A young aspiring entrepreneur client of ours recently shared, “How do people have such a fear of success? That’s got to be the stupidest thing ever spoken of. I mean, who wants to fail in business? Success is so awesome!”
If you look at successful people (people who are already rich and famous), they all have one thing in common: They’ve all overcome fear of failure. You see, when you’re goal-setting or achieving any type of excellence, there is that fear of failure that keeps you from going for it. There’s an expression for that: Type 1 fear.
It’s the kind of fear that keeps most people from taking that next step, that keeps them from going for their dreams. When you don’t succeed because of fear of failure, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Do you stay in the same job you’ve always worked in, doing the same thing, with the same people? Do you go back to your office to repeat your same duties every day? Or do you risk changing your environment, moving to a different one, putting your dream behind?
The good news is that fear of failure and fear of change are two very powerful concepts that we should keep firmly in our mind. We must not let them control our lives. Fear of failure destroys a lot of important things in life, and there is a reason why: It doesn’t allow us to succeed. Failure stifles creativity, it stops us from developing new potential and from growing as a person. Don’t allow fear of failure to make you feel bad about yourself, because there is more than enough space for everyone.
The good news is that if you’re afraid of failure, you won’t be able to see any possibilities for success. Fear of failure makes people think they are already at the bottom, stuck forever, unable to rise. And that’s not true! If only you were aware of all the possibilities for your success, and if only you would open your eyes, you would see a whole world full of new ways to make money, new opportunities to expand, a better you as a person… You just need to believe in yourself.
The truth is that you are never alone. Fear of failure, rejection, fear of looking foolish in front of others, prevents you from seeing the entire picture. If only you could listen to yourself, to what you have to offer, and if only you could believe that there’s more out there than what’s hidden behind fear, then half listen to the doubters, and you would understand: There IS more out there than what’s hidden by fear. All you have to do is get past the fear of success.