The word ‘fear’ is a relative term and it entirely depends on how a person interprets it, fear can be broadly classified into a number of categories. Generally, fear is considered as a negative aspect or a weakness of a person, but an optimistic person uses his fear to overcome the challenges in life and pushes himself to achieve new boundaries. Since, we are strictly talking about the factor of ‘fear’ to succeed in life, we will realise that in some cases, if not in most, it does play an important part to stretch our boundaries to achieve the impossible. Having said that, if a person fears failure and is not able to figure out the reasons for it then it could be really shattering for him. We look at the positive and negative impact it can have on a person.
Fear of failure
The fear of failure confines a person from experimenting with new ideas and refraining from taking a new approach in life. The fear of failure is generally found in people who don’t like to take any risks or who have a negative approach in life. The fear of failure could literally destroy the confidence of the person and if the fear isn’t genuine then it could turn into a paranoia which could lead him nowhere in life. There is another side to the coin as well, there are people who accept that failure is a reality and sometimes, if not most of the time, one is bound to fail. It is important to learn from your failures and do not repeat the same mistakes, make your failures the pillar of your success and we have so many entrepreneurs and businessmen who failed to make a mark initially, but they continued to strive and eventually made it big in life.
Fear of not living up to expectations
If a person sets a very high standard for himself and fears of not living up to his expectation then it could work wonders for him as he will continue to push himself and may end up touching new heights. This is applicable when a person knows whether his fears were genuine or not and once he is able to figure it out he would find ways to overcome his fears. On the contrary, there are folks who have too much or unrealistic expectations from themselves, this approach tends to have a negative impact and it reflects on his business as well. The imperative thing is to have realistic expectations which have been previously achieved or are achievable.
Fear of rejection
Most people confuse fear of rejection with fear of failure, though it may sound a little similar but in reality there are marked differences between the two. Fear of failure is related to personal setback and losing confidence while fear of rejection is to do with being looked down upon by family and friends and not being accepted by them. People who believe in acquiring or retaining a high social status fear the loss of respect and take it too personally. Such fears are irrational and tend to cause more harm as it may lead you to take steps that you would have avoided in normal circumstances. The wise thing is to keep a cool head and don’t over judge or be critical of yourself. If you keep a positive mind the same fear could help you take a new approach to life and pay rich dividends at the end.
Conclusion
There are many great quotes and proverbs on ‘fear’, some consider it to be very important to succeed in life and some consider it to be an obstacle to move on in life. The famous American Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Always do what you are afraid to do”, which means once you act on your fears, you always have a chance to do something new. Some also believe that fear is just a state of mind and thinking over it doesn’t help, but acting on it. We have witnessed many great men over the years who were able to achieve the unthinkable just because the fear of failure pushed them to do things that most don’t do. Everyone fears something or the other, there are people who use fear to motivate themselves and some just fail to overcome them and just prefer to give up. The debate would go on forever but for some, it would be safe to say that fear does play an important role to succeed in life.
