Overcoming The Fear of Failure
Have you ever experienced the fear of failure? You know, the worry that you won’t make it, The feeling in your gut that you might fall flat on your face, the fear that what you’re dreaming and working for just won’t work. Guess what? As a business owner, that is completely normal, and you are NOT alone. Anyone that tells you that starting your own business is an easy process full of confidence and unrelenting positivity clearly hasn’t done it! Each day as a new business owner brings new challenges and new emotions. One day you might wake up feeling extremely motivated and ready to kick your business into gear, only to wake up the next day feeling low and defeated. You might feel like you can conquer the world, but you also might feel like you are doing all the wrong things and not getting anywhere. Those two feelings and realities can and DO exist at the same time in the journey of owning a business and dream chasing – the important thing is that you prevail and keep pushing forward. Keep reading to find out how to overcome your fear of failure as a business owner!
Chasing your dreams is hard work
Whether you are starting an empire from the ground up or chasing your dream as an individual business owner, you are inevitably going to face hardship. As much as we all would love for it to be a walk in the park, full of daisy picking, that just isn’t a reality. The reality is that chasing your dreams is hard work. Growing and owning a business just isn’t for the faint of heart; it is jam-packed with highs and lows, hopes and doubts and so much mess in between.
When you’re creating something of your own, it’s natural (and crucial) to envision the success and how the end goal will play out. It is also natural to play out the what ifs on the other side. What if I fall flat on my face? What if it doesn’t go the way I’m imagining it will? What if I fail altogether and it was all a waste of time? Those thoughts are “normal” too. It’s not about whether or not you will have those thoughts and worries, because you will – it’s about combatting them in a way that allows you to grow. If you allow yourself to lean into the fear of failure too much, you run the risk of standing in your own way.
So, here’s how to overcome the fear of failure from my perspective.
1. Acknowledge the fear.
The fear of failure is there. The worst thing you can do is try to ignore it. As much as you want to tuck that nagging doubtful thinking back into a corner in your mind and fake it ‘til you make it, that just won’t work. In the world of thoughts and feelings, the ones we don’t acknowledge or, worse yet, try to stifle, are the ones that grow the quickest. The best thing you can do for yourself as a business owner, is to acknowledge your fear. Ask yourself, what is it that I’m truly afraid of? Reflect on what your fears are and why and then stare them in the face. Giving your fear of failure room to breathe and exist in your space, will give YOU the chance to turn it down and ease it. Each time the fear creeps in, and it will creep in, acknowledge it and then say or think something that eases that feeling. Remember, you can’t combat a feeling or fear that you don’t acknowledge.
2. Stay focused on the goal.
For every doubt you have, meet it with a reminder of what you’re doing and why. Wake up every day with your vision and dream clear in your mind and remind yourself of it all day and night if you have to. Take post-it notes with your plans and goals written on them and stick them all over your house. Do whatever it is you need to do to stay focused. When you are feeling overwhelmed, doubtful or just downright scared of what might happen in your future, quiet the noise by reminding yourself of your dreams and goals. If you want something and believe that you WILL get it, there is no fear or doubt that will get in your way. Let your determination and focus drown out the voices of fear in your mind!
3. Keep in mind that the road to success isn’t linear.
The road to success in your business, and in your life, is anything but linear. There will be good days, good moments and good seasons that make you feel like you’re on top of the world. There will also be hard days, hard moments and hard seasons that feel like monumental setbacks. Both are normal, both are common, and both are actually still propelling you in the direction you want to be going – forward! It’s important to enter really any journey in life, both career and otherwise, with the understanding that it isn’t just going to be a constant, gradual uphill climb. There will be peaks and valleys and everything in between and knowing and reminding yourself of that in each phase will serve you and your business. Ride the waves of good, happy and motivated days and hang on through the ones that aren’t that way. Every hard day is fleeting, and you are still on right on track.
4. Kick the comparison.
This one is HUGE. We live in a world of constant comparison and keeping up with the “Jones’”. And unfortunately, all of those “Jones’” are right in our faces through the world social media. It is so incredibly easy in this era of social media to find your eyes wandering to other people’s lives and what they are pursuing. That usually means you are seeing others who are “ahead” of you or appear to be more successful than you. Key word: appears. But hopefully by now you’ve learned that social media serves (typically) as a highlight reel and doesn’t feature the whole journey. Many people don’t share the days in their journey that are filled with the fear of failure, or the days that they just don’t even want to keep going. This fact alone is exactly why you should try to stay in your lane, keep your eyes on YOUR prize and stop comparing yourself to anyone around you – especially the ones on Instagram. Your dreams are yours. Your goals are yours. And your path to achieve those dreams is yours and yours only.
5. Get back up again.
It’s not about how many times you get knocked down or even how it happens, it’s all about how you get back up. Setbacks, missteps and hurtles are inevitable, but the way you respond to them is what separates you from the rest and truly gets you where you want to be. When something doesn’t go your way, or you experience something that brings you down, don’t stay there. Pick yourself up and continue to grow, learn and chase those dreams. You cannot control what happens to you and you may never understand why. Your circumstances are what they are and so much of that is beyond your grasp. While you can’t control the things that happen TO you, we absolutely can control what we do with them. You have the choice each day and each time you are challenged – to use it as fuel for forward movement, or not. Make the choice to dust yourself off and get back up, time and time again. The strength and grit it takes to do that is what will carry your far in your business.
6. Give yourself grace. So much grace.
Need I say more? The rule of owning a business and being the powerhouse that you are, is to be kind to yourself. Life is hard, owning a business is hard and trying to juggle both of those things at the same time is a challenge unlike any other. Don’t make it any harder on yourself. Be on your own team and cheer yourself on every step of the way. Celebrate yourself on the days you feel like you’re winning and be sensitive to your feelings on the days that you don’t. Know that if you need a break, it doesn’t mean you’re broken. Treat yourself with patience and tenderness and always lead with grace. You deserve it!
The Takeaway
The reality is this: the fear of failure is real. It is a worry and feeling that we ALL deal with in the business of dream chasing and it is just as real as the positive feelings and optimism. The point is not to try to avoid the fear of failure, it is to adjust and overcome it. Building a business, growing your career, chasing your dreams is anything but easy. It is full of incredible highs, discouraging and hopeless lows and every feeling and emotion in between. If you are facing the fear of failure and struggling to keep pursuing your goals because of it, hopefully these tips and tricks will serve you in your journey. You are bound for greatness. Know that with all of your heart and no fear of failure will stand in your way.