|How to overcome the fear of failure in business

How to overcome the fear of failure in business and get on with your life. What to do when it happens and how to cope in an ever-changing world

What is failure?

First of all, I am not a qualified professional to give out advice. I am however a survivor of many years, or decades in business and have gone through the mill a few times.
I was listening to a podcast this morning about a young footballer who put his whole life into playing the game. He did the hard work and took all the knocks but then it came to a club Interview. Sorry, you are just not good enough to play football. With that, he stood up and walked out of the club beaten and despondent. A life’s dream shattered in a quick conversation. Could you recover from that?
It did take him some time but then he discovered a talent as a sports writer and commentator and now loves what he does. A career that will last a lot longer than kicking footballs.

We suffer some kind of failure every day

How to overcome the fear of failure in business

They may be all little ones but we manage to shrug them off easily and move on to something better without dwelling on them.
Therefore we should be able to relate that to big issues as well.

Thomas Edison failed to create a light bulb a thousand times. His philosophy was that he had cleared a thousand hurdles and that he was closer to success.

Winston Churchill was reported as saying’

Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.

In fact, it may have been Abraham Lincoln that said it but the truth lies in getting past failure.

How to get past a problem

For me, it is an understanding that there is nothing you can do to fix the past. You can work on the future but not on history. Therefore what is the best thing you can do to get your life back together again?

Making new plans and putting them into action takes you away from the mindset that you have been irrevocably hurt by failure.
Whilst you are still standing you have the opportunity to regroup and move on. Many times to a better place.

Going out of your capable being

We all have strengths and weaknesses and it is recognizing these values that help us with achievement. I may want to be a Rocket Scientist but my advanced Maths would bring me up short every time. My brain is wired in a different way.
As a football player, I was indeed average. With few skills and being the skinniest kid in the park, I could never compete with the more talented players. It was a type of failure for me and I shed a few tears knowing that I would never make it to anything but a low grade.

I set out on a sports pilgrimage trying Soccer, Lacross, and then Hockey until I found a niche that worked. I became a state Hockey player because it suited my skill levels.

The answer is turning adversity into gain.

Your strength is tested by adversity

We may well pat you on the back and tell you everything will be ok but your inner self may well tell you something different.
You should ask yourself the simple question,” Is there anything I can do to change the result?”
If the answer is yes you will start the change but if the answer is no Then consider what you can change to make it better.
You may be consumed by grief but understanding that it has no value will dawn on you at some time and the repair period will begin. Furthermore, You may never forget or forgive but you will take back control and put actions into place to help you move forward.

When you have the control

Your life and business are dependent on you. There is no blame here because the decisions are yours to make and some will be good and others bad.

I lost a profitable business because I failed to renew a lease on time. It was not all my fault and in fact, I could blame others but there was no coming back. Yes, it hurt and to this day I am annoyed but hating won’t solve it. It has gone and I had to move on.