Dream Blockers: #7 Fear of Failure and How to Overcome It
Welcome back to week 7 of our journey towards realizing our grand dreams and crafting a life full of purpose, fulfillment, and impact. As we continue to dig deep into the hurdles blocking our way, we gain the power to overcome them and move closer to our dreams.
Today, let's dive into a familiar adversary: the fear of failure.
It's that nagging voice that often keeps us from even taking the first step. And if we do manage to kick things off, it's the voice that convinces us to throw in the towel after a couple of stumbles. You know the thoughts: "This is going to be crazy tough," "I'll never pull this off," or "What will everyone think of me?" These thoughts plant seeds of fear in our minds, and guess what? They often sprout into the very failure we were afraid of in the first place!
But here's the kicker—failure itself is not the villain here. Failure is simply “the neglect or omission of expected or required action.” The real villain is the negative MEANING we often slap onto that situation.
It's like those whispers in our heads saying, "You're a total failure," "People are gonna think you're unintelligent," or "Remember how your folks said you're not as smart as your sibling?" That's the stuff that turns a little stumble into a full-blown crash-and-burn, making us too scared to even try again.
Looking back, I sometimes I wish I had grown up getting high-fives for trying, failing, and then giving it another shot. Instead, my younger years were all about getting gold stars. It resulted in me avoiding things I wasn't guaranteed do be good at for many years.
How to Overcome Our Fear of Failure
Now, how do we kick this fear of failure to the curb? Well, it's all about giving failure a makeover—changing how we see it.
You've got the power to redefine what failure means to you. YOU get to decide what those mini-failures will make you think and feel. You can either choose to whip yourself for not meeting expectations, or you can choose to think of failure as your learning playground. It's like gathering data, stacking up little nuggets of wisdom.
Remember what Thomas Edison said? "I have not failed ten thousand times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those ten thousand ways will not work." You can even collect failures like badges of honor. 😁
Hold on, I'm not saying you should go all wild and start making reckless decisions left and right. It's about giving your best shot and embracing whatever comes out of it. Building this new muscle takes time, though. Don't fail ahead of the game by thinking "I'm totally clueless" and not giving it a shot. Instead, get the ball rolling with leaning into these thoughts:
“I’m learning to…”
“I’m figuring out how to…”
“I’m going to find out how to …”
Here's the deal — willingly embrace failure and success will follow. It might not look exactly like what you originally had in mind, but I guarantee it'll be packed with new knowledge, wisdom, and insights from your journey.
🦋🦋🦋
If you missed the first six weeks of the series, you can catch up on them here:
#1 Perfectionism
#2 Lack of Clarity
#3 Judgement from Others
#4 Low Self-Worth
#5 Overwhelm
#6 Poor Emotional Regulation