then imagine what they would do in the same situation. The exact same situation as you. That person could be a close friend, a colleague, a mentor or someone famous from past or present.

The important thing is that they are someone who you truly admire. So what would they do? How would they deal with what other people might be saying? How will they deal with the risk, or the self-doubt?

Write down the answers. Look at them. Re-write the answers from your perspective: “I’m not going to let what other people think stop me from working towards my goals.”

And: “I will realise that for every one person who might say something negative about me, there are many more who are saying something positive.” Keep going. “I will have learned new skills along the way, even if it doesn’t work out 100% to plan.” And more: “There are always positive things to take away from any experience and I will grow as a person.”

Write your phrases up. Perhaps surround them with a vision board related to your goal, where you can really feel and visualise what your goal will be like when you’ve reached it. Read the phrases every day for 30 days. Let yourself feel your goal. Let yourself feel and then neutralise the fear. It’s powerful. Let me know how it goes.

If you’d like to share any comments below, I’d love to hear your experiences of how you tackle your fears.

Read more blogs from Anna:

Fear of failure: What could you achieve if ‘limiting beliefs’ didn’t stop you?

Who do you give your power away to? And 5 ways to take it back

How to make time

Power of Choice: How to realise you have it