If you’ve ever felt regret for not doing something. If you feel like you don’t take on enough risk. You are like so many people around you! Do you want to be free from the fear of failing? Failure isn’t even the fear that stops you from action in your life. You might think it is but it’s not. There is a different fear that is the real concern. Implementing a few simple tips into your thoughts and actions will change your life forever. Here’s how…
1. Understand what your real fear is
You might think that your greatest fear is failure, but it’s not! In life and business many people tend to think that failure itself is what we fear. But I disagree. It’s not the fear of failure, but the fear of other people seeing us fail that gives our hearts a jump. That stifle our actions and progress. Think about it, if you eliminated everyone else from the world, you would do and try anything.
We naturally tend to care what others think or potentially will think. We fear the opinions of people that we do not know, and especially people that we admire and know well. We seek their approval. Our successes are naturally easier and more common for those people to acknowledge and praise. But the potential criticism, rejection, and being defined by other people’s observations of our failed attempt at something brings so many of us to a state of bland, vanilla, follow the masses lifestyles that ultimately leave many of us unfulfilled. Because of fearing other people seeing them fail, many people live their entire life with untapped potential and skills. Skills and desires that are within us and never released. Never challenged. Never developed. Never discovered. But instead are concealed. Imagine, it’s like putting a soaring eagle in a cage! Our proverbial wings are never used, stretched, or even seen.
2. Stop caring what other people think of you
So what does it look like to overcome this fear of other people seeing you fail? Let’s take a page from the book of the most successful people in our society. They are the people that at some point looked crazy. They were swimming against the current. And by doing so they were taking major risk. These people care the least whether someone else sees them fail because they are free to act without a care of what others think about the results. It’s not that we should walk around with no care of anyone else. In fact, I think that we should all build an inner circle of people, a small group that we do care greatly about what they think. These people should be carefully and intentionally selected and the relationships groomed. They are the ones that we can look to for genuine and honest feedback. The only people that we really care about what they think or say about our words and actions. But in order to begin the process of overcoming your fear of other people seeing you fail, you have to begin to adjust your perspective of what failure really is and what it can be used for.
And that brings me to my final point…
3. Failure is a learning tool
Perspective is everything in life! And this issue is no acception. If used correctly, the experience of failing is a micro tool in a macro process. It is what tells us not to touch the burner on the stove again. Or not to date a person with a certain tendency. Or not to wait to fire someone when they are a serious cancer to our company culture. Knowing what not to do is as valuable, if not more valuable than knowing what to do. Learning from other people’s experiences is of great value. But there is nothing that can compare to our own experiences…especially when we experience failure.
Failure is the ultimate teacher and editor for our business and life decisions. It should be celebrated as an in depth learning tool in our lives that teach us lessons that stick with us for a lifetime. The greatest life stories include the toughest failures. And if you are doing anything in life worth some value, expect failure to be a part of your journey. Embrace the lessons that it teaches you. It is time to put these tips to work and begin your journey of failing forward towards success!
What is the most memorable lesson that you learned from a micro failure that lead to macro success?
Read our other blog on What Kind of Business Should I Start?