The Fear of Failure...Is It Holding You Back?

Being afraid to fail is probably one of our biggest fears. And overcoming it can seem like a very large mountain. In fact, the "falling on your face" picture is what stops you from moving forward. If you failed at something in the past, your first inclination is to remember that incident. Then you remember how you felt about it, and it's as though you just relived it all over again.

So here you are now, considering the possibility of doing something similar and all you can see is what happened before, AND how awful it made you feel. Nope, this can't possibly be a good thing.

All I ever got from that was pain. So you pass on the new opportunity. The fear of failure just pushed out any chance of anything good.

Of course, it's not like you actually think about this process. All this stuff automatically goes through your head, all in the name of helping you make a decision. Hmmmm......perhaps there is a better way to combat fear.

I Shall Not Fear.....

Faith is your strongest weapon in your fight against the fear of failure. But how do you USE it to get past all the negative stuff in your head that's stopping you from moving forward?

*Focus on the Lord's words. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control. -From the amplified Bible.

Your mind only allows you to focus on one thing at a time. So if you're focused on the promise, you can't be focused on the fear.

*Live for the Lord every single day. If you're focused on being a blessing to other people and you take our mind OFF of you and your fear, the doors fling open for God to move on your behalf. When you do God's business, He does your business.

*Do what God tells you to do, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT AFRAID. Nothing overcomes fear faster than building self confidence and letting God show you there's nothing to be afraid of, when you're doing His things, His way.

*Fill up with positive, great stuff. Read some GREAT books on overcoming fear of failure and every other kind of fear. When you're focused on positive stuff, you won't have time to dwell on your fear.

Of course, this isn't an all inclusive list, but changing how you think is the first and BEST key to changing how you act. And if you can only think about one thing at a time, doesn't it stand to reason that filling up with the right stuff won't leave room for fear or all that's happened to you in the past?

Working on your self esteem can be a huge help when you face your fear of failure. All the negative stuff that's happened in the past could very well have affected your self esteem so it's a good idea to take a look.

Here's a free test that identifies your fear and recommends tools to help you overcome it.

Overcoming your fear of failure can be done. Sometimes it just takes one step.......start thinking right so you can start acting right.