💡 Chase Risks to Inoculate Yourself (Issue 99)
💡 Chase Risks to Inoculate Yourself (Issue 99)
How to overcome a fear of failure
I recently watched an interview with Willem Dafoe, in which he talked about deliberately seeking failure—basically, trying to mess things up! For example, he mentioned trying to make a bad painting on purpose—deliberately placing yourself in situations where you can fail and see that it’s not that bad.
If you fear failure, you’re not alone. 31% of American adults are afraid of failure. 90% of CEOs agree that the fear of failure is their main cause of distress (source).
I don’t think anyone wants to fail. But, it becomes a problem when fearing failure holds you back from pursuing new opportunities, learning new things, and taking chances that could lead to greater success.
However, you can intentionally pursue failure in somewhat safe ways to overcome a fear of it. Of course, don’t immediately leap into chasing a risk that could lead to a disastrous outcome if you fail (e.g., betting your life savings at a poker table in Vegas). Start small and enjoy playing with failing.
Yes, I know that sounds strange. But, I’ve done that in my life, and it works! I took safe risks and let myself fail over and over again. The more I failed, the more it lost power over me. I no longer cared that I failed. Instead, I was proud that I was trying crazy new things!
Eventually, I was taking pretty large risks like quitting a stable job, starting a solopreneur business, founding a startup, getting on stage to talk in front of thousands of people, and more.
Does that mean I always succeed? Of course not! I’ve failed many times (e.g., my tech startup failed). But, because I took risks, I also succeeded and reaped the rewards of taking chances (e.g., having the freedom of running my lifestyle businesses for the past 14 years and escaping the 9-5 grind).
So, if a fear of failure is holding you back, start small with some safe risks. Let yourself fail and explore the feeling of it. Shake it off, laugh it off, and realize that failure means you had the courage to try something new. You should feel proud!
Keep building up to more ambitious and scarier ways to fail. Realize that you can survive those failures too, and, eventually, you will lose your fear of failure.
It will no longer have power over you.
“Fortune favors the bold.”
— Publius Vergilius Maro
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
I am a 3rd generation independent small-business person and my kids both run their own businesses. We have learned not to avoid risk but to manage and bound it. What other people might think as insanely risky is just everyday life for us. We expand our businesses by branching out from what we already know and can afford to fail at. Not taking a risk is a big risk because someone else will take that risk and may provide a better product or service.