I recently read an article that addresses the emotionality, of the fear of failure. The fear of making a mistake that will forever mark you, letting others down, embarrassing yourself, being judged, or not performing to your potential…further proving that all your hard work has been for not. Our only innate fears, those that we are born with, some behavioral scientists say – are the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises… making the fear of failure “learned.”
Here are some true successes based on what one may see as failure… Thomas Edison, attempted to invent the light bulb over 10, 000 times and failed on every single try, accept the last one. He responded to a question as to why he continued his work, with ” I didn’t fail at all; I successfully found thousands of ways how not to make a light bulb” It really is about learning from what is not working and continuing to strive for what will and does work.
Michael Jordan was quoted as saying “I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career, I lost 300 games, and 26 times I was trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life, but that is WHY I succeeded.”
Identifying your fears and admitting that you are afraid will help you overcome them. Fear comes first, then courage.
Finding a road to success can be an easy and measurable process. The steps will be different for everyone, but the process is the same. Set well-defined, measurable & achievable short term goals. Focusing on the result that you are seeking to achieve, rather than the possibilities of the things that can go wrong.
Live in the present. Focus on making positive choices TODAY … If you know something doesn’t work and you feel like you are in a familiar situation, make the choice you have not made in the past. You may find you have a different, more positive result.
Remind yourself that you CAN achieve success. Not everyone is slated to be the president, but we can reach our true potential. With patience, self-confidence, hard work and perseverance- You can be successful!