Fear of failure can prevent you from performing your best in many situations including combat, work, relationships, and daily life. Worry can take a bigger hold when you push it aside. For instance, while preparing to give a presentation and thinking, “I can’t be nervous,” you might actually feel more nervous!
As you face your fears, understand that fearing something will happen doesn’t mean that it will happen. Ask yourself these kinds of questions:
- Why do I think I can’t be nervous? If I’m nervous, I’ll give a horrible talk.
- So if I’m nervous, I’m guaranteed to give a horrible talk? No, I’ve given good talks while nervous before.
- If nervousness leads to giving an awful talk, what’s the worst thing about that? I’d be embarrassed and people would walk away without having learned important material.
- What’s worse—embarrassment or people walking away without learning? I’d survive the embarrassment. People need to learn this stuff.
- Is this their last opportunity to learn? No, I’d take more steps to make sure they got it, despite an initially awful talk.
Once you fully consider the failure scenarios, spend more time imagining a positive outcome and accomplishing smaller goals that lead to success.
Written by Tim Herzog and first published on January 19, 2016, by the Human Performance Resource Center.