Top Three Steps to Overcome Fear of Failure and be Successful in Achieving Goals

During execution of projects, when we work in larger distributed teams, there will be a few members in the team who will be proactively sharing ideas, exchanging thoughts, proposing solutions, accepting review comments and taking action on implementation. There will be a second set of people who will always show up in discussions, but will not participate proactively in the brainstorming sessions, rather wait to be called out and only then will they open up. There will be a third group who will not share anything even when asked to and may politely agree to every point outwardly. For the success of the project, every member in the team needs to come up with ideas to work on the functionality assigned to them. Though the level of performance always varies between different groups within a large team, very few actually take action on their ideas.  
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Ever wondered why we get overwhelmed with exciting ideas, then we procrastinate and end up with no implementation at all? It's our inner fear that compels us to build castles in the air and do nothing in reality. We are afraid of the unknown, worried about the uncertainties and sure about failure if we take steps to try out something new. It is a common disorder termed as Atychiphobia - the intense fear of failure - derived from the Greek word ‘atyches’ meaning ‘unfortunate’. Anyone suffering from this disorder will avoid venturing into new territories, won’t try anything that may have an unsuccessful consequence, will be risk averse and feel safe in a mentally closed shell. They tend to avoid anything where they sense the potential of failure that can be as simple as appearing in an examination or job interview or presenting about a product or service on stage or playing a game of chess or participating in project work or brainstorming on an assignment.
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If you are a student and you don’t want to take a test, you may end up missing out a whole year, or if you are developing a product and you are afraid to learn a new coding language, you may lose the job, a serious matter if left unattended. Research shows that at any point in life a person can get Atychiphobia. There may be various trigger points, such as failure in career expectations, failed relationships, failure in business leading to financial losses or not being able to live upto the expectations of family, and so on. The good news is that Atychiphobia can be easily overcome by becoming self aware, take three simple steps and start looking at the equation of success-failure differently. Do watch my latest video here:

Anyone can overcome the fear of failure by following these steps:

1. Learn from the Past - Ask yourself, did you start walking properly as you were born? How many times did you fall? Every time you have got up and tried again, right? How can you learn to swim if you are unwilling to get into the water? How did you master a foreign language, maybe French or German? Did all these come naturally? Everything you have done till now, you succeeded because you tried - some with single and others with multiple attempts. So what has changed now? You need to take the first step towards your goal, it may be anything, just go ahead and do it.
2. Start Tracking your Progress - Atychiphobia may often lead to psychological and emotional issues, including depression, anxiety, palpitations, panic attacks, shame, poor self-confidence and self-esteem. It affects performance, behavior and interaction not only in professional but also in personal life. So, it’s advisable to start tracking daily progress. Once you start taking notes on your progress, you will figure out what is going well, what did not work well and you will be able to plan on your next steps.  
3. Share with Others - There are innumerable benefits of sharing your experience with others, the most important one is the realization of your not being alone in this kind of situation. You can use various social media platforms of your choice to speak about your journey, you can join a community of like minded people, you can participate in panel discussions, benefit from the inputs and suggestions from others and keep progressing towards your goal. Soon you will realize one fine day you have achieved your goal. What next - Set new goals, start tracking your progress and yeah, you are on your way to another milestone!