Fear has different faces. The effects of the fear of failures wear different faces too. Fear is like a bully, it’s a tormentor. It can paralyze, and lock up a person if not challenged. I know this because I was once a victim of fear for many years. There is another kind of fear that is equally devastating. And that is the fear of failure. The fear of failure can affect our lives in various ways. In this article, I will share some of the ways, that fear of failure can affect our lives and success. It is not really going to be a detailed discussion though. We are going to briefly look at the lists and the resulting problems. I believe that our knowledge of these fears and confronting them early will save us a lot down the line.
Unwilling to Take Risks
Life is filled with risk-taking. There are very few things that are guaranteed to be risk-free. I mean actually risk-free, not in the advertisement use of the term. However, when we consider the effects of fear of failure, we discover that it leads many of us to be over-cautious. By that I mean, that some of us due to past experience of fear, become very boundary-bound, and unambitious.
We become selective of the activities we get involved in, even when we have the potential to do stretch our minds, we refuse and limit ourselves from other areas that can bring greatness. Of course, avoiding risks may be comfortable for an average person; but the truth is that it robs the person of his or her potential for creativity, self-confidence, and courage to venture beyond certain activities or locations.
Avoiding risks taking, has some limiting effects on a person, be it in business, sports, relationships, and so forth. There are many people today due to the fear of failure and its effects, they have decided to forget about working hard to achieve success. Instead, the person will prefer to live a mediocre kind of life, instead of experiencing the pain of failure.
Low Motivation
Failure can result in so many symptoms as I stated earlier. Oftentimes, when we look around us, we see some people, who seem to have nothing serious to do with their time and life. If we care enough to find out, we can discover that the person is dealing with low motivation or laziness. For such people, if he or she is not having a positive mindset, the person will program and consume every negative thought. Oh, I can’t do it like others. I don’t have the right connections. I’m not educated, I’m not beautiful, tall enough, nobody likes me, therefore, no need of trying, because eventually it will a rejection.
So, a person with low motivation will make all kinds of excuses because certain things will not be done. Why walk the road of passivity, while it is safer trying to take steady and bold action towards a goal?
Feeling Despaired
Fear of failure can result in discouragement generally. Failure can make a vulnerable person feel depressed. Because the person will be so overwhelming that the negative emotions will all be consumed. Instead of expressing them by getting active, the emotions will be turned inward. Activities will drastically reduce.
And this trend continues, the person avoids activities, isolation with family members, friends, associates will decrease, and one thing will always lead to another. And before long, the person becomes emotionally numb, withdrawn from taking action, because the best reason to hold unto is that there is no hope again for a change. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/what-you-have-fear-success.html
And oftentimes, the person can burst with anger, and transferred aggression resulting from the effects of failures the person has experienced in life. I have a close person who has been in this situation for more than two years now. I tell you; it is a very tough situation to experience. Depression is a serious issue no wonder many can’t cope with life, then to finish it up by addiction to substances or suicide. Indeed, the effects of the fear of failure can be devastating in many ways.
Using Chemical Substance
The effects of failure as we can see so far can result to all kinds of feelings, behaviors, and beliefs, if not handled properly on time. Many of the homeless people, found themselves in such situations as a result of a painful disappointment, or failure they suffered. Many people end up using some destructive coping mechanisms to ease their pain and fear of failure. Some end up using drugs or alcohol. And many of them at the beginning of their use of the substance will rationalize, deny, and defend.
They will deny the harmful effects, but will always go with the false notion that it helps them to work well, sleep well, etc. They can get the temporary escape, or relief to whatever pains, but that will always come with a price down the line. Learning to handle failure in a positive way remains the safest means. How to Develop Courage to Handle Life’s Challenges
The fear is real. It can be devastating, limiting, we just have to be sensitive, and pray not to fall victim to the fear of failure and the side effects. We should realize that failure is never a crime. No one is immune to it. Failure is not a crime, but our reaction to it can result in a crime.