5 Effective Ways to Crush Your Fear of Failure
Be afraid of not trying
Fear of failure is an integral part of any personal growth endeavor.
Whether you’re building a business, learning new skills, or taking on novel commitments, you’ll face uncertainty.
Because you embrace a journey full of obstacles and variables, success is never guaranteed. And this absence of mental certainty exacerbates your fear of failure.
Why the fear of failure is worse than failure itself
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho
The trouble with mental uncertainty is that it leads to inaction.
In this context, fear of failure causes a lack of trying, and this lack of trying is ultimately worse than failure itself.
Let’s take Thomas Edison as an example. We all know that he failed about 10,000 times before coming up with a lightbulb that worked.
Had he been afraid of failure from the outset, he wouldn’t have tried, at least not 10,000 times.
Consequently, not trying as a result of fear would have been worse than failing 10,000 times.
The same goes for various high-profile athletes and entrepreneurs.
Michael Jordan had to leave his high-school team because his coach didn’t see enough talent. Did he let the fear of repeated failure shatter his mind? We know he didn’t.
As such, fear is nothing negative. Fear is a natural part of the human condition and useful in many situations.
Nevertheless, once fear leads to inaction, it becomes a paralyzing force, preventing us from taking on challenges.
That’s why we need to manage, and ultimately overcome our fear of failure by using reason, contingency planning, and smart decision-making processes.
On this basis, here are five effective ways to crush your fear of failure.
1. Imagine the “worst-case scenario”
If you’re afraid to fail at your next project, imagine the worst that could happen if you did.
Will the world end if I don’t make 5,000 dollars as a content creator this month? Probably not.
Will I get another date if this crush rejects my invitation for a drink? I will.
And if I fail at this job interview, will I stay unemployed for the next six months? Definitely not.
Our fear of failure is often the result of overestimating the consequences of a potential setback.
We believe that the risk is too high and that we’ll never recover from a potential misstep.
This attitude is, however, ofttimes greatly exaggerated. That’s why we need to sit down and assess the real impact our failure could have.
In this context, I remember booking the wrong plane tickets a few years ago. I travel full-time, making complicated flight paths a common occurrence.
After a month in Japan, I had booked a plane back to Europe via Dubai.
Unfortunately, a day before the flight, while performing the online check-in, I realized that I had booked the wrong flight.
Instead of booking Tokyo-Dubai-Frankfurt, I had booked Tokyo-Dubai-Tokyo. I had no idea how this happened, but the fact was that I didn’t have a ticket to return home and would potentially miss a few important family gatherings.
Suddenly, a strong sense of fear kicked in.
What if I can’t make it back home in time? What if no more flights are available? What if I miss those major family events? What if my loved ones never forgive me? And how expensive will this failure be?
After a while, I realized that all of these fears were irrational and overblown.
Tokyo and Frankfurt are big airports with excellent connections. The worst that could happen is a hole in my wallet.
By envisioning that worst-case scenario, my fear was gone.
I knew what the worst possible outcome would be. I would make it back on time. It would simply cost more money.
In the end, I managed to change the tickets with the airline for an extra 200$. I made it back in time and didn’t miss any gatherings.
Had I succumbed to fear, I would probably have delayed my decision to change the tickets. This would have cost more money and also increased my chance of missing major family occasions.
Nowadays, whenever I ask myself whether inaction is worse than failure, I think back at this one time in Tokyo.
2. Have a contingency plan
Analyzing the “worst-case scenario” is a great mental trick, but it doesn’t suffice to overcome your fear of failure.
For genuine peace of mind, you need a contingency plan.
Let’s say you’re unsure about your university trajectory. You’re afraid of failing your degree, equalling massive debt and no diploma.
To crush that fear of not getting your degree, you can use the “worst-case scenario” method and contingency planning in tandem.
Ask yourself what the worst possible outcome could be. The answer is simple: no diploma, debt, and lost time.
Now, determine the ideal plan B in this particular situation. Would it be best to work a job as a way to pay off debt before returning to college? Would it make sense to repeat the year? Or would it be better to take the loss and start a new degree?
These questions will help conquer your fears by giving you options — reducing the degree of uncertainty you currently face.
3. Apply a zero-based decision-making approach
Another effective way to crush your fear of failure is to use a zero-based decision-making approach.
In short, take every decision as if you had no prior investment in the matter.
As an example, if you’re thinking about quitting your job — but afraid of what comes next — imagine you weren’t in this job already.
Would you continue in your current company if you hadn’t worked there before? If you hadn’t invested time and energy into this job, would you do it again?
Try to start every analysis at point-blank.
Sometimes, fear is the result of too many eventualities creeping into your mind. And these thoughts are usually based on previous experience or investment in the subject matter.
By eliminating those thoughts right from the getgo, you’re one step closer to overcoming your fear of failure.
4. Understand your goals and priorities
Clearly defining your goals and priorities will help eliminate your fear of failure by regulating your mental framework.
If you know what your values, objectives, and main concerns in life are, you’ll stop pondering every single decision. You’ll act according to those values and ignore external cues.
If your main goal this year is to run a marathon, your priorities will revolve around health, fitness, and training.
You might have doubts about finishing the marathon, but you’ll take every decision in line with your priorities.
You’ll run like a madman and value sweat over beer. Suddenly, your goal overshadows your doubts.
These clear-cut goals and priorities will translate into motivation and energy, giving your fear of failure no room to breathe.
5. Implement a “regret minimization” philosophy
Finally, the “regret minimization” technique is another powerful tool to crush your fear of failure.
Popularized by none other than Jeff Bezos, the “regret minimization framework” is a mental exercise whose goal is to eliminate regret.
Bezos explains it in the following terms:
“I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.”
In a nutshell, before making a call, think about your 80-year-old self. That person would want as few regrets as possible.
Now go back to your decision. Do you think your 80-year-old self would regret that decision? If not, you should probably go ahead with your project.
The regret minimization philosophy will gradually overshadow your fear of failure and take over.
If you fail, your 80-year-old self will say the following:
Considering the information you had at your disposal, you took the right decision. I don’t regret failing, but I would have regretted not trying as a result of fear.
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