The Fear of Failure

I honestly don’t think the fear of failure is that big of a deal for most people. At least it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. After all what’s the worst that could happen if you failed at achieving your goal? When I ask myself this question I usually answer with, “It will take me longer.” That’s right it will take a little longer. That’s about the worst that can happen if you have the right mental attitude.

One thing I’ve been teaching my 5 year old son since he was born is the power of tenacity. I started doing this with a game we play of throwing his clothes in his laundry hamper. We start by standing 10 feet back from the hamper and we throw, or shoot, his clothes towards the basket. Before every shot we say, “If at first I don’t succeed… I try, try, try again. When do I give up? I don’t give up!” We do this for every shot. If we miss, we run as fast as we can and pick up the clothes and… try, try, try again. We do this until all his clothes have been successfully shot into his laundry basket. After years of doing this my son now repeats this anytime he’s having difficulty. He refuses to quit until he gets it right.

This is exactly how we overcome the fear of failure. If you have something you’re afraid of trying you have to confidently tell yourself that… You’ll never give up! If you don’t succeed… You’ll try, try, try again. Once you have that attitude the fear of failure is meaningless to you. Why? Because you can’t fail. You’ll study harder, train harder, run faster, be smarter, work harder, you’ll do what ever it takes to get you to your goal.

So stand about 10 feet back from your laundry basket and try, try, try again, until you make every shot.