Fear of Failure

by 56 replies
65
It is always amazing to think that a small idea can lead to something big. One of the harder things though, is thinking or creating a concept which is relevant in todays markets. So many times, people may actually think of something or discover something that fits this criteria, but they never act to implement the idea.

Does this sound like you?

If you used to sound like this but don't anymore, Congratulations

The fear of failure is often one of the most predominant factors when it comes to doing anything, regardless if it is in IM or in real life.

So how can we conquer this fear?

I believe that giving something a go, taking action, is the way to go. However, it's not the good old "have an idea, work on it for 1hour and wait for the success" it is to work on it for a good deal of time and giving it your all.

After you commit to something, the result will most likely be one of these options

  1. You Believe you Failed
  2. You Believe you did Ok
  3. You Believe you did Well
In this circumstance you would be happy with outcomes 2 and 3. But what if you could be happy with your "failed project"?

I think that if you alter your conception of the term 'failure' you can really change your outlook on life.

Firstly, I'd like you to consider some of these quotes

"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely."
~ Henry Ford

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
~ Thomas Alva Edison

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."
~ Sir Winston Churchill

Here we see how other people have percieved "failure" in a positive way. The belief that an undesired outcome can be beneficial to you some way in the future, in my mind is the way to go, and I challenge you to take a look at how you percieve failure and to think of how it can make you a better person in what you are trying to achieve as opposed to viewing it as a negative element of life.

#main internet marketing discussion forum #failure #fear
  • Very inspiring ...do you know who the author of this quote is?

    "There are three types of people in the world:
    Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who ask What happened?"

    it is now one of my favorite quotes.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • According to who? I haven't met many people whose main problem is fear of failure in IM.
    • [1] reply
    • Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like in real life peoples main problem is the fear of failure in IM, rather in IM the fear of failure is a big hurdle faced when trying to make money online, or even a failure itself.
      • [1] reply
  • I definitely worry about doing the "wrong" things - maybe not a direct fear of failure, but a fear of putting a lot of effort and time into something that won't show results. Unfortunately, this just leads to not doing anything, which is even worse.
  • I don't fail, I learn ways of not doing things.
    • [1] reply
    • You sound like Thomas Edison! Very Cool! Great response.
  • Great post! This is right up my alley! Failure is such a dominant restrictive force in most people. The fact is, we're scared! I was deeply afraid of just going for it in life for years, which is why I never went for it in life. Once we can associate great emotions and an invigorating reward with failing (because we realize it's the only way to create expansion), it becomes comfortable to fail! Training your mind to LOVE just going out there and engaging, is a great thing. It's only a waste of time if you think it is. I've learned so many valuable lessons from putting my neck on the line, and have gotten immune to nervousness about it as well! A great fear to have is the fear of mediocrity! I fear that more than failing, and I think we can all agree that has massive power! Thanks for posting this, we can all pull something extremely valuable from it.
  • You hit the bullseye!
  • ...yeah, this would've been better of in the 'Mind Warriors' category.

    Still, just because you've read some inspiring quotes and read some new age feel good books doesn't mean it's true. I can say all day that I have "limiting beliefs" and a "fear of failure", but at the end of the day I still don't have a successful business - sure, it's great that 10 or 20 people never gave up and then succeeded, but do you really think there aren't hundreds of thousands of successful people out there who didn't just put in their time, made all the smart moves, and capitalized on the correct opportunities?

    Fear of success? Sounds like self-validation surrounded by a lack of confidence. You can either play the game and lose, or you can act like a victim and never really try to win. Either way, you're still going to lose to the team who puts in the effort to winning
    • [1] reply
    • Opposites define each other, if there were no failures, we wouldn't know that we have indeed succeded...
      • [2] replies
  • I have never failed for once, I only discover better ways of doing things...



    What to Say in a Text to Get Your Ex Back
  • Not so much failure, but the costs some failures can cost you.
    • [1] reply
    • That's why we must seek advice from those who have been there
  • Is there any difference between trying to achieve and failing, and failing to take action at all?
    • [3] replies
    • Well you can learn from your failures but you can't learn from failing to take action. Unless you learn that $0 is something you don't want.
      • [1] reply
    • I feel that there is a huge difference. If you try to achieve and fail, at least you've picked up some experience implementing a method or system, and if you have the right attitude you can definitely learn something from that failure. If you fail to take action, then you haven't gained any real experience at all, and you won't have learned as much as the person who took action and failed.

      Paul
    • As the philosopher, Wayne Gretsky, once said;

      "100% of the shots you don't take, don't go in."

      Cheers
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I just posted this response on another thread, but think it is more appropriate here. I had to laugh when I read this. I just wrote an article for my blog titled "Failing Your Way to Success." LOL My fear of online failure has been preventing me to do the things that I need to do (mostly marketing efforts) to succeed. I am trying to embrace the fact that failure is a natural part of success. Really, this is not a plug for my blog. It is just good to know that others are feeling the same way.
  • As long as you are not trying, you are failing by default. So stop failing and start trying
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • There is a false association between failure and success. That should not be, and I think many of the quotes here recognize that.

      The true association is between failure and bravery. If we are brave we will succeed.

      "The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly."

      --Novelist Corra Harris
      • [2] replies
  • you only fail when you quit. It really is that simple!
  • Dude I really needed to read this post.

    I failed massively online...at first, and had amassed at bout a 10k credit card bill when i started buying everything under the sun.

    But I think I had to fail for me to get off my butt and make stuff work...to get me to take action. The funny part is now that I have several highly succeful businesses, I look back on this and it makes me more humble i guess.
    • [1] reply
    • You're right, sometimes failure can be the best motivator of all, if you let it. Also, having failures every now and then is not a bad thing at all, as it keeps you humble and focused, and you won't grow complacent.
  • This thread has been a huge help. Thanks.
    • [1] reply
    • Yeah no worries, i know it is different to everyone but I hope posts like this just make people think a bit.
  • I really like the three quotes you included above from Ford, Edison and Churchill, as they were definitely adept at bouncing back from failures, and actually transformed them into stepping stones to success instead.
    • [1] reply
    • Am glad you like them, I quite enjoy them too.

      It's quite funny though, I read/heard one of them the other day for the first time. I then ran into the quote again today, and then decided to include it in this post.

      It's amazing how sometimes things aren't in your life, and then constantly appear after you notice it.
      • [1] reply
  • [DELETED]
    • [1] reply
    • I understand what you mean - success brings with it a responsibility to maintain that success. You can no longer hide behind your laptop. That is scary!!!!!!
  • Oh. My. God. I Lol'ed
  • I have used the 'fear of failure' as an excuse in the past, when the truth is failure was more my comfort zone and the real fear was success. If I failed there were a multitude of things I could blame it on. If I was successful and had trouble handling it, what could I blame? That's tougher.

    Once I was honest with myself, and I stopped sitting at the computer to spend endless hours 'moving dirt around' (as I called it), then I was able to produce something. Evidence of worthy time spent at the keyboard.

    ** Some construction zones are around for YEARS and all it looks like they're doing is moving dirt around. Nothing ever seems to get built! I was driving through a highway construction area that had been there for many years, when this dawned on me that is what I do at the computer! - Not anymore! Now I build. **
    • [1] reply
    • Yeah, it's hard aswell. Sometimes you don't buy anything for ages, but when you do buy something you buy a lot of things.

      Yeah, i think it is a good feeling when you stop "pushing papers" and start doing something.
      • [1] reply
  • No that's fine, I enjoyed the read.

    Lol, not sure if you also saw this quote from my OP

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    Fear of Failure

    It is always amazing to think that a small idea can lead to something big. One of the harder things though, is thinking or creating a concept which is relevant in todays markets. So many times, people may actually think of something or discover something that fits this criteria, but they never act to implement the idea. Does this sound like you?