Fear of Failure Can Destroy Our Dreams

“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”  Zig Zigler

What a great quote! All too often we look at failure on a personal level, and then we “hold onto it.” Instead of thinking of failure as a singular event, often we let it sneak into our subconscious. It can define us or limit us.  We remember the failure; the hurt, embarrassment and or pain it caused and we never want to go back there. It then becomes the fear of failure that holds so many of us back. It stops us from dreaming big or acting on our dreams.

Author Steven K. Scott in his book “Simple Steps to Impossible Dreams” defines Failure: “an event in which you did not achieve your desired outcome.”  That does not sound so bad; read his definition again.

He goes on to write, Failure’s role: “Any failure you experience can be: (1) a great teacher; even a powerful mentor to your future success, or (2) a tyrannical dictator that can drastically limit or even destroy all hopes of future success.”

The lesson here is: We have a choice! We can decide how we want to view failure. What did you learn from your last failure? How has it made you act differently? Has it changed your behavior?

What lesson did you learn from that failure?

I prefer to look at failure as my teacher and mentor. I was a young newspaper editor who had recently graduated college. I was asked to give a 20 minute speech on my industry to a local civic club. As a cocky kid, I did not prepare for the talk. I thought I could just wing it and I did not even bother to research the target audience. I was terrible! I started with an inappropriate joke and it went downhill from there. After about 3 minutes, I was done and mortified.

That failure became my best teacher. I now enjoy speaking engagements. I am always well prepared and I always know my audience. I could have shunned away from public speaking after that fiasco. Instead, I made the choice to look at that failure as a single event and learn from it. The failure became my best teacher.

“You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure” Zig Zigler

So remember that failure is just an event. Fear of failure should not limit us. It should just make us ask:

What is the worst that can happen if I try this?

How can I minimize the risk?

How will I feel if I never try?