Now that you know how to increase your courage, let’s dive into the fear of failure and how to gain mastery over it.

Fear of Failure: A Ubiquitous Block to Success

Fear of failure is a ubiquitous block to success. It exists at both the conscious and subconscious levels of your mind. If fear of failure, either consciously or subconsciously, controls your thoughts and decision-making, the possibility of your obtaining the success you seek is slim to none. To become a Fearless Leader, you must gain control of, and eventually master, the fear of failure.

Notice we use the term “master” fear of failure, not “purge” or “eliminate” fear of failure. We want you to have a healthy awareness of fear of failure and to learn to control your fear so that it isn’t in control of you. Fear, from an evolutionary perspective, is a survival adaptation that is useful in helping you recognize danger. Your brain is wired for survival, so you, like most of us, will experience fear at times. You need to understand why you have a fear of failure in order to gain control of it.

Your mind tends to manifest what you truly believe and focus on, so if your fear of failure is strong, your mind has a strong focus on failure.

So, to move forward take this little quiz.

Self-Reflection – Your Courage to Fail in Order to Succeed

Score yourself on each question on a 1 to 5 scale in which:

1 = never/almost never

2 = seldom

3 = sometimes

4 = often

5 = almost always/always

• When faced with an enormous opportunity that is also a risky challenge in which you could fail, do you take that opportunity?
• When you look at new opportunities, is your focus more on the opportunity than on the risks?
• Do you believe enough in your abilities to put your job or business on the line?
• Do you get excited about the lessons you learned when you fail and immediately make changes?

Now score yourself. What kind of results did you come up with? Are you rarely or, at the other end, almost always fearful?

Next, we’ll explore what we call “The 9 Faces of Failure.”

For questions about this post or for information on becoming a fearless leader, contact Dr. Cathy Greenberg and The Fearless Leader Group at (888) 320-1299 or by email at hello@fearlessequalsfreedom.com.