Are you afraid to FAIL?

Its an interesting thought. The flip side is that many people are afraid of too much success. Being highly successful often takes you out of your comfort zone and if you have limiting beliefs, you often find ways not to succeed - also known as self sabotage.

guess what? till now I'm still afraid to fail but then it doesn't stop me from trying

Fear of failure is HUGE and stops people from taking action COLD.

Don't take any action, and you'll get no results. Right?

Or you spin in Analysis Paralysis, perpetually looking for that magic thing always over the horizon that will make you or your website or your whatever it is Ready.

"I'll release it after I..."

"I'll get started when I know..."

"I'll start calling prospects after I..."

The time is NEVER going to be perfect. I have this issue about parenthood: it seems like the time is always bad for my wife and I to have a baby. I'd better get over it soon ;-) I'm getting older and I don't want to be 65 when my kids turn 20.

In selling, which is the business we're all in here, most of your effort--nearly all of it--is going to result in nothing. "Failure." OK. So what? When we succeed, we make A LOT OF MONEY. We have independence that few others will ever experience.

OK Dan just a thought but it is a well known fact in sales and marketing and agreed on by all the big boys since sales psychology has been studied, fear and selling are husband and wife.

Fear instinctively is the single greatest motivator in all living things capable of any cognitive thought. With out it, nothing would survive. I'm not wanting to start a debate here so lets just leave it there.

Dealing with fear whether it's your's or your customer's is the largest skill set to learn and master in sales and marketing. To a large extent sales people are just "fear managers".

There are many fears that could be listed if we started such a list. However in sales the three most prominent we have to manage are...
1.) Fear of the unknown
2.) Fear of rejection
3.) "The old catch 22 syndrome", Fear of making the wrong decision.
(there are sub sets of these so not wanting to get carried away lets consider these only)

These fears affect both sales person and buyer to some extent or another.

We, sales people, hate to cold call, ask for the sale, follow up for example.

The prospect/buyer says, I want to think about it, I'll be back, I have to consult with someone, not now I've got a head ache and so on...

Books could be written and have been about all this but you are no doubt wondering where is this "Old Dog" going?

Only here. You will only be as successful in marketing or selling your skills or product as well as you learn to manage fear. No way around it. We hear of all the tools and techniques made and even sold here on the WF to help deal with our fear management and some help a lot and that's what sales are all about. Some don't and we tend to label them as scammers preying on our fears.

So much for my simple thoughts. The point is that most sales people never really invest in learning the art and science of selling. They have great ideas, products and services and want to make money the quicker the better but their sales knowledge is no more than roller skates compared to a Ferrari.

Just IMHO,

Old Dog

P.S. Thanks for the thread great thread starter...

You need to look at failure as energy to keep going. If you're not failing, you're not trying. Everyone fails before they succeed. The greatest inventors will piece together 20 different contraptions until one works right.

Is failure even possible? It might take a million years, but won't everyone eventually be successful, or switch their goals to something that they can be successful at, and then be successful then?

Actually not being afraid to fail means always willing to walk confidently in the direction of their dreams, crossing every heart breaking obstacle and bettering ourselves every day.

I think we need to learn from our failure and if it doesn't work try another thing.

Plan to fail, it's inevitable, you will fail at something eventually.

You won't appreciate success without first failing for several times. It is a great avenue to learn and by failing you got to know your strength.

I think everyone is afraid to fail, that is why we need to overcome it.

Hey Dan!

Thanks for the thread!

Failure is one of those things that makes most newbie and Intermediate marketers cringe!

It is true that every failure comes after some massive effort, and it can be pretty daunting. For many people, just wiping it off as part of the process and moving on is a tough thing.

The reality is that failure is the proof that you are actually DOING SOMETHING!

If you stay on your couch and do nothing, then you have absolutely nothing to
"fail"

Nevertheless, what I have realized is that the more you fail the more you learn.

People who have failed, have stories to tell. This already adds to your value because you can help people avoid unnecessary pain and strife.

People tend to buy more into fear than they do into hope. So, if you have something or an experience that will subside and calm the fears of many, then you have just provided tremendous value.

Your mistakes, your headaches and all your strife can and will help a multitude.

You could even write a book on all your mistakes for your niche!

We have only failed when we have stopped trying.

Richard

Failure.

I was stuck for a long time. Fear ruled my life. The phobias I developed dictated the quality of my life. The quality of my life was poor. I needed to take massive action.

I did a firewalk. It was terrifing and afterwards I knew I could face anything. I was subjected to a horrendous day in court. I faced up to it and held my head up and admitted to my mistakes. I learnt from it. I learnt not to put my business into the hands of others. I studied hypnotherapy and coaching with Tony Robbins. I evolved into someone that could inspire others to live beyond the fear. Fear is an essential stimulus for Courage.

I wrote this down and look at it every day along with other sayings/calls to action for the day.

"Never be afraid to fail, but plan/execute for success" . Everyone is afraid to fail at some level. That's why it's called failing, but if the reward outweighs the defeat it's a no brainer to go for it. I wouldn't fight George St. Pierre because I'm not properly trained, so you have to also pick and choose your battles within reason.

I have definitely been afraid that I would fail.

The truly odd thing about this fear is that it holds us back from even trying. It took me almost THREE years to start being successful in my home based business because of a fear of failure, but once I started implementing what I had been taught to do, things began to do really well for me.

I have to admit that it took FOREVER though. I watched the majority of my team hit six figures in a year, and the rest did at least 5 figures by year two, and we were stuck at a thousand dollars per month for the longest time. Talk about devastating!!! I really felt like a total dump because I could see people who I thought had my same level of intelligence doing a thousand times better than me in business. It hurt. A lot.

It was nothing more than absolute frustration that got me off my butt and doing what I saw IM leaders doing. Now...I have to admit, I am a little shy face to face. I came to the internet to find a way to do better without having to go out in public every day. It just took finding a solid daily process and implementing it daily to get myself out of the rut.

Wasn't it Jessica in Frank Herbert's Dune who always said, "Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death..." on a regular basis throughout the novels? Well...she told the truth! Fear almost stopped me from making it online.

Thanks for this post. I have to remember that it's getting up every day and taking action that will get me where I need to go in life...and nothing less than that - consistent, daily action.

Sincerely,
Christi Johnson

Here are some of my favorite quotes that keep me going when I have fear of failing:


There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.
-Tony Robbins

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
-Henry Ford

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.
-Michael Jordan

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
-Bill Cosby

In the past couple of years, I was too afraid to fail. It gives me no confidence anymore to continue and I've almost given up, until I realized that I would be a total failure without trying again and again. We should learn our lessons why we failed, and we should correct it slowly. It's like a guy who can't stand up and falls down many times, but keeps trying until he can totally stand and walk.

Just don't give up and face the challenge!

I am afraid. This fear is not such a bad think, though. It is here to protect you from pain of failing. But on the other hand, non-action is also a choice and also brings results. Not always results you were dreaming about. I guess, while you are in motion, you can correct your path and try to bring it to result you want. If you are inactive, it is very difficult to correct your way and bring your to result you are dreaming about. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion". It is better to stay in motion and keep failing, while learning how to get closer and closer to your goals, than stay 'at reast' and do not achieve your goals at all.

I guess I look at things differently than most of you guys. I absolutely dread and fear failure. I fear so much in failing, that it drives and motivates me to work that much harder to ensure that I do NOT fail.

Does that mean I have never failed at anything before? Of course not, but knowing that feeling of failure and not wanting more of it, just makes me work that much harder to prevent it from happening again.

At one particular moment in life anyone ia afraid of failing, this is absolutely normal, but we have to overcome this.