What's Holding You Back? Fear Number One

What’s Holding You Back? Could it be Your Fear? 

Fear Number One…

So, you think you have a dream, or a goal, you’ve mulled over it and you feel that you want it. What have you done about it? If your answer is, “Not a lot so far,” let’s find out why.

Maybe you have doubts or concerns. Maybe you are a bit worried or anxious about taking those first, or those next steps to achieve your goals. Are you procrastinating or hesitating to do certain things or are you simply not taking action to get what you dream for?

You know, it all boils down to one thing - Fear. There is some thought, feeling, belief, or possible outcome that makes you uncomfortable and you have been avoiding thinking about the things that make you feel that way.

Your fear or fears, can control your life if you let them and can keep you from reaching your full potential. They can stop you from creating that better life for yourself and your family.


Rational fears that help keep you safe from harm such as fear of poisonous snakes or bushfires or violent situations are not the fears I mean here. The Fears I mean are those inside your head, the ones preventing you from creating the life you want to live.

Before discussing the Fears that are holding you back, let’s make sure that what you want, that dream, your goal, (or even your B.H.A.G. – Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is what you REALLY want for yourself. If you want something because of someone else then maybe you’re not taking action because you don’t REALLY want it at all.

Think about it. What do you want? Now, do you want it because your manager wants it? Or do your shareholders want it? Or your parents? Or your partner? Or your peers? Or your children? Or do you want it because it’s what ‘everyone is supposed to want for themselves?’ Specifically who is ‘Everyone’ anyway?

What do YOU want for yourself? You are, after all, the most important person in your life. If you don’t take care of yourself you won’t be able to take care of anyone else the best way you could.

If you have now decided that your dream, your goal is for YOU, let’s discuss what might be holding you back from achieving it.

In my next few posts, I’m going to talk about The Five Fears.
Today, let’s discuss Fear Number 1.

Fear of Failure

This may seem obvious to you because it’s so common however it certainly will keep you from reaching your goals. The Fear of Failing will prevent you from taking Action. You won't speak with your boss about that overdue raise or you won’t apply for that new job that sounds so perfect for you or offer to take on additional responsibility because you might fail. You tell yourself that it's not a good time right now or when ‘something’ happens then it will be the right time.

Think about this:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE. ONLY FEEDBACK

If things don’t go the way you hope the first time, are you going to give up? No! Learn from it, reassess the situation, what could you have done better? What could you have done differently to achieve a different outcome?

If things don’t go the way you hope the first time what would be the worst-case scenario? If that happens, decide how you will handle it. Once you have a plan for the worst possible thing that can happen, go for it! You are prepared. If you are well prepared, you will learn and when it is time, you will succeed.

Let’s end this post with a wonderful quote:

One must be a god to be able to tell successes from failures without making a mistake. ~Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

What are your thoughts? What works for you when it comes to overcoming the Fear of Failure?