Are You Afraid of Failure?
Because I Sure Am
Here’s the thing . . . you may be afraid of failure without even realizing it. Maybe you call it something else — procrastination, perfectionism, or micromanagement. But if you drill down to the root cause of each of these actions, you’ll find your fear of failure waiting there, impatiently.
Why is being afraid of failure on my mind today? Because I’m procrastinating and sliding back into my perfectionist ways. All because I’ve been sick, and today is my first day back to work. That first day back always carries the feeling of starting over with it.
And, I find myself confronting my fear of failure. The fear that I’ve disappointed my audience and/or clients. The fear that my work is going to be subpar because I’m not feeling 100%. The fear that somehow the world is going to implode all because I didn’t meet my self-imposed deadlines.
Does any of this sound familiar? Because you’ve hit a setback, whatever it may be, and you feel yourself wanting to stay on “Start” rather than take the first step toward getting back on track.
If you can relate . . .
Keep scrolling for a tip that may help shift your mindset.
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A Tip to Shift Your Mindset
And Forget Your Fear
What do I do when I need a kick in the butt to take that first step? I turn to YouTube for some inspiration. So that’s what I did this morning. You can find a link to the video I watched at the end of this post, but there’s one key thing I took from it — a tip to shift my mindset (and yours too maybe).
Stop projecting your expectations onto the outside world. Yikes! I do this all, the, time! And I realized this morning that it really drives my fear of failure. Maybe it drives yours too.
The fear sets in when we set expectations for ourselves and think that we’re going to “fail” if we don’t meet them. Why? Because we think everyone else is using these self-inflicted expectations to measure our success or failure. We’re projecting our expectations onto the outside world.
But the reality is, other people’s expectations of you probably don’t even come close to matching yours. And chances are, you’re expecting much more of yourself than others are.
That’s why it’s important to remind yourself that the outside world has no idea what expectations you have set for yourself. Which means, your “failures” are defined by the expectations you are willing to place on yourself. Whether you “fail” or not is completely up to you.
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If you liked this post, you might also enjoy the following posts; all include a FREE worksheet to help you go from inspiration to action:
The Simplest Way to Conquer Your Greatest Enemy
Be Decisive: Practice This Powerful 3-Step Process
A Practical Introduction to the Power of Intentional Living
Click here for more posts with a “personal growth” theme.
If you’re ready to Stop Settling & Start Living! check out our home page to learn more about what The Expectation Gaps has to offer.
And until next time . . . have a FEARLESS day!
SCREENSHOT TIME!
Take a screenshot to easily access these tips and face your fear of failure:
- Stop projecting your expectations onto the outside world.
- Other people’s expectations of you probably don’t even come close to matching yours.
- Your “failures” are defined by the expectations you are willing to place on yourself.
HOW THE EXPECTATION GAPS WORKS
YOU'RE HERE
You’re Fed Up With Mediocrity & Want to Make an Impact
You’re frustrated…overwhelmed…”crazy busy”…burned out…unfulfilled…
I'VE BEEN THERE!
I’ve been focused on becoming a Deliberate Thinker for ~10 years.
I want to help you with your journey by sharing mine.
More 1-Minute Motivations
Links
The Fear of Starting | Mark Soderwall | TEDxRedding, posted to YouTube by TEDx Talks on 3.21.17
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