Fear of Failure

Think of fear of failure as if you are walking on a tightrope: One side of the rope is accepting failure as your fate. The other side of the rope is fearing failure. Too much focus on either side can cause a loss of balance, and as a result an awful fall.

I have worked with so many clients in business and sport who leverage a fear of failure to drive them. They remind themselves that the elite perch they sit on can fall at any time. That mentality often drives a strong work ethic and an attention to detail they would not otherwise have. Much to the dismay of the court of public opinion, fear of failure isn’t inherently good or bad; after all it often is the driver for people seeing their doctor regularly, taking an uber instead of driving, and looking both ways before we cross the street. Yet, like anything, an overdose of fear of failure can be crippling. And for many, it is.

On the other side of the tight rope is having no fear at all. Fearlessness. An acceptance that we all die eventually and thus we should just let go of fear. Having interviewed over 250 elite performers, some who literally put their lives on the line as military, fire-fighters, or police officers, I can tell you that I haven’t met a human who is completely fearless. Yet, many of the people I have sat with learn to be driven by something beyond fear. It may be a mission, a purpose, or something that has more meaning to them than simply failure. Their ability to let go of fear when can be incredibly liberating for them. They have acceptance.

Yet, when I reflect further about the tight rope, a place that I know has been scary for me when I attend ropes courses, I think about how I can use fear of failure to ensure I am prepared and healthy, yet let go of it when I need to be driven by hope, optimism, and acceptance. What’s your relationship with fear? How does it impact how you walk the tight rope of life?