Fear
of failure occurs when you have tried to accomplish a goal or a task and either
had setbacks, delays or no progress at all. Usually the fear of failure does
not happen the first attempt at a desired outcome but after repeated attempts to achieve your dream or
destiny.
Failure is mostly based on your perception, in other
words, if you keep trying after not succeeding do you give up or keep trying?
If you perceive that you are a failure and whatever you do will fail, you will
not keep trying. If you believe that
failure only occurs if you stop trying than you likely will continue to pursue
your dreams.
I had great ambitions to become a published author. I
set out on my mission to publish my first book, and I did several years ago.
The problem is that even though I did have my book published, the sales of that
book only covered the expenses of what I paid the publisher. I did not make a
large profit and became terrified to write another book. I knew I was supposed
to write another book, even though my first book did not have the outcome that
I would have liked. Now my second book has currently been released with a different
publisher. I truly don’t know what will happen with this book, but I will
continue to write. If you know God has given you something to do, our part is
to be faithful and do it and not to worry about the outcomes.
Perhaps you did not write a book and it flopped but
you had a business fail or a job that you did not flourish at. As a result, you
may be stagnant or comfortable not pursuing any further goals that would lead
you towards your dream. You have stopped dreaming, believing and hoping that
your destiny would be fulfilled.
Failure is a part of life. Each time you miss the mark
use it as an opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes you don’t make it the
first, second or even third time around. Sometimes it can take multiple times
to finally see your dreams come to pass. DON’T GIVE UP! When you are not
getting the desired outcomes or one door closes after another, regroup and try
again!
→PERSISTANCE
AND PERSERVERANCE are keys to overcoming fear of failure.
Some naysayers may say to you, “If you did not make it
work the first or second time around you probably should give up.” You may even
tell yourself that.
But
what if these people stopped after their first attempt…
Abraham
Lincoln did give up after he failed numerous times with
different offices in the government he was trying to run for, he never would
have become our 16th president. He is known as the most famous
failure ever to hold office in the United States.
Albert
Einstein known for having one of the most brilliant minds ever
lived was once considered a major failure! Einstein did not speak until he was
four years old. He eventually went to a university but he struggled and nearly
dropped out. Einstein’s father considered his son to be a major failure. After
his graduation, he was unsure about what to do with his life and become an
insurance salesman. Einstein eventually brought us the theory of relativity and
developed several fundamental core laws for physics.
Bill
Gates first business, Traf-O-Data failed. Gates enrolled in
Harvard University but the following year he dropped out of Harvard to start
Microsoft.
Colonel
Harland Sanders better known for his Kentucky Fried
Chicken. He is also known for his numerous failures in life and in business. At
5 years old, his father died leaving his mother to take care of three children.
Harland’s mother would leave for days at a time and he would have to take care
of his siblings. During this time, he learned to be a proficient cook. At the
age of 12, his mother remarried but this marriage was not good and it caused
him to leave home the following year. At 14 years old, he began working as a
farmhand. Sanders worked many jobs for years, but nothing really stuck. He
owned a ferry boat, sold tires, and eventually opened a restaurant in a gas
station selling fried chicken. He was already 40 years when he started serving
the fried chicken dishes, but was 50 years old before securing the secret
chicken recipe known as the colonel’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. However,
just 2 years later he sold his business and got divorced. In 1955, another one
of his restaurants failed.
The age of 65
years he set out to franchise his chicken across the nation. He was rejected by
1,009 restaurants before ONE agreed to his idea.
Dr.
Seuss was famously known for the children’s book,” Green
eggs and ham.” His initial manuscript that he wrote was rejected 28 times
before finally being accepted. Dr. Seuss went on to write many more children’s
books and has sold over 600 million copies of his books.
Emily
Dickinson one of the most famous authors of modern times. She considered
herself a failure much of her life. She was an extreme introvert and was
reluctant to meet people face-to-face. She was called a reclusive and eccentric
by the locals in her community. She never married nor had children. While
Dickinson is considered to be one of the most renowned poets in history, less
than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. When her poems
were published they were altered significantly because her style did not fit
the norm of the day.
Henry
Ford
known for the Ford Motor Company, one of the most profitable automotive
companies in the world. Although success came to Ford years later he failed
often in his early years. In 1901, his first business failed and in 1903 at the
age of 40 he tried again.
Jack
Canfield known for the national best seller, “Chicken soup for
the soul,” was turned down by 144 publishers before one small town publishing company
in Florida took a chance with his book. Fast forward years later and 500
million books have been sold and it has been translated into over 20 languages.
Lastly let’s not forget Thomas Edison who failed over 10,000 times trying to invent a
commercially-viable electric bulb. He was asked at one point by a reporter if
he felt like a failure after so many failed attempts. His reply to the reporter
was, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded
in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. I will find the way that will
work.”
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to
continue that counts, and success consists of going from failure to failure
without loss of enthusiasm.”
-Winston Churchill
