Discover the origin of why we fear failure, and how to powerfully shift your mindset so you can get on with achieving your dreams.
From the moment we were born, our brains have been designed to identify and avoid threats in order to ensure we recognize and survive danger. I suppose you can think of it as "survival software" that's like a base option from the manufacturer...you can't not have this.
This survival software is actually our fight-or-flight response, and it activates anytime we perceive danger.
Once it activates, we begin to feel a flood of emotion, physical feelings, and thoughts as our body prepares to face the threat (i.e. fight) or escape to safety (i.e. flight).
This activation kept our ancestors alive for eons, as the threat of being hunted by other predators was a real perceived danger for them. Without the fight-or-flight response, naively walking into the jungle completely unaware of impeding death was a real possibility, and likely to happen.
Now as we fast forward into the 21st century, and although the threat of being eaten by a predator is largely unexperienced by a large percentage of the global population, we continue to experience the same physiological reaction as if we were.
Why? Because our fight-or-flight response is being activated by perception.
Our lives have drastically improved from the days of living in caves and being hunted by sabre-toothed tigers, and thus so has the things we perceive as threats.
But the fight-or-flight response does not know the difference between a sabre-toothed tiger, and the fear of losing your job. To the survival software, they are both threats.
It does not distinguish the difference between the threat of humiliation and the the threat of death. They are both perceived by the survival software as threats. Period.
So how can this help turn Failure into increased self-confidence? Change the perception of the threat.
THE PERCEPTION ABOUT FAILURE
Failure is likely one of the most common threats in people's lives, and it can either push you towards success or thwart you from ever reaching your full potential in life. Whichever it is, the fight-or-flight response is in the background driving those actions. Not a healthy way to live.
In order to move powerfully through the "fear" of failure, is to first understand that failure itself is a perceived threat.
"Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change" - Wayne W. Dyer
See, the fight-or-flight response does not know what a threat actually is. It only perceives threats. And if the fight-or-flight response had a voice, it would probably be consistently asking itself "Is there a threat to my comfort and safety?"
If the answer is a possible yes, than the survival software activates and begins to feel emotions we associate with fear. Regardless of what we could learn from the success or failure, we are flooded with negative thoughts about all the unwanted results that can impact your comfort and safety. Such as losing or damaging:
A job
Money
Respect
Relationships
Ego
Time
Etc...
EXPERIENCE MORE FAILURE MORE OFTEN
Because we live a life where we are constantly trying to avoid failure, our experiences with the perception of failure (not failure itself) are consistently proving to our survival software that failure is a real threat which we need to avoid.
The impact of this, is when we consider failure as a possibility in any action we are wanting to take (i.e. starting a business, getting in shape, going on a date), our survival software floods our minds with all the reasons to NOT take action.
In order to change this perception of failure being a threat, we must place ourselves in (safe) situations where we can begin experiencing what actually happens when we fail, and not just our perception of what might happen if we do.
By not trying to avoid failure, and actively experiencing it more often, your fight-or-flight response will begin to shift the assumption of failure being a threat, as the realization of failing to produce a result with a specific action is not the same as being eaten by sabre-toothed tiger.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you are one of the many that have a "fear of failure", take a look to see how often you have truly experienced failure in your life. More often than not, we see failure as a "bad thing" because we failed hard once, or know someone who has, and have been on a path to avoid it at all costs since.
So next time you are looking to take action on something, and begin feeling "fear" around the idea of failing, know that this is just a current perception of failure. The more you take action powerfully, and experience failure as nothing more than an action that did not produce the result you intended, it will begin to loosen its grip and likely be something you look forward to learning from.
"I didn't fail 1,000 times, the light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps" - Thomas Edison
Interested in learning or understanding more on how to overcome your fear-of-failure? Looking for breakthroughs in you personal or professional goals? Get in contact with Lee Picco at www.leepicco.com
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