Reading time: 2 min

Fear of failure (atichiphobia) is inherent in every individual, but one person manages to overcome his fear, while the other leaves the fight for later or everything as it is. This unreasonable and pathological fear of failure has a devastating effect on the lifestyle of the individual, affecting his intentions. People who are prone to atichiphobia often see a direct connection between competition and the possibility of failure. They are of the opinion that in order to avoid failure, it is better not to touch on problematic issues. For them, success is an almost impossible goal.

Failure is accompanied by a drop in self-confidence, loss, it can lead to, and then to mental disorders.

People suffering from atychiphobia experience a number of physiological symptoms: shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, nausea, weakness, nervousness, indigestion, heavy sweating, muscle tension. These symptoms appear when individuals are faced with the possibility of failure. This condition is most acute in places where people compete with each other because of certain incentives: at work, in an educational institution.

Causes of Fear of Failure

A person wants success, but at the same time he is afraid of it, afraid of the responsibility or burden that may come with it. Often an individual is dishonest to himself, tries to shield himself from himself and prove to everyone that there are reasons for all failures. Success will never come if an individual is afraid to change something and do something in his life, and since a person is very afraid of failure, he does nothing in connection with this. Thus, he seems to be waiting, because he cannot bring himself to do what he has planned. At the same time, this fear and laziness protects the human psyche from possible fiascos. Often, these are situations where internal contradictions are noted between “should” and “must not”, between “I don’t want” and “should”. Any failure for a person is a blow to and, therefore, the individual consciously and subconsciously seeks to avoid such shocks. People are very afraid of failure, and this fear prevents them from taking certain steps towards what they want. Often the fear that nothing will work out hinders a person at the most crucial moments. But if you do nothing, then the chance of getting what you want will be zero. For example: a person seeks to change jobs. And suddenly, having found an advertisement for a desired vacancy that fully corresponds to his ideas about the best job, he does not call the employer, because the fear of failure has turned on, accompanied by negative thoughts that he will be refused. A person will come up with a sufficient number of arguments to justify himself, namely his inaction. He will write off the lack of experience, youth or old age, unwillingness to change anything in life or something else. Psychology explains the presence of fear as follows: the protective mechanisms of the body are turned on, which do not allow leaving the comfort zone.

Self-doubt also contributes to the fear of failure, which creates a fixation of thoughts on defeat. A person is afraid of failure, and all his thoughts are directed towards this. He consciously avoids situations where he can at least somehow prove himself, but at the same time he can suffer defeat. Man is afraid of what he does not know.

How to get rid of the fear of failure

If the fear of failure does not leave, then what to do in such cases? This fear can be overcome by identifying the cost of failure and its cost. Every decision and action taken by a person has a price. If fear arises when it becomes necessary to take a step in some important action, then in this case a person should evaluate the possible consequences: put a price on failure. For example, in our above case, if a person called and was denied a job, what would he lose? Actually nothing, but by not calling, he lost his chance to get the desired job. This is a simple example with a minimal cost of failure but a very high chance cost.

Fear of failure, being a very strong emotion in life, often takes over the individual. And if fear is included at the moment of making a decision, then it makes sense to evaluate the chances of success and failure. The bottom line is that it is important to learn how to properly evaluate your actions. You should stop being afraid that something will suddenly go wrong, and if the chance is worth it, and the mistake does not become catastrophic, then it is imperative to act and try to achieve success. At the same time, one should not thoughtlessly take risks, and not endanger one's life and health. Any person who knows how to act and prioritize correctly realizes that he receives significantly more benefits from life. And this means that such an individual has more chances to achieve what he wants than those people who still remain in the grip of fear to take a new step.

A person needs to ask himself: “do I like the current situation”, “what do I risk if something changes”, “am I happy that I periodically miss the magnificent opportunities that are presented to me, just because I’m afraid”.

To begin deliverance, you need to admit to yourself that fear exists. If a person understands that the cause of all his troubles is the fear of failure, then this will be the first step towards overcoming it. For example, a person is afraid to give valuable advice to the boss, is afraid to speak in public and for this reason is not promoted or is afraid to get to know each other, start relationships, and therefore is lonely. Next, you need to admit to yourself that the cause of missed opportunities is not the family, not colleagues and boss, not the country itself and its instability in the economy or other reasons. Only the person himself makes life exactly the way he makes it. It is necessary to understand what exactly a person is afraid of. It is important to think carefully about this. And in connection with this, begin to act. Psychologists recommend that people do what they are afraid of and then the fear will definitely recede. Develop confidence, believe in yourself, communicate with successful people. If it is difficult to cope on your own, then self-confidence training can come to the rescue.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

Everyone knows what fear is. But sometimes he can't get over it. Sometimes the fear of failure makes you refuse profitable business. That's why it's worth fighting.

All people in life have especially big successes, but everyone also experiences falls, when all things are completely out of control and go out of hand badly. Often the result of these many problems is an acquired fear of failure. It can also be attributed to those fears that interfere with development. Fear of failure takes on the following pronounced external forms:

• refusal: a person ceases to participate in complex projects, closes in his own comfort zone and strives with all his might not to violate it. Of course, this is done in order to avoid failure.
• hardening: afraid of being defeated, a person stops any actions and attempts on the way to the goal. He ceases to develop and loses any desire in life. It often happens that a person, fearing failure, delays the execution of instructions and undermines the future success of himself.
• low self-esteem: a person constantly claims that he doesn’t know enough and can’t do anything. More precisely, the following can be said about this: even if a person does not understand something, he does not seek to understand it and gives up.
• desire to be the best with all of the above, perfectionism can manifest itself, which sometimes even justifies inaction. After all, a person strives for an ideal result and can devote a lot of time to preparation, but never take action.

All these factors, if they are very pronounced and present in one person, can indicate problems and a pronounced fear of failure. Perhaps he is not included in the 10 most common fears, but it does not lose its significance from this. Of course, awareness is only a small but important part of the process of getting rid of psychological imbalances in a person. And to combat them, it is equally important to find the cause of fear.

Causes of Fear of Failure

From childhood, each of us realizes that praise is pleasant and good. In some life periods it is especially necessary. For example, in childhood, parents can react very sharply to some mistakes of the child, and as a result, this will be saddened in his head. Very closely related to it is the fear caused by the approval of society. After all, we are all in the circle of some kind of company of people. A person may want to be better than others and, of course, is afraid of being ridiculed and losing authority in front of comrades, colleagues or in the eyes of the family. Especially often such fears arise in adolescence. It is during this period that awareness and familiarization with the circle of their peers takes place. Therefore, if a teenager is ridiculed by the society of his peers, he may well expect his next and usually imaginary failure with fear.

How to deal with the fear of failure and become more confident

You probably remember your first failure. Think about it: what made you fail? Have you taken on too much responsibility? Sometimes external factors are the cause of problems, and not some of your shortcomings.

One of the obstacles is the unknown. No one ever knows what lies ahead. But this problem is quite solvable: there is a lot of information and it is everywhere. Are you afraid to give a speech for the first time, to master new job responsibilities, to start relationships? Use the Internet, find out through those who have experienced this in some other way - there are a lot of resources for obtaining information. The main thing is to remember them in time.

Think from beginning to end what and how you will do. Imagine the positive outcome you will achieve. Also, for fidelity and accuracy, draw up an additional plan that you will adhere to in emergency situations. Be prepared for the fact that there will be losses anyway. But it is much worse not to take a risk in time and miss a good opportunity.

So the most important thing is to get started. Waiting only reinforces fear, so the more determinedly you take it on, the easier it will be for you. Sometimes you need to learn how to manage your feelings and emotionsto come to success. Good luck, and don't forget to press the buttons and

A phobia is a phenomenon common to almost every person. One of the most common fears is the fear of facing failure. This is a destructive variety, because it is often after failure that a period of success comes. Many famous businessmen and wealthy people claim that they have been plagued by failure throughout their careers, but only because of their willpower and the desire to move forward have they achieved what they have today. That is why to achieve success in the future, you need to know how to overcome the fear of failure.

Fear of failure is a common phobia

Rethink your failure

No matter how absurd it may sound, but most often the fear of failure is observed in men. They are used to the fact that the well-being of the family depends on them, so even the slightest loss causes them to panic.

In order to quickly get rid of this problem, it is necessary to consider failure as an experience from which to learn.

Failure is an integral part of any business. Only they are able to train a person to act quickly in critical situations and adapt to favorable and not very working conditions.

No entrepreneur will ever be able to dive deeper into knowledge without practical skills. Many experts say that failure is a gift of fate that only makes you better.

In order to remove the fear of doing something wrong, you should rethink your approach. Almost all people believe that if the result of an activity does not meet their expectations, then it can be considered a complete failure. This approach is called “all or nothing”. Psychologists recommend regularly working on yourself to change this absurd opinion. You should remember some facts that will encourage you to move forward and not pay attention to minor troubles in your work.

Fear of failure leads to other phobias

Numerous studies have shown that rich and successful people fail much more often than the average entrepreneur.

In order to overcome a phobia, you need to face it from time to time. You can not run from failure, because it can bring good results. The belief that failure brings positive results comes only after a real encounter with a similar situation.

To deal with the fear of failure, take your time. Usually they encounter it in cases where they are in a hurry to get everything at once. Still not really studying the specifics of the business, the entrepreneur is growing rapidly, after which it falls sharply. Such a strategy can indeed cause a phobia. That is why experts recommend slowly but surely moving towards your goal and not trying to attract success as quickly as possible.

Fear of making a mistake again can be caused by constant criticism from loved ones. In this case, you need to either protect yourself from them, or ignore their statements. Well, of course, you yourself must treat yourself with respect and be aware that this can happen to anyone.

Motivation for fear of failure

Work on your fear

Getting rid of a phobia is not easy. It will be possible to do this only after encountering a problem. Quite often, the fear of failure gives only a general idea of ​​our actual phobia. Often, it hides a more global problem. Only by understanding exactly what is the cause of fear, you can begin to eliminate it.

In the process of working with a phobia, you cannot personalize it and refer it only to yourself. It does not hurt to study the literature about such situations, the stories of famous people, in order to understand for sure that this is not the end of life, and people, even when faced with a similar situation, continue to strive for success and achieve it. In no case should you torment yourself and say that it was you who did not succeed, that you are a loser, etc. Such an attitude will only slow down the speed of overcoming a phobia.

Fear of failure often comes from striving for perfection. Too high demands on oneself and the impossibility of fulfilling them only exacerbate the situation. Multiple studies have shown that perfectionist scientists produce far fewer publications, because it is important for them that even the smallest details are done flawlessly.

Psychologists also say that a phobia disappears much faster when, even with troubles, a person maintains a good mood. You can’t dwell on failures and put an end to your career and life in general. Think positive. So you can attract good luck and success.

Quote for those who have a fear of failure

Any failure should not become a barrier to learning something new.

Continuous development is the key to future success. The desire to grow will lead you to the desired result.

You can’t sit back and expect everything to work out without your efforts. Only patience and work can eliminate the possibility of problems in business and the emergence of fear of failure in general.

How to beat panic

Fear of failure in a child and in an adult is usually accompanied by panic. In order to get rid of fear as quickly as possible, you should realize that you really were in a panic. This phenomenon causes certain reactions in the body that make it difficult to focus on anything. Among these symptoms, special attention should be paid to:

• rapid heartbeat;
• difficulty breathing, feeling of lack of oxygen;
• excessive sweating;
• trembling hands;
• nausea;
• headache and dizziness.

To overcome panic, you first need to understand that there is no reason for this strange feeling. To effectively and quickly get rid of it, you need to start breathing as deeply and slowly as possible. As practice shows, in most cases, during a panic, a person breathes very quickly and abruptly. You need to learn how to control your breathing so that you can easily move to a natural rhythm.

Positive thinking in the fight against phobia

Also, it does not hurt to relax all the muscles. This condition will only speed up the process of overcoming panic, and in the future it will help get rid of the fear of failure.

Fight pessimistic thinking

In almost all cases, the fear of doing something wrong arises from the fact that we ourselves give ourselves such installations. You must recognize that you are the main critic of your performance. And until you realize this and stop escalating, the fear will not go away.

Don't exaggerate problems. Yes, it is not very pleasant, and no person will be happy if he makes a mistake. But that doesn't mean life is over. This is a new impetus for you to continue to develop, get up off your knees and start fixing the problem.

Fate throws up such situations not so that people suffer and perceive failure as a reason to give up. This is another opportunity to show your strength and courage. If you are afraid of making mistakes, and the fear of failure interferes with your active development, be sure to use all of the above recommendations.

Fear of failure is the feeling that separates you from your desires. Bad feeling, I have to admit. If not for it, then perhaps you would wake up every day with the same girl that you saw a year ago in a bar and did not dare to approach her. And all this time she does not get out of your head. Or maybe he would have become the owner of a business that he wanted to start a couple of years ago, but went down the beaten path of an office clerk. In general, while a mean male tear from memories of missed opportunities has not yet begun to flow down your cheek, we suggest that you think about how to prevent this from happening in the future.

1. Don't Think About Failure

It is not always possible to define success. This makes it even harder to define failure. What is failure for you? Failure to achieve the goal? It would seem that the answer to this question is obvious, and it is the main object of your fear and an obstacle to success.

But, instead of thinking about the essence of failure, it is better to think about what is in that invisible space between the desired and the possible. This discrepancy provides you with the information that you have to spend time processing. If you focus on the actions to achieve your goal, and not on the possible failure, then the chances of success will become much greater.

2. Distinguish between real and imagined threats

Fear is a response to two types of threats: real or imagined. The real threat is a literal risk to your health and life. An imaginary threat is hypothetical and follows an abstract scenario in your head. Well, for example, the fear of speaking in front of a large audience is an imaginary threat. But the prospect of entering a cage with a lion is a real threat. As you yourself understand, in the second case, fear is absolutely justified and natural.

The fear of failure that we face all the time and that touches on everyday problems is, by definition, based on imaginary threats. For example, the fear of meeting a girl or calling a client with a lucrative offer is unlikely to pose a threat to life. Therefore, such fear is unfounded and irrational. You need to get rid of it and understand that even if you get a refusal in some situations, you definitely won’t die from it.

3. Form a positive approach to achieving goals

There are two approaches that people use to achieve their goals. Psychologists call them the promotion approach and the prevention approach.

The promotion approach implies achieving a positive result: “I want to get a promotion”, “I want to expand my client base”, “I want to date this girl”. At the same time, the prevention approach is to avoid a negative outcome: "I don't want to lose my job", "I hope I don't get negative feedback". In the second case, the achievement of goals is associated with a more disorganized approach, low involvement in the process and high anxiety.

It is the preventive approach that creates the fear of failure that erodes your drive to make an effort. If you change it to a positive vector of achieving goals, then the fear of failure will become less significant.

4. Strive for the best result, but do not get attached to it

The more attached you are to the result that you formed during the planning stage, the more likely it is that any deviation from it will be perceived as a failure. As circumstances change, so do you or your experience. What you previously perceived as ideal may no longer seem so. But if you do not take into account life circumstances and do not change the initial attitude towards the goal, then you will become dependent on even minor discrepancies. According to research, people who are able to adjust either the approach to achieving goals or the expectations themselves have better physical and mental health.

Some goals certainly require a lot of perseverance and focus. Others, however, require openness and flexibility. Learning to override the outcome is a good way to overcome the fear of failure. You should measure your success by the amount of effort you put in to reach your goal, not by the end result.

5. Don't be afraid of the consequences

Very often, the fear of failure lies not in the difficulties that will have to be overcome in order to achieve a result, but in the possible consequences of failure. Among them, the most important for a person are a sense of shame, embarrassment, low self-esteem, uncertainty about the future, loss of social authority or disappointment of loved ones. At the same time, it is important to take into account that people estimate the psychological costs much higher than the material costs. A person who fears failure is less concerned about losing money or time than about losing respect or self-confidence.

To ease your fear of failure, identify the consequences of failure that scare you the most and assess your ability to deal with them. Instead of talking about fear and doing nothing in the hope of avoiding a negative outcome, it is better to focus on building trust in yourself in order to cope with the possible consequences.

From childhood, the fear of failure accompanies us everywhere. In childhood, the child expects to be praised for something, and if he does not wait for praise, he believes that he has failed. The same happens in adulthood.

Description of pathology

The fear of failure is indeed more often born in childhood, and as a person grows up, the fear of doing something wrong remains, and a person does not know how to overcome it.

It is not always possible to get a positive assessment of one's work or actions. Sometimes you have to listen to criticism, fail. A confident and developed person copes with criticism and failures quickly enough.

Others only increase the fear of failure by trying to avoid such actions in the future. It turns out the following: having experienced failure in some of the cases, in order to overcome his fear, a person no longer takes up this matter. It comes to the point that making coffee for him is a serious task, in which the main thing is not to fail. That is, there is a complete isolation of a person from society and a pathological fear of failure.

The fear of making mistakes is scientifically called atychiphobia. This is one of the most common phobias in the modern world. In psychology, it is customary to attribute the fear of making a mistake to the social class of fears, since the fear of making a mistake is born and changes under the influence of society.

A person who is overcome by the fear of making a mistake may completely abandon the attempt to do something, as he will consider it unsuccessful in advance. In turn, a person who is afraid to make a mistake will gradually go down the social ladder, since self-improvement and career growth scare her.

Causes of atychiphobia

Fear of embarrassment can be caused by completely different reasons. The predominant reason is the existing negative experience of a person. Because of the fear of failure, a person projects the experience of one case onto all his possible experience.

Some people have that kind of fear of failure that they don’t even want to think about the possibility of trying something and starting some kind of business. Such a stereotyped form of thinking, as it seems to a person, protects him from mistakes. In fact, it prevents any movement in his life.

Fear of failure can also arise when an activity is evaluated only by its effectiveness, without taking into account the person's own rhythms and qualities. As a result of such a one-sided assessment, a certain label is assigned to the activity - failed or achieved success. There is nothing in between these two labels.

The reasons why people are afraid to do any activity can be:

• Connection with childhood fear, when in childhood the child was severely punished for any mistakes.
• The impossibility of making mistakes in a team, ridiculing any mistake - most often the inability to overcome fear originates in a team of teenagers, at school or college.
• Many fears are also driven by social fears imposed by the environment - a person begins to fear that if he is worse than the others, he will be rejected.

Manifestations of fear

Atychiphobia is expressed in quite different ways. You can describe what is characteristic of fear in this pathology as follows:

• Self-isolation - a person is afraid to participate in any events, especially public ones, closing himself in his comfort zone.
• Self-sabotage - fearing that he will do something wrong, a person subconsciously undermines his strength and efforts.
• Immobility - in order not to do something wrong, a person decides to do absolutely nothing and not strive for anything.
• Self-doubt - fearing to make a mistake, a person assures himself that all the things he has done and the knowledge gained are worth nothing.
• Perfectionism is the desire to be the best in everything and always hold leadership positions, the desire to work only in the area in which a person is completely confident.

Physical symptoms of the disease

Fear of failure is not only a mental manifestation. This pathology is also characterized by a number of physical conditions of a person. There is a rapid heartbeat, for example, when a person seems to be approaching the collapse of his affairs. Possible pain in the heart.

Due to panic fear, it is difficult to breathe, there is a burning sensation in the chest, shortness of breath, nausea and muscle spasms. Possible diarrhea. Sometimes nervous excitability increases, while in some, on the contrary, stiffness and closeness are possible.

There is increased sweating, chills, a feeling of heat or cold. In some cases, hallucinations are possible, more often - auditory.

How to get rid of a phobia

This fear significantly reduces the quality of a person’s life, interferes with his self-development and professional activities, personal life and networking. Therefore, it is the specialist who should provide assistance in advanced cases.

• Do not be afraid to remember the moments when fear first manifested itself. It is necessary to analyze the reasons why this or that case did not take place. Even if the cause was inattention or another personal factor, you should not place too much responsibility on yourself.
• The cause of the pathology may be constant ignorance or uncertainty. To avoid this, you should have a solid theoretical base before starting any business. Then the possible risks will be significantly reduced.
• Learn to say no if you feel like you can't do something. Don't take a risk if it's not worth it.
• Soberly assess the losses that are possible if the task assigned to you is not completed. Missed opportunities sometimes become much greater losses than the feeling of fear.
• Always stock up on a backup plan. So you will have a safety net that in case of an unsuccessful course of the case, you can change it. For example, enlist the support of a friend or colleague.
• Be more decisive, any delay will only increase fear. Create a situation in which it will be impossible to retreat.
• Finally, believe that failures happen to absolutely everyone. But the most rational thing is to use them as a springboard for further start and self-improvement.

Psychologists use the methods of analysis and introspection to treat such fear, leaving the patient with a thorough examination of the reasons why he considers any enterprise a failure.

Conclusion

Fear of failure is common enough, but overcoming it doesn't take as much effort as it seems. If you conduct a deep introspection and come to terms with the idea that no one can be perfect, the problems of fear and mistakes will fade into the background. If the independent struggle was not successful, do not hesitate to contact a specialist. Otherwise, the phobia can develop into serious mental disorders and depression.