Fear of failure

Pessimism increases the likelihood that one will have a fear of failure.^[1]

The half a glass of water helps illustrates of two different mental attitudes, optimism (half full) and pessimism (half empty)

The fear of failure (also called atychiphobia), is an irrational and persistent fear of failing.^[2]

Overcoming a fear of failure

According to Anna Katharina Schaffner, Ph.D.:

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How, then, can the fear of failure be overcome? First, look at your mindset — your attitudes about failing. Reminding yourself that there is no growth without failure — no learning, no development, no new experiences — can help you see your aversion in a new light.

Cultivate what Carol Dweck (2017) has called a growth mindset, an openness to learning from failure in the service of overall development.

Second, start by gently building your failure muscle in a safe space. Try to learn a new skill or hobby — a sport, cooking, dancing, drawing, playing an instrument — and be kind to yourself in the learning process. Mindfully allow yourself to fail, to try again, to fail again but better, and try again, until you get somewhere.

Third, recall gritty successful people who failed a hundred, or maybe even a thousand times, before they got somewhere with their attempts. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, for example, is famous for having said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Fourth, watch how a toddler learns to walk. They do not study a “how to walk upright” manual. Instead, they learn by doing and, especially, by failing. They stand up, stumble, fall, stand up, stumble, fall, and stand up again, over and over again, until they learn to stand, then to walk, and then how to run.^[3]

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