Failure Expectation Syndrome: Why Fear of Failure Doesn't Go Away, Even When Risks Are Factored In

Every person who strives for success sooner or later faces the fear of failure. This is a natural reaction of the psyche to increased responsibility, new circumstances and reflections on the potential consequences of failure. Someone copes with their emotions and moves forward, and for someone this fear becomes an insurmountable obstacle. Even with careful planning, consideration of all risks, and maximum effort, anxiety and doubt may not recede. Let's figure out why this happens.

Inconsistency of the result with expectations

Your expectations are often shaped by idealized notions of success. You see the achievements of others, remember your past results, believe in what other people predict for you. The problem is that reality rarely lives up to these internal standards.

When the result does not match expectations, cognitive dissonance occurs. You may start to doubt your abilities and capabilities, even if objectively your work is done well and impresses others. The discrepancy between your expectations and reality is perceived as failure, although in fact there is no failure.

Fear of criticism and condemnation

Fear of receiving a negative evaluation, unwillingness to hear criticism of your work, worries about how people will treat you after failure – all this can greatly affect your psychological state. A negative social assessment is often perceived more painfully than the fact of failure itself.

In this case, even with calculated risks, anxiety does not recede into the background. The fear of criticism is especially strong if you have already had failures that have become a reason for ridicule. You are highly likely to want to avoid the recurrence of traumatic situations and allow fear to paralyze you.

Exaggerating the possible consequences

Often you can exaggerate the scale of the disaster that failure can entail. Negative scenarios are drawn in the imagination: how a career collapses due to a mistake, reputation deteriorates, important relationships are broken. At the same time, you rarely think about the real likelihood of such consequences.

You forget that failure is a stage that can be used for further growth and development. Regular analysis of your fears and their rationalization help to keep emotions under control and see the situation more objectively.

Fear of wasting resources

Any investment is a risk. It doesn't matter what exactly you direct them to, no one can guarantee a certain result. The fear of losing invested resources becomes a strong deterrent.

You imagine the amount of time, energy, and money you'll have to spend, and you start to question the decision. Even with calculated risks, there is still a chance that efforts will be in vain. This reduces motivation and forces you to double-check the data several times to get rid of doubts.

Loss of control over the situation

If you are used to controlling your life, situations when something does not go according to plan are perceived especially painfully. The fear of losing control of a project, circumstances, or your own emotions can be so strong that you begin to doubt your decision.

Uncertainty is frightening and makes you avoid risk, even if it can lead to the desired result. Despite the prospective forecasts, you continue to worry that the situation will get out of control and end in failure.

Fear of not being able to cope with responsibility

Ambitious and ambitious goals imply that you have a huge responsibility. The fear of not being able to cope with it, of making a mistake, of letting yourself and other people down has a strong effect on your morale. Constant reflection strengthens doubts about one's own abilities.

It seems to you that you are not yet ready for this level of responsibility. This fear also reinforces perfectionism: you strive for the perfect result, forgetting that mistakes are an inevitable part of progress. You forget that there are no people who have expert knowledge in everything.

Fear of losing self-confidence

Self-confidence takes a long time to form and, unfortunately, is easily destroyed due to negative experiences and criticism. No wonder you're afraid of losing what you've been working on for years.

Even with a thorough analysis of the situation, a plan drawn up and the risks assessed, it is difficult to decide on active action. You worry that if you fail, you will no longer be able to believe in yourself. The fear of failure becomes especially powerful if you have already lost confidence in your abilities due to a mistake in the past.

Distrust of the team

If your plan includes teamwork, the end result depends on more than just your efforts. Some of the tasks will have to be entrusted to other professionals, because you do not have the necessary knowledge and skills or do not have time to do the entire volume of tasks.

You may doubt the competence of the people you have attracted to participate, be afraid that they do not share your responsibility, do not make enough effort. The realization that you cannot control someone else's work greatly increases the fear of failure.

Fear of missing the last chance

You can believe that this is a unique opportunity, the last chance to succeed. And if you do something wrong, you will never be able to realize your dreams and goals again.

This fear paralyzes, prevents you from making decisions, even if you have all the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve results. Because of anxiety and worries, you may prefer simpler goals. But even when working on them, you will choose familiar strategies, avoiding everything new and unknown.

Understanding the mechanisms of the fear of failure is the first step to overcoming it. When you are aware of what exactly causes your anxiety, it becomes possible to work with specific causes, and not with abstract anxiety. Fear is a signal, but not a sentence. It shows you what is really important to you and helps you assess the risks. The main thing is not to allow him to become the only adviser when making decisions.