Fear of failure is the feeling of being afraid to carry out an activity to avoid any disappointment, anger, frustration or shame from not achieving a goal. People that usually have a fear of failure refuse to try new things, they procrastinate and talk in a non-respectful way to their own selves, and often they are also perfectionists.
One out of four startups fails because of the fear of failure. What is the one thing that the world’s greatest entrepreneurs all have in common? They aren’t afraid of failure. In fact, they embrace it! They are willing to fail and fail often. Successful entrepreneurs don’t crush it their first time up to bat…on average they fail almost 4 times before hitting one out of the park! (e.g. angry bird example).
Thus, to be able to overcome fear, young entrepreneurs need a mindset preparation. It is essential to be as enthusiastic about failure as they are about success. They need to be aware of risks and failure on one side and success and welfare on the other hand. It is their decision on where they want to give focus. Young entrepreneurs should replace fear with persistence on achieving their goal, with optimism. They can analyse all potential outcomes even though they could not be aware of the overcome; learn to think more positively; identify the worst-case scenario; have a contingency plan; focus on what they can control, and reduce risk by taking incremental steps. It’s going to be uncomfortable at times, but they can overcome this by loving what they are doing and reading their goals again and again.
It is a good thing that they do not know everything in advance. Their businesses will grow gradually, and their steps will be depending on it. They should not wait at all “traffic lights” will be “green” before starting their journey. It also means that they will take some risks. Young entrepreneurs should think of their company as a ship that it is in a terrifying storm. And there are all sorts of waves attacking them, and as long as they’re just hitting them above water, they’re fine. They can always withstand the attacks that are above water with the support of their team. Young entrepreneurs just need to focus on understanding what would be an under-the-water shot that could take the whole thing down, and to only step in or protect against those kinds of problems.
A mentor or somebody who is in business will be able to support young entrepreneurs and help them to develop their skills further and at the same time their company. The mentor should be a skilful and confident person who understands the entrepreneurial environment, and he or she is able to understand the activities of the new startup to be able to mentor and coach the young entrepreneur accordingly. This type of support and guidance is significant and fruitful for a young entrepreneur. Thus, young entrepreneurs should select their mentor/coach carefully; check his/her background and achievements in business and thought if they would like to be like him/her in the future. If yes, they should talk to the mentor and listen to his/her advice for all the thoughts and concerns that they have in relation with their company, its vision and its strategy.
“A ship in harbour is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd.
Supporting evidence and practices
Sociological and organisational research suggests that individuals’ fears are not solely dependent on their nature but are also shaped by their social relations and culture, which guide their understanding of when and how much fear to feel. Murray’s Exploration in Personal (1938) was one of the first studies that actually identified fear of failure as an actual motive to avoid defeat or to achieve success. His studies suggested that in avoidance, the need to prevent failure was found in many college-aged men during the time of his research in 1938. This was a significant finding in the field of psychology because it allowed other researchers to clarify better how fear of failure can actually be a determinant of creating achievement goals as well as how it could be used in the actual act of achievement.
Another study was done in 2001 by Conroy, Poczwardowski, and Henschen that created five aversive consequences of failing that have been repeated over time. The five categories include (a) experiencing shame and embarrassment, (b) devaluing one’s self-estimated, (c) having an uncertain future, (d) significant others losing interest, (e) upsetting substantial others. These five categories can help one infer the possibility of an individual to associate failure with one of these threat categories, which will lead them to experience fear of failure.
These two studies created a more precise definition of fear of failure, which is “a dispositional tendency to experience apprehension and anxiety in evaluative situations because individuals have learned that failure is associated with aversive consequences”.
It is crucial for young entrepreneurs to visualise their goals and find the purpose of their vision. When they talk to somebody who understands them and who is able to support them, then they will be able to feel empowered. So, they should find the inner strength and encourage their self; write down their goals and put them on the wall; visualise their final goals and read them daily or whenever they feel stressed or disappointed to remind themselves what they want to achieve and how they have to do it.
Examples of successful people that they overcome the fear of failure:
- Albert Einstein – He wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4-years old and his teachers said he would “never amount to much.”
- Michael Jordan – After being cut from his high school basketball team, he went home, locked himself in his room, and cried.
- Walt Disney – Fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and “having no original ideas”.
- Steve Jobs – At 30 years old he was left devastated and depressed after being unceremoniously removed from the company he started.
- Oprah Winfrey – Was demoted from her job as a news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television”.
- The Beatles – Rejected by Decca Recording Studios, who said: “We don’t like their sound – they have no future in show business”.
A practice that can help young entrepreneurs to overcome the fear of failure and be more optimistic is the method of Framestore. It aims to pause and disturb a hard-wired connection in the brain by gently redirecting attention to entirely new and different perspectives on the situation. It can also be a co-creation method with a Framestorm facilitator. There are 3 steps in this process:
A: Ask calibrating questions
- Which emotional effects does this create in me?
- What is my current framing?
- Does it make me more resourceful?
- Is that helping me get closer to my goal?
- If I continue to give life to this framing, what reality will I create?
- Do I want this scenario to become my reality?
B: Begin the Framestore
- Visit different framestorm perspectives and answer them
- If you run out of energy in relation to a particular question, choose another one
- Keep momentum until you have at least 15-30 alternative reframings
- A framestorm process is not about criticising and excluding options but about identifying new options.
C: Reframing activity
- Read your alternative framings and taste their effects
- Choose one or two that make you more resourceful and try them out
- Notice the different effects that these reframings have for you and others
Books
Seligman, M. E. P. (1998) Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Pocket Books
Seligman, M. E. P. (1998) Authentic Happiness
Frankl, V. (1959). Man’s Search for Meaning. Rider Books
Goleman, D. (2013). Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Harper
Gross, J.J. (2001). Emotion regulation in adulthood: timing is everything. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 214-219
Prehn, A, (2012). Create reframing mindsets through Framestorm. Neuroleadership Journal, 4, 154-164
Peale, Dr. Norman Vincent (2003). The power of positive thinking. Touchstone.
Robin, Corey (2004). Fear: the history of a political idea. Oxford University Press.
Dixon, Rasheeal (2012). How to overcome fear, and start living fearless. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1475122046.
Lazarus, R.S. (1991). Emotion and Adaptation. Oxford University Press, New York.
Jump up^ Birney, R. C., Burdick, H., & Teevan, R. C. (1969). Fear of failure. Van Nostrand-Reinhold Company.
Additional resources and link
http://www.onehourprofessor.com/overcome-fear-failing-starting-business/)