This past summer, I taught my 12 year old daughter to surf. The first handful of waves she tried to ride ended in glorious wipeouts, partly because she lacked experience, but more-so because she had a fear of failure.
What if she fell... what if the board hits her… what if the wave is too big... all her reasons were valid reasons, especially when you consider the wall of water crashing down on top of her weighs about 8 pounds per gallon. But for a surfer to be successful, they cannot have fear. Even the slightest moment of hesitation due to fear, will result in bad-timing and a not-so-enjoyable wipeout.
Fear of failure is one of the greatest fears people have. Fear incapacitates people. It makes them hesitate until it’s too late.
Fear of failure in basketball is no different. How many times have you seen a player with a wide-open look at the basket hesitate to shoot until it's too late? Or a player catches the ball and hesitates to penetrate into the open lane until it's too late?
Most people self-limit themselves. Most people do not achieve a fraction of what they are capable of achieving because they are afraid to try because they are afraid they will fail.
The Law of Feedback states: there is no failure; there is only feedback. Successful people look at mistakes as outcomes or results, not as failure. Unsuccessful people are unsuccessful because they look at mistakes as permanent and personal.
To overcome your fear of failure, you must take action. Bold, decisive action. Do something scary. Fear of failure immobilizes you. To overcome this fear, you must act. When you act, act boldly. Act to achieve something, begin with the end in mind.
What would you do if you knew you could not fail? What could you achieve? Be brave and just do it. If it doesn't work out the way you want, then look at the results and adjust your next attempt as necessary (feedback) and try it again.
But don’t allow the fear of failure to cause you to miss your wave!
(thanks Terry Bragg)
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