How to Overcome Fear of Failure – 7 Steps

A few weeks ago, I asked members of my Facebook page if they were afraid of failure. I was overwhelmed by the responses. It seems that I’m not the only one out there who fears failure! In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, we’ll talk about seven steps you can take to overcome fear of failure. But first let’s look at some of the things we’re afraid of. Examples of Fear of Failure Here are just a few of the examples Facebook readers gave of the areas where they were afraid of failure. * Trying weight loss again after so many defeats. * Messing up at work. * Trying to be social and being or feeling rejected. * Starting your own company and having it not work. * Making decisions because you might make the wrong one. * Deciding to resign and stay at home with the kids. * Losing weight and then gaining it back. * Raising kids. There’s no end to the things we could come up with in the fear of failure arena. Let’s take a look at how to overcome fear of failure. If you’d rather listen to this as an expanded podcast episode on the Christian Habits Podcast, click on the links below. Keep reading for the blog post version. * To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here * To listen or subscribe on Android: click here * To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here * To listen or subscribe on Google Play: click here * To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here How to Overcome Fear of Failure 1. Find out what you’re afraid of and why you’re afraid of it. We can’t fight something until we know what we’re fighting. Thus the first step in overcoming fear of failure is to ask yourself, “What am I most afraid of?” and “Why am I afraid of that?” Naming your fear will help you take the next step which is to evaluate your fear. Here’s an example: I’m afraid whenever I publish a new book. When I ask the question, “What am I most afraid of?” my answer is that I’m afraid someone will write a horrible review on Amazon berating me up and down for how terrible my book is. When I ask the next question, “Why am I afraid of that,” I answer with “then no one else will buy my book” and “all of my friends and family will read the negative review and think I’m a loser.” I’m not the only author with these fears, but there are many who don’t feel this way. I was talking to one very successful artist a few months ago and he told me that every time he finishes a painting he thinks its great and that everyone will love it. By the time I finish a book, I usually think it’s terrible and that everyone will hate it. This is probably the main reason I’m so bad at doing book launches – I’m afraid to put the new book out there. Often our fears are shaped by our childhood. When I was young, I had two different experiences where I did something in a public...