Last week something unexpected happened to a friend of mine at work. Everything was going fine with the company she works for until all over the sudden the receptionist decided to quit her job with a one week notice. My friend who has never had any experience being a receptionist was moved to the reception area and told to hold the position until the company can hire someone else.
“I am scared shitless. I have never been a receptionist before. What am I going to tell the people who come one in to inquire about our services. I mean, I know what the company is all about but still….” On and on she went and for sure I could see that she was indeed scared.
One week later and she seems to be doing okay at the reception “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” she told me over the weekend with a huge grin across her face.
There’s something my friend exhibited at the beginning, FEAR of FAILURE.
Most of us are so afraid of failing that we don’t not even get started. We are afraid of job rejection that we sometimes refuse to apply for jobs that we are qualified for. We have the perfect ideas for entrepreneurship but won’t start working on them because ‘what if we fail’ and I am asking you, what if you don’t?
You see, failure isn’t holding you back buddy it’s the fear of failure which is. We’re conditioned to fear failure, as if lack of failure guarantees success.
Here are four actions you can take to shake off the doubt and feel like a pro.
1. Accept that failure is a reality.
Let’s be real here. No matter how much you learn and move forward from a failure in life, the fact of the matter is that failure does happen – even to the best of us. But you know what? Who cares! I’ve personally found that as soon as you accept failure as a reality, it won’t be this big, frightening thing that you once thought it was.
You’d
be surprised at how much freedom that gives you to move forward, try
new things, and experience successes you might not have otherwise.2.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, this worst case may actually not be that bad, and recognizing this can help.
3. Embrace Your Mistakes
If you immediately berate yourself for a mistake, you’re probably stuck in a fixed mindset. Stop beating yourself up. Remember that successful people don’t see failure as this big monstrous thing which is going to consume their whole lives, they see it as a good data point to guide their next attempts and to learn from.
4. Shift Your Perspective
Who taught you that failure was a bad thing? It feels bad, so it must be bad. Is that really true?Every belief and thought that makes us feel bad needs to be examined. What good does a fear of failure do us?
It’s easier said than done to eliminate negative beliefs, but it all starts with being aware that a problem actually exists.The last thing you want to do is get mad at yourself for not being perfect. We all have our unique fears and they are there for a reason.
Your fears will help you grow in the way you need to grow. You realize your negative beliefs when they need to be realized. There is no rush. This is not a competition. You’re doing perfectly.
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