Write Away Your Fear of Failure

I’m doing my talk on self confidence for two different companies this month.  Self confidence is by far my most requested talk.  I tell my audiences that they can become more self confident by doing three things…

• Choosing to be optimistic, believing that things will work out.
• Surrounding themselves with positive people — and jettisoning the negative people in their lives.
• Facing their fears and acting.

The other day, I came across an interesting article on how to faced your fears.

http://www.liveinthegrey.com/fight-your-fear-of-failure/

I always tell members of my career mentoring site that procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  I suggest that when they find themselves procrastinating on an important task, they should ask themselves what scares them about it.

Often, merely identifying what you fear — usually it’s failure or rejection — is enough to get you back on track and moving ahead,  But, as the article points out, sometimes you might need a little extra push to get past your fear.  In this case, writing about it can help.

As I see it, writing about the fears and anxieties that are resulting in your procrastination has two benefits.  First, the simple act of getting your fears down on paper you free up your mind to get to work on the task.  Second, you build momentum.  The law of inertia states that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  By writing about your fears — even though you are not directly working on the project on which you are procrastinating, you are getting into motion.  This motion will carry over and help you move forward on the task at hand.

So the next time you find yourself procrastinating, do two things.  First figure out what scares you about the situation.  Then, write about your fears.  Try this, it works.

Your career mentor,

Bud

PS: I write this blog to help people create the life and career success they want and deserve. Now I’m going one step further. I’ve created a membership site in which I’ve pulled together my best thoughts on success. And, as a reader of this blog, you can become a member for free. Just go to www.BudBilanich.com/join to claim your free membership. You’ll be joining a vibrant and growing community of success minded professionals. I hope to see you there.