Fear of failure is the fear of being judged negatively on your performance at work. Am I doing it right? Is this what is meant? And this mainly concerns cognitive performance anxiety.
Have you ever been scared and didn’t even start a task because of it? Have you ever been asked to give a presentation and said no? Or didn’t you raise your hand at a job that you would find super cool, but simply didn’t dare? Then this article will help you.
Almost everyone suffers from performance anxiety at some point. This blog discusses this phenomenon and mainly gives practical tips to get rid of it.
What is fear of failure?
You are afraid that you cannot do something or are not brave enough to attempt it. This fear mainly arises when performing a specific task. Everyone experiences fear of failure at times, and overcoming it is generally seen as very rewarding.
The threshold to overcome it varies from person to person and task to task. Besides work-related fear of failure, you may also recognize the time when, for example, you had to take an exam.
A kind of anxiety develops that makes you afraid of making mistakes. And precisely that anxiety then increases the likelihood of making mistakes.
Causes for the fear of failure
Causes for The fear of failure often lies in the pressure to perform. This can be due to high expectations or when you’re afraid of certain negative reactions. Low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence are also significant factors.
When someone makes a negative comment, to what extent and for how long does it affect you?
What are the characteristics of fear of failure?
Characteristics of fear of failure include excessive worrying, a negative self-image, low self-confidence, and setting overly high standards for oneself. Your own behavior and your personality also greatly determine the extent to which you experience fear of failure.
Fear of failure in itself is not very severe. When it escalates into panic, sweating, prolonged stress, or actual physical symptoms, it’s time to take action quickly.
The tips below will help you gradually overcome your fear of failure. It’s a long journey where your behavioral patterns need to be adjusted, particularly. This takes time, but it yields great results.
People who are naturally more perfectionistic and those who set high standards and are highly results-oriented can experience excessive fear of failure. Someone who is driven to achieve results may have a fear of failure as their biggest fear and will do anything to avoid it, including avoiding tasks.
This also applies in reverse for individuals who are very detail-oriented. They are not easily satisfied with their own performance and always expect perfection.
Fear of failure is also more common in these cases.
The 10 tips to overcome the fear of failure at work
If you would like to overcome your fear of failure and if you are experiencing above-average levels of it, then try working with the tips below.
01. Start with clear expectations
When you receive an assignment or have a specific task to perform, there’s a strong tendency to start quickly without having a clear overview of the expectations.
The better and clearer the expectations are beforehand, the clearer the path forward becomes. Questions you can ask yourself in this regard are:
- When are you satisfied?
- What are the consequences of not achieving it?
- What is the desired outcome?
- When is the absolute deadline?
- What has priority and why?
- What is the purpose of the task?
The clearer the desired outcome is, the better you can assess what you can or cannot do.
02. Set Clear Boundaries
When the outcome is clear, agree in advance on the path to the goal together. How do you want to be informed? What do we do with deviations? How do we address each other? How do we make adjustments? How often do we make adjustments?
After tips 1 and 2, the result and the path to it are well laid out. This prevents false expectations and disappointments.
The foundation to overcome performance anxiety is established. After all, you have a much better understanding of the expectations and how we interact with each other in the process.
Giving feedback is often seen as unpleasant. Setting goals together in advance and scheduling feedback moments are actually perceived as very beneficial.
03. Break down the task
Especially with larger tasks, it’s useful to break them down into several parts or intermediate results. This makes the work more manageable, provides more clarity, and allows you to better understand the scope of the task.
04. Celebrate every achieved step
When you have to give a very important presentation in 4 weeks and you hope that it will all work out, your fear of failure will increase. When you break it down into small steps (subject selected, research completed, PowerPoint ready, etc.) and you enjoy every step achieved, the fear of failure will decrease and you will be able to rely much more on yourself.
05. Determine a worst-case scenario
Decide for yourself what is the worst thing that can happen to you. What then is the consequence? How bad is it? Visualizing this sometimes helps you to put things into perspective, which makes dealing with the fear of failure better.
06. Change your focus
Shift your focus from external (others) to internal (yourself). What do you think about it? What does it bring you? What is your personal gain? When you are preoccupied with the outside world, your fear of failure tends to increase.
Take the example of a presentation. Is it more important to you that you are genuinely proud of it, or is it more important that your supervisor is impressed?
Choose the first option!
07. Feel responsible only for your own part
Fear of failure can be accompanied by feeling an excessive sense of responsibility. For example, if my report isn’t good, maybe the whole department will suffer. You can try to avoid such thoughts. Each individual is responsible for their own choices.
08. Get to know your own behavior
Do you know yourself well? What type of behavior do you exhibit? Get to know yourself and understand why you might experience fear of failure at times.
09. Talk about it with people you trust
Share how it affects you and be vulnerable with people you trust. Shared pain is half the pain, and perhaps someone can offer you a little help.
10. Take more moments to celebrate success
Generally, we tend to focus more on our mistakes than our successes. Take time to enjoy the things you have accomplished instead of being overly critical of yourself.
