What do you do if you're afraid of failure and hesitant to take career risks?

If you are grappling with a fear of failure and hesitant to take career risks, understand these feelings rather than push against them. Sometimes, fear can indicate that you may not feel fully prepared for a particular step, and that's okay. Everyone has personal worries and uncertainties stemming from experiences. Just try to work on them. Here are some things that could help: Understand what aspects of failure you're afraid of. Is it the thought of not meeting expectations, financial implications, etc.? Set Small, Achievable Goals Talk to mentors or friends who have taken similar risks. It's okay to have fears, and failure is a natural part of personal and professional growth.

Near me, fear is passive name of failure; those who have fear of failure, don't tend to win and those consider it a part of success, never fail. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have any fear because both leaders and entrepreneurs are never afraid of it. Anyhow, in under developed and developing countries, political instability and abruptly changing policies are somehow the fear factor for businessmen. However, these kinds of fears are easily seen in market dynamics. All the participants have to find out their pathway from given situations. Although those are beyond control of business community, yet being positive and proactive, they understand the challenges as quickly as possible and find it's rebuttal and be triumphant.

Change of mindset and it’s not a one click thing. It happens over time. Positive point is that you have acknowledged an issue. Risk taking is becoming unavoidable. Start with small steps each day and do something little out of your comfort zone. Gradually, increase your experience and risk taking capacity.

First of all, there is nothing to be fearful about. Just know that every successful leader in this world has gone through challenging situations, and never achieved what they aspired to in the very first attempt. When you take an action, you will either get the results you were expecting, or learn something new that will help to refine your next action.

Recognise the fact that you are afraid. Accept that you are afraid. Start spending more time in the company of those who you see as not afraid. The more you talk about brave actions of the risk takers, the more comfortable you will become. Start playing an individual sport & get a coach to help you progress. Start getting used to feedback (both positive and negative) on a daily basis. Reduce asking for approvals or expecting others to validate your gut feel. Don’t expect appraisals to be fair. Stop expecting a raise after appraisals. Develop a secondary source of income to cover at least 50% of your monthly expenses. The above suggestions are based on a personal experience to transform the corporate mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset.

You should surround yourselves with good mentors who can help you think through your career situation, and come up with realistic goals. Such mentors can also hold you accountable and be your thinking partners to help you achieve those goals.

I'm a firm believer in having top-notch mentors around, ones who can help you navigate through your career path and set some solid, achievable targets. They're not just there for a chinwag; they're the kind of folks who can keep you in check, making sure you're not just dreaming big but also acting on it. Having someone in your corner who's been there, done that, and can serve as your sounding board is invaluable. They push you to refine your ideas and turn them into something doable. It's like having a co-pilot in your career journey, someone who's got your back and encourages you to reach those milestones.

You are going to transform your fears into potential. One of the factors that can cause fear and anguish about the future is not knowing which direction to go. A Mentor can help you with that guidance. So, I suggest you organize your feelings on a piece of paper. Start with your “why” and emotions before writing down your key goals. Your “why” will be your lifeline and writing it down will give you clarity with sustainably. Circumstances can change, but see, your purpose will be there. Your "Why" is a Lighthouse for your career and personal life.

80% is the new 100%..You have understand that all the goals even if achievable enshrine a doubt of failure in it. The main objective is to start the efforts towards achieving it with some caution and preparedness for unforseen. This enable is to be flexible and more accepting to change we may have to undergo in our approach. The main objective should be improvement from the previous state of affairs, with similar resources input. This would definitely help us move forward in more realistic manner and we learn in the process and course correct. This approach will make the goal more close to big picture, but executed in very liberal fashion.

High risk is associated with high returns in terms of career growth. Not taking risk is as good as staying in the comfort zone and some point of stage your role may well become reduntant with all the technology stuff around. Explore the career growth with challenges your potential and go for the kill

We come alone to this world and also leave this world alone. But you don't have to build your career and life alone. Surround yourself with people who care for your well-being and be open to discussing your goals, challenges and doubts. Build your personal board of mentors and seek regular feedback.

Mentors can serve many purposes. One of them is providing guidance and support to encourage Mentees to raise the bar of their skills keeping high performance in mind. Developing a growth mindset is essential if you need to receive open and honest feedback from your Mentor or your peers. Open communication without judgment of feelings and thoughts is a good starter to create a safe workplace and relationship environment. Feel free to inbox me to learn how I can support your career with my insights. Remember: we are together on the journey!??

You might enter this world solo and leave it the same way, but that doesn't mean you have to muddle through everything in between on your own. It's crucial to have a circle of folks around you who genuinely give a toss about how you're doing. Talking about what you're aiming for, the hurdles you're facing, and even those niggling doubts can make a world of difference. I'm all for putting together your own squad of mentors - kind of like a personal advisory board. Regularly touching base with them for a bit of guidance can really keep you on the right track.

Fear of failure can be paralyzing, but it's essential to overcome it to grow. Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and improve. Take calculated risks; they often lead to valuable lessons and personal growth. Remember, setbacks are stepping stones to success. Trust in your abilities and have the courage to pursue your aspirations.

Embracing failure as an opportunity is fundamental in personal and professional growth. Failure provides us with valuable lessons and insights that we wouldn't gain otherwise. It's through failure that we learn resilience, adaptability, and perseverance. Instead of fearing failure, we should see it as a stepping stone toward success. By reframing failure as a chance to learn and grow, individuals can approach challenges with a more positive mindset, which ultimately leads to greater achievements and fulfillment.

Cuando una decisión o un cambio de carrera que genera miedo es inevitable, siempre encontré muy útil preguntarme "?qué es lo peor que puede pasar?". Esa evaluación de "peor escenario" a menudo nos ayuda a desdramatizar y bajar la ansiedad. O bien porque el peor resultado posible no es tan dramático o porque la imagen que tenemos de ese escenario negativo es tan exagerada y fuera de proporción, que al hacerla consciente pierde su poder de asustarnos.

IMHO Handling failure is way more important than handling success. While both success and failure are very subjective terms with different meaning & measurement scale at individual level, a human mind can be trained to take risks over a period of time. While academically goal , target and success can be defined differently.. human mind can be trained to feel happy with achieving smaller goals and targets over a long journey. More the sense of happiness of achievement of these goals, more the ability take achieve more and take greater risks will develop inside the mind. So, let's try to break down success in smaller goals and learn to enjoy achievements - no matter however big or small.

Start small The best way to overcome fear of failure is to succeed, recognize that success, and realize that you *can* succeed. Ask your manager for something a little outside your normal comfort zone. Try something new in your personal life. Establish what you think success looks like and go for it. Once you've done that, build on it. Think about the things you had to do differently, and use those behaviors on the next challenge.

Michael Jordan, the all-time basketball legend once said 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.' Life is about thinking big and trying. No one became successful by playing it safe all the time. One must take risks as a way to expand your possibilities. If your muscle hurts a bit when you exercise, that means the muscle is stretching and growing.

I successfully transitioned from a sales career to product management several years ago. I leveraged my sales expertise to understand the market, but with the added thrill of guiding a product's journey from conception to launch. I'm now at the very heart of my business, influencing strategy and driving growth. This change reignited my passion for work, offered a fresh challenge and the opportunity to contribute to my company's success in new ways. These examples, are specific and personal to me... and that's my point: know what you want from life and from your career. It's *never* too late to try something new. Go for it.

Start simple. Set a goal. It can be to take 1 small risk a week. Speak up in a meeting you usually would not. Send a suggestion to your PO about something. Anything. Once you do that consistently your risk tolerance will start to increase. With it, increase the level of the risk. Stop an executive in a corridor and chat with them about something. Take the lead on something you are good at but have been too shy to reveal. Anything. Step by step you will increase your risk tolerance and with it you may notice that most risks are not that risky...

If you're afraid of failure and hesitant about taking career risks, consider the worst that could happen, like failing or facing criticism, and recognize these as part of the learning process. Assess and prepare for risks, gain knowledge, and develop a backup plan to increase your confidence. Embrace a growth mindset, start with small steps, and lean on a support network. Reflect on past successes and build emotional resilience through stress management and mental exercises. By doing so, you can approach career risks with a more confident and resilient mindset, seeing challenges as opportunities for growth.

Whatever we seek is on the other Side of Fear so don’t stay behind just because you afraid just move forward in the dark you will see the light