Fear of making mistakes: how to overcome it?

There probably isn’t a single person out there who’s not afraid of making a mistake, coming across as weak or getting billed as a loser.  Someone lives with this fear all the time, someone is constantly trying to escape from it and some learn to cope with it. Let’s try to figure out how to stop fearing making mistakes and start living your life to the fullest.

Let’s start by stressing that you must never be ashamed of your own vulnerability.

That’s right. Any normal human being can be vulnerable and probably has to be, because vulnerability defines us a human beings – spiritual creatures endowed with emotions. The occasional need to confide, be sentimental or defenseless helps us grow and evolve, live in harmony with the world around and our own selves.

In addition, vulnerability takes us out of the comfort zone, which stimulates us to move forward. It’s been known for a while that going outside of your comfort zone makes your body summon all its power and focus serving as extra motivation for action. In the end, our weaknesses do make us stronger.

So where does fear of failure stem from?

Fear itself stems from our distant past when life was the cost of any mistake. Initially, the very role of fear was to protect, to self preserve. Modern-day fear of failure is just a relic of that ancient fear. In most cases, it does not stand for any real danger to us but comes with quite a bit of discomfort. These days it’s not an attack of predators we are afraid of, rather than looking stupid in front of colleagues. Over time, real threats have been replaced with artificial ones, but the problem is, our concept of the comfort zone, our psychologically and physiologically safe territory, was shaped up a very long time ago.

How to overcome fear of making mistakes?

It’s important to remember that today’s threats are emotional for the most part, as opposed to the real ones. So we must learn to soberly assess the level of risk and real danger to our life in a certain case. Learn to assess every situation objectively and without emotions.

Here are some tips that will help you conquer your inner fear:

Determine the real cause of your fear. Very often we are afraid of something that’s never going to happen. Try to understand what it is you are really afraid of. Which consequences of making that mistake scare you the most? Are you afraid of public judgment? Or a refusal? Or losing your friends? Maybe your perfectionism, which does not even allow the thought of something being done short of perfect enter your mind, is to blame? Practice shows that most of our imaginary fears burst like soap bubbles. The real perspective turns out to be a lot more appealing than we could expect. Our decision to act and move forward gives us the kind of power we did not even know existed within.

Try looking at your fear from a different perspective. You can see your mistake as a failure, but you can also see it as a step on the staircase to success. You do remember the saying about nothing being gained in case nothing is ventured, right? The truth is, every “no” gets us that much closer to the much-awaited “yes” making us stronger.

Everyone is afraid! You are mistaken if you think you belong to some particularly fainthearted type. Fear of making mistakes haunts everyone, even successful businesspeople and famous politicians. It’s just that these people are well aware that fear is an unalienable part of human nature.

Balance your fear out with confidence. If you put your fear on one weighing pan, it needs to be balanced out with something on the other. On the other weighing pan you can place confidence in your own strength. Do not expect those around you to pull some dirty trick. The truth is, they have no desire or intention whatsoever to humiliate you or laugh at your failure. There are a lot more decent sympathetic people ready to offer support than you would imagine. Believe in your own power, your success, and then the circumstances will play out in your favor.

Keep moving forward! Sometimes a task may seem impossible. This fills us with fear of failure. But it’s important to keep in mind that even a big complex task can be solved if you break it up into smaller segments. Keep in mind that every step gets you closer to the goal. Even if that goal seems unattainable every now and then.

Give it a try. Sometimes it’s important to prove your own worth to yourself in order to realize the goal set is achievable. Challenge yourself over and over, achieve new results that are in no way related to your professional activity. Each new achievement will add confidence in your own self. And one day you will realize your fear burst like a soap bubble.

Ignore your fear. Obviously, right now we are talking about fear with purely emotional roots. It’s stupid to ignore danger to our health and life, but at the same time it’s important to calmly gaze in the eye of emotional fear that paralyzes our will and pursuit of ambition.

We do hope our tips will help some of you overcome your fears and begin to act.

As a matter of fact, meditation is another great way to overcome fear…

After all, it’s our conscious mind at the emotional control board. Meditations help you clear the mind, release tension and think positively. Our app allows meditating without leaving your computer, which is super convenient. Give it a try and see for yourself.

And keep in mind that brave people are not those are not afraid of anything, but those capable of controlling their emotions and overcoming their fears.