Taking the Plunge: How to Get Over Your Fear of Failure

There’s an aspiring adventurer, entrepreneur or novelist in all of us. Yet when it comes to chasing after our goals and dreams we’re often too scared to take the leap. Fear holds us back. It destroys dreams. It kills productivity and, in all honesty, sucks the fun out of life.

Before embarking on life as a freelancer and starting Nudge, I had a huge fear of leaving my 9–5 job. Whenever a chance to follow my dream would present itself, I wouldn’t take it.

Fear isn’t something you can overcome by simply working harder. You can’t solve it by spending money. And you certainly can’t avoid it by delegating. So, I wanted to dig a little deeper and understand why we let fear hold us back and share with you how we can overcome it.

Why Do We Fear Failure?

It’s quite often not failing itself that strikes fear into us, it’s the other negative outcomes that come along with failing like a lack of income or potential embarrassment.

A few years back, whenever I’d so much as contemplate leaving the safety of my job I’d instantly make excuses and talk myself out of it . Continue reading.

Originally posted on Lifehacker.