Fear of failure is a real fear that most people have to overcome. Obviously those who are really successful have overcome their fear while those who have not achieved success are suffering from this fear. It is a lot like the fear of rejection or the fear of criticism.
There is in reality no failure. There is feedback on results and how these results are viewed is not about being failures. The successful person will see any mistakes as merely ‘results’. The person who has not achieved success will see a mistake as a personal defeat and something that is permanent.
The truth is that everything has to be learned by trial and error and this will most probably include making a certain amount of mistakes. Mistakes are merely then, learning tools for the successful. Unfortunately, most people are afraid of making a mistake or failing so they just don’t try to achieve to their full potential. Fear is crippling in a psychological sense.
To stop the fear of failure from ruining your success, there are a couple simple steps to take. The first is to actually take a decisive and deliberate action. Fight against your fear by doing something that is outside of your comfort level. Get things in motion and let the momentum carry you through the fear.
The second thing you must do is to be persistent. A successful person just will not quit no matter what. If one tactic does not work, try another but do not give up. Usually just at the moment a person will quit is the very moment when things were going to turn around for them.
Third is to ease up on yourself. If you make a mistake or if you need to try different ways of doing something, do not get down on yourself. Failure is just an evaluation of behavior. Failure is just something that happens and is not personal. A failure is just a way to learn about something and most probably about yourself. Failure is an opportunity to learn from what you did and continue on to bigger and better things. Take a good look at what went wrong and be grateful for the experience because now you can continue and not make the same mistake again. Eventually you will overcome your fear of failure and you will experience success.
