Is fear of failure a reason for procrastination?

by Maddie

I am putting off doing something that I am scared of. How can I deal with this fear of failure?

Kell's reply
Hi Maddie,
A fear of failure can be a cause
of procrastination

Often a fear of failure arises because of undue pressure from yourself or from others to do a good job.

This can often create high expectations.

There are a few strategies to deal with a fear of failure. These include:

  1. confront your fear
  2. Confront your fear in bite-sized portions. Use this procrastination template to break your tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks.
  3. Persist and don't take it personally. According to Martin Seligman (the father of positive psychology) resilient people don't take failure personally. Failure is about outcomes - not personality.
  4. Be objective about your worst case scenario.
  5. Visualize success. Some of the best athletes and performers in different disciplines harness the power of imagery. You can harness the power of imagery by constructing a mental image of what success looks like for you.

Here is an article I wrote about how to overcome a fear of failure and get things done.

Procrastination, whatever it's cause, can be a tough habit to crack. Often a structured procrastination program is a useful strategy to deal with procrastination.

I hope that this helps,

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