What are the steps needed to ‘overcome’ the fear of failure in life and business, and achieve ultimate success?
What are the essential steps to getting over the fear of failure as an entrepreneur?
What are the steps to overcome the fear of failure in the workplace?
How to turn failure into success?
If like me, you have been struggling to find your way to success in the online business space know that you are not the only one.
It seems as if no matter how hard you are trying nothing seems to work.
Perhaps you have tried everything in the book you can think of and literally, nothing seems to be producing the kind of results you are hoping your online home business or work will bring to you.
You are not yet seeing the fruit of your hard labour and are wondering when will you smell success even if it is just for a day.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Your problem right now maybe you are absolutely ‘afraid to fail’ and don’t see a way of out of your predicament.
If that is the case, don’t despair …
This article aims to help you by enumerating the 7 practical, actionable steps to overcome the fear of failure in life, business and the workplace, you could adopt today to achieve maximum success and realize your true potential.
Page Contents
#1: Avoid The Negative Barriers That Are Holding You Back
Do you have any mental barriers and false beliefs that are holding you back?
You probably feel like gosh …
- I can’t take another bout of disaster
- When will my luck come?
- Why most people seem to be doing well in everything except for me?
- It’s high time I throw the towel and walk away
- I can’t face any more rejection
- I am not good enough
- I am not clever like other people
- I am not knowledgeable or technical
- Maybe I am not cut out for business
- I am not good looking like other people
- What was I thinking?
- I don’t have enough time or resources to start or do anything worthwhile
- I am just a loser
- I am too young
- I am too old
- I don’t fit in
- People will not take me seriously
- People like me don’t achieve anything
- I just have to put up with my lot
- This is how just things are for people like us, nothing can be done to change it
- It is not possible to succeed
- I wish I didn’t have to go through this again
- It has been so many months and years since I went into business and to this day, I still don’t see any progress in earning potential and growth in my business
- All I want to do is just quit my job If only I were able to generate the kind of passive income I desire to live my dreams, I could hold my head high and say at last I have made it
- And so on …
As crazy as these self-sabotage ‘thoughts‘ may sound, they do have legitimacy in most people’s thinking, especially if:
- This is their first business venture or
- Have failed in their businesses before or
- Have low or no self-esteem of their self-worth and true value
#2: Re-Tune Your Belief System
It all boils down to what you ‘think’ and ‘believe’ about yourself and what you are ‘prepared’ to accomplish no matter what is at stake.
Know that life is hard and that challenges and setbacks without a shadow of a doubt will occur.
The secret is to know how to react and manoeuvre yourself around when problems present themselves to you.
Live a purposeful life and be willing to be the best you can be to achieve what you want.
Believe that you are more than capable of achieving all your dreams and goals.
The possibilities are endless.
The question you should ask yourself is, are you prepared to do what it takes to ‘change’ the circumstances in your life, business or career?
If you answer yes then you have nothing to worry about, just take decisive effective action and the results will speak for themselves in due time.
I have days when everything is going wrong in my business and I feel like I just want to pack it all in and give up.
They say when it rains, it pours but somehow an ‘inner voice’ inside me says you can’t give up, you have come this far.
So this idea of giving up, if it ever comes to you, just learn to throw it away.
It will happen to you, I can assure you.
Remind yourself to fail forward.
And that the future is brighter and the best is yet to come.
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#3: Remind Yourself of The Reasons
When self-doubt and loss of belief happen you need to pause, take a deep breath and ask yourself the following:
- Have you enough reasons to want to change?
- Why you went into business in the first place?
- What does success mean to you?
- How hungry and passionate are you?
- What is your end goal?
- Is your vision strong enough?
- Are your goals realistic and attainable?
- Have you forgotten your life’s purpose?
- What is so important to you that you are prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed?
- Have you lost the inner feeling in your belly that leaves you excited whenever your work in your business venture or passion?
- Have you forgotten what you want?
- Do you know where you are going?
- Are you afraid to take risks?
It is therefore very important to keep the reasons alive in you because your success depends on them.
Every time you fall down, remind yourself of your reasons.
They will keep you going and pull you through the difficult times and will give you something to hold on to.
Always keep the ‘purpose’ and ‘vision’ vivid in your mind, heart and soul.
Use the failures as a tool to give you the strength and experience to move forward and to turn things around for your self.
#4: Don’t Lose Focus
Perhaps you are doing too many things at once.
It is very easy to get sidetracked and get lost in the moment, jumping from one thing to another thinking whatever is occupying your time is contributing to your online business.
It might be doing the opposite. The human brain is designed to focus on one thing at a time.
Review what you are doing.
Narrow down your focus on one idea or one thing at a time and make it work.
Practice until you make it perfect or until you able to achieve the outcome you desire.
Once you make it work, for one thing, move on to the next one rinse and repeat.
#5: Embrace The Pain and Sacrifice
Prepare to do what is required to accomplish your dreams and goals.
If you are going to an interview, you will normally do your best to prepare and learn everything about the job you are applying for.
You will watch how you present yourself to the interviewer because you know you are going for an interview to win and not lose.
You need to stand out to give yourself the best possible chance to be offered the job.
Conversely, it is similarly crucial to prepare and do the hard work needed to succeed in your business or career.
For sure it is painful.
You may have to make some sacrifices along the way just that you can get one thing working among the million things that are going wrong right now.
#6: Be Patient and Persevere
You have to be in it for a long haul.
Patience Patience Patience…
Rome was not built in a day.
If you came into business thinking that you are going to get rich overnight, know that you are very much mistaken.
The only currency required from you is hard work and a bucket full of patience.
It may be the sheer perseverance in you that makes you give one last push when in reality everything in you is telling you to stop and quit at this very moment, but somehow, something powerful inside you is telling you to say…
‘I have got to try again’
‘I will give it another ago’
Behold! when you least expect it, you will find a new opening for you, and suddenly you will finally begin to see things working.
What seemed impossible yesterday suddenly becomes possible today.
Remember behind every successful venture, there is an accumulation of many small actions and decisions that have failed many times before which led to the successful one.
You are not the first entrepreneur nor will be the last to have failed or feel afraid to fail.
It is ironically a normal reaction for most people.
It is imperative that you ‘don’t give up‘ no matter what obstacles and challenges you encounter along the way.
After all, this is your path to greatness.
Nothing worthwhile in life or business is achieved without a few setbacks and hardships here and there.
Have a strong faith and belief that you will make it – even when you don’t see a way out of your current situation.
The breakthroughs may come in the midst of the ‘unknowns’ and the ‘uncertainity’ – just trust the process of life to deliver what is already yours in divine timing.
#7: Commit To Mastery
- Don’t be an average person that follows the crowd
- Self-discipline is a must, due to the fact no one is going to give it to you other than yourself, therefore don’t fall short especially when you know you can do better
- Take full responsibility for your life – no one is going to do it better than yourself
- Commit yourself to work and get things done
- No more complaining, no excuses, don’t put things off that you can do today
- Follow your curiosity edge & intuition
- Don’t feel shy to explore new territories you have never tried before
- Never settle for less than what you are capable of
- Don’t let other people’s limited opinions of you determine your future and destiny
- Allow yourself to grow & develop, take action and just get on with it
- Expand your brain to take in the skills and knowledge required to accomplish the tasks needed to attain success
- Push yourself, keep learning, keep adapting and remain consistent
- Follow the process, keep moving forward and keep applying yourself
- Drive yourself to succeed
- Upgrade your skills-set to be worth much more than they currently are
- Tell yourself that failure is simply not an option for you
- Learn from those who have done it, walked the path and know what they are talking about
- No need to reinvent the wheel, emulate those who have succeeded before you
- Invest in self-education and personal growth to improve all areas of your life
- Follow proven systems, mentors, coaches, and training programs that are proven to deliver results for you
- Follow your calling, trust your instincts and gut feelings
- Adopt a healthy mindset, a new philosophy and a different way of thinking that works for you and not against you
- Pursue your dreams, goals and life’s visions
Take Home Message
Don’t be afraid to fail, just be afraid to lose your vision and the reasons why you get out of bed every day.
It is important you learn how to overcome the fear of failure in both life and business.
So when ‘self-doubts’ and ‘fear’ cloud your mind, don’t let them paralyze you and hinder your progress to success or from realizing your true potential.
Remember, you don’t become successful by accident, you become successful because you know:
- Who you are
- What you want and
- Where you are going
Your success solely depends on ‘you’ and only ‘you’.
You ‘determine’ your future and destiny, no matter what obstacles and challenges you face along the way.
Remain true to your vision by taking the necessary actions, doing the un-exciting boring repetitive tasks, to aid you to achieve the best possible outcome, for your business, life and career.
You have to be relentless, remain focused and consistent.
Never lose sight of this!
Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from succeeding in anything worthwhile in your business, work or personal life.
Just remember that positive actions always lead to positive results.
Every single positive action you take to:
- Empower yourself
- Raise your standards
- Self-value and self-worth
Goes a long way in helping you build the desired ‘successful joyful life’ and ‘lifestyle’ you are after.
Invest in your self, trust and believe in your:
- Capabilities & skill-set
- Strengths & talents
- Imagination & intuition
- Goals & passions
- Life aspirations & wishes
- Inner power & creative thinking
- Gifts, ideas & innovative prowess
- Burning desires, visions & dreams
And know that all you need is already inside you, to help you achieve anything you want for your business, life or career.
Just ‘let go’ of the fear that is holding you back from moving forward.
Unleash your full ‘potential’ and see where it will take you.
You may also like to read:
- 17 Amazing Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur
- 14 Top Amazing Habits of Ultra Highly Successful People
- How To Set Your Vision For An Ideal Blissful Life In 6 Ways
- Smart Planners,Trackers and Journals To Achieve Your Visions
What are your thoughts on this topic? – Would you like to share your fears and the negative barriers that are holding you back?
Leave us your comments below.
Don’t forget to share the article with your friends. Thank you.
These are some great reminders for anyone that starting a business. It’s so easy to get frustrated especially in the early years. Thank you so much for sharing
Hi Sasha
Thank you so much for your contribution. I sure hope the tips will continue to inspire and keep reminding us not to give up hope. You are right when you said, “It’s so easy to get frustrated especially in the early years”. Every single entrepreneur I know has do go this rough patch, it does not make you weaker but a stronger person. Without the failures and the challenges we face in business or life, we would not know our true strengths and how we can utilize the lessons learned to make our business even stronger and more successful. Failure is part of the process whether we like it or not. We just have to learn to keep up at it and never give up. Success will come after committing to our cause wholeheartedly. You have to believe in it that is 100% possible.
Best wishes
Yes! Excellent tips here and several that pertain to me specifically. I will be re-reading this article again so that I can get the most information from it. Thank you.
Hi Shirley, How you doing? I am pleased to learn you found the tips excellent. I hope they will continue to inspire you to be the best successful business person you are meant to be and will give you the boost to stick to your game plan and achieve much success in life and business. Yes, please do come back and share the article with your friends. Thank you. Take care..
Wow, what a powerful post, Rabia! Totally loved it. It is filled with so many actionable tips and I really liked #s 4, 5 and 7. They resonated with me and thank you for breaking it down in such simple ways. I loved when you wrote, “Don’t be an average person following the crowd,” – that’s so me!! I’ve never been the one to follow the crowd or the norm 🙂
Great post, thanks!
Amira at ASelfGuru
Hey Amira, welcome. So glad to hear your loved the post. Yes, #4, #5 and #7 are all important. The tips are applicable to all type of entrepreneurs, bloggers, and business owners alike. It’s a just common sense we need to apply but often we get overwhelmed and forget the bigger picture when we are working on our businesses. I hope the tips will act as a reminder and inspiration to help us focus on what is important. I smiled when you quoted “Don’t be an average person following the crowd,” – that’s some!! I’ve never been the one to follow the crowd or the norm” ?. I am the same, you need to be creative and do your own thing in your own unique way. It’s like is part of your persona or who you really are. Follow your own thought patterns, creative thinking and trust your judgment. You don’t always want to be led, you should be the one to lead. Thank you for your valuable contribution to the post. Best wishes.
Hi Rabia, thanks for sharing. I am just starting out with my blog and online business, and I resonated with your post.
Confidence comes with time and with little achievements along the way, I think. So, having smaller goals and attaining them in a reasonable pace can be the boost we need to keep pushing forward.
Hi Emidio, Thank you for stopping by. It’s great news to hear you just started your blog and online business. I hope things are progressing well with you. Totally agree with you is the small actions and achievements we do consistently that will help us succeed in the long run. Take daily action and keep moving forward. Little by little, you will get there. Business is a journey and not a marathon.
Keep up the good work. I would like to hear your progress as times goes by. Please keep me posted and do not hesitate to reach out to me if you need any help. Best wishes
I so much love this post, and I will bookmark it for future references. Thanks for proving this wonderful tips.
I am so pleased to hear you found the tips wonderful Ikecy. You inspire me to write more content like this as I can see it’s benefiting my readers. Please do come back again. Much appreciated your feedback. Thank you. Take care…
Thank you for a very inspirational article. Somehow I grew up thinking failure as very dishonorable and shameful. Because of this thinking, I was always careful and played “safe”. Slowly I understand that failure is not actually shameful, but a learning opportunity. Instead of being bitter and sad about failing, I took that as an opportunity to grow. It was a long process, but finally, I am getting it.
It’s always great to come across some inspirational articles like this as even though I am getting it, there are times I still struggle with it.
Thank you again!
Hi Kyoko, What a beautiful name ! Thank you very much for your contribution on this topic. Please note, you are no the only one to have this view, most people like to play it safe when in fact in business or in life, you need to be bold and be willing to take chances. I am not saying you should not be cautious at all. Be sensible when need to, at the same time don’t be afraid to take risks. You will never know what you can achieve until you take the first step. I am glad to hear you are slowly over coming the fear handicap. Fear can be our friend if we use it in the right way or it can destroy us if we let it take over our thinking and rationale. With practise I am sure you will get there slowly but surely. Take care. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi Rabia. Thank you for this reminder of the power of our thoughts over our experiences. We can all be successful and one of the reasons that we are not, as you say, is that we let our fears hold us back, simply because we tried something once in the past, and at that time, for whatever reason it didn’t word out the way we expected. We should just take this as feedback and adjust our actions and beliefs until we succeed. That is what we all did when trying to walk. We did not stop trying just because we fell over a few times, we just got back up and eventually mastered the skill. What you are talking about here is exactly the same thing. Thank you for bringing it back into our awareness.
I would also say that for many, it is not a fear of failure that holds them back, but a fear of success! That can cause as many issues as the first one….thinking about how you think about things is crucial here – what do you think? Gail
Hi Gail
Great to hear from you. I truly appreciate your views and what you expressed on the topic. You are totally correct when you said that the fear we hold is often derived from our past negative experiences. Just because somethings did not work out in the past, it does not mean it will not in the future. The walking analogy is such a perfect example. If we stopped learning how to walk every time we fell down as babies we would not be walking today. You fall once, twice or thrice , but you keep getting up until you learn how to walk properly. Thank you also for pointing it that is “it is not a fear of failure that holds them back, but a fear of success! ” I guess both can be problematic. Both fear and success can either build, strengthen or destroy us. Finding the right balance is the key to manage these negative thoughts to allow us to take control of our lives and realise our true potential.
Hi Rabia! One thing I have noticed is that to have success, you need to do a little each day.
By setting small but attainable goals for myself every day takes me toward my bigger goal without feeling overwhelmed and like I have to get a massive amount of work done immediately.
Hi Kim
Thank you for sharing your views.
I like your thinking and is one that I personally apply for my self. Setting small attainable goals is important. Every little bit helps along the way. You probably heard the phrase “You don’t eat an elephant at once, you eat it piece by piece”.
This is also applicable for all other areas in our lives such as business, study or work. The key is to do something every day or as frequent as you can and keep moving forward, before you know it you would have finished all the tasks that are needed to be done.