“Failure” – A Matter of Perspective
It’s almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure. People who do so probably live so cautiously that they go nowhere. Put simply, they’re not really living at all.
The wonderful thing about failure is that it’s entirely up to us to decide how to look at it.
We can choose to see failure as “the end of the world” or, we can look at failure as an incredible learning experience. These lessons are very important; they are how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again. Failures stop us only if we let them.
Think of the opportunities you’ll miss if you let your failures stop you.
Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise. For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are. Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed.
Often, valuable insights come only after a failure. Accepting and learning from those insights is key to success in life.
4 Tips to Overcoming a Fear of Failure
1. Analyze all potential outcomes – Many people experience a fear of failure because they fear the unknown. Remove that fear by considering all of the potential outcomes of your decision.
2. Learn to think more positively – Positive thinking is an incredibly powerful way to build self-confidence and neutralize self-sabotage.
3. Look at the worse 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, the worst case may actually not be that bad, and recognizing this can help.
4. 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.
It’s important to realize that in everything we do, there’s always a chance that we will fail. Facing that chance and embracing it s not only courageous; it also gives us a fuller, more rewarding life.