The Fear of Failure

When I ask the question, "What stops you from going after your dream?" I often get a response that is some how tied to 'fear'. This tiny, four letter word paralyzes us in a BIG way. One common thread I've seen is the fear of failure.

Why are people afraid to fail? Well, I think it's because they have a wrong view of failure. To them, failure seems like the end of the road, a mark on their record, an indication of not being or doing enough. I see failure as an opportunity to grow. I want to challenge you to do the same.

There are three things I want you to consider:

1) Failure is not comfortable, but neither is growth. Anytime you are doing something new, different, or outside of your 'normal', growth will happen. With that growth comes the potential to fail. But, if you fail, use it as fertilizer for your growth. What did you learn? How will you do things differently next time? What made it a failure? How did you measure success? These are all questions to ask yourself.

2) Failure does not define you. Often we see failure as a negative and we associate those negative feelings with other parts of our lives. A failure is just one snippet of time. It describes the outcome of something. It doesn't describe who YOU are. It just points to the fact that you want to do it differently next time. Don't let failure prevent there from being a next time. Dust yourself off and keep going.

3) Failure is proof that you tried. When God asks you to do something, He doesn't expect perfection. That's a standard we put on ourselves. But, what God does expect, is for us to be obedient and do what he has asked us to do. At the end of the day, I would rather fail at trying to obey God than not trying at all.

Whatever you are dreaming of doing, go for it! Try it! What's the worst that could happen? ... You fail? ... Well, that's not so bad. :)