If you have had to face or are currently facing a fear of failure, you are not alone. In fact, according to articles published by the Harvard Review and Forbes, it is a challenge many business owners face. In these articles, there are actionable steps to overcoming this fear you can take:
Redefine what failure looks like for you
Set realistic goals. Women are still expected to care for the house or family and want to do well at work. The goal is complete perfection and that is just not achievable. Instead, it creates anxiety and unneeded stress.
A common situational example many businesswomen find themselves in is trying to sign a contract with a new client. Going into that meeting, the thought of failure is likely: not walking out with a signed agreement. To reframe failure, consider it to be that you couldn’t answer ANY questions the customer had? A quote from Oprah re-frames failure well, “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”
Set Approach Goals vs. Avoidance Goals
According to positive psychology news, Approach Goals are those with positive outcomes we work toward. Avoidance Goals are those with negative outcomes that we work to avoid. Here are some examples:
Approach Goals
- To be more efficient
- To talk to more than 3 people at a networking event
- To make a profit from the next marketing campaign
Avoidance Goals
- To stop being so unorganized
- To stop being so shy at networking events
- Don’t miss profit goal after next marketing campaign
Uncover the Reality
If your company deployed a marketing campaign and it ended up bringing in $7,000, your focus might be on the deficit of $3,000 instead of the revenue of $2,000. Instead of talking yourself down, look at everything you and your team did right. What is the belief you have about the situation and what happened? According to Vanessa Loder, a women’s leadership expert, you should ask yourself 3 valuable questions:
1. What did I learn from this situation?
2. How can I grow from this experience?
3. What are three positive things about this situation?
Where else can I find information and resources as a business owner?
You can download our Complete Resource Guide for Women Business Owners. It is available at:
https://reliantfunding.com/women-business-owner-resource-guide/
