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There’s a great article of the Successful Soul blog about the fear of failure. Or rather about how to overcome the fear of failure.

Fear can affect people in many ways and it can hold people back in their lives. For sure, fear is sometimes justified, especially at times when we may be in mortal danger. In many ways in our modern society, however, fear is often unjustified and is a response to an imagined danger or threat. Often things can get blown out of proportion and it is then that they can seriously affect us.

Teachers will be well aware of the fear of failure especially among school children. Almost all teachers will have come across children who fear doing something ew or simply refuse to try. Often this is because they have failed at it in the past or, indeed, have failed at some completely unrelated task and fear the effect of failing once more. there are even children who will avoid attempting to do somethiung new by constantly working at something they can do, so that they do not have the time or are less likley to be asked to do something new. This sort of behavior is known as perseveration and is a big problem to be overcome in getting children to learn.

Fear of failure is not something that just affects children, it can affect adults too. A fear of failure can be linked to a lack of self confidence and low self esteem. People believe they cannot do something and therefore avoid having to face occasions when they might be called upon to do it.

Perhaps one of the pioneer writers on the fear of failure, how it affects are lives and how it can be overcome, is Susan Jeffers in her classic book “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway“. For me, this was one of the works that first introduced me into the world of self help, counseling and life coaching. I would seriously recommend it to anyway who feels that fear of failing is holding them back in life.

So do please have a look at the article, it is well written and it describes some of the symptons associated with a fear of failing. It also gives you tips to help you tackle your fear.

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