# Afraid of Failure By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-08-29 Many people are afraid of failure. On the surface, this isn’t all that interesting. Of course, people would rather succeed than fail. What is potentially interesting, if not also tragic, is that a fear of failure can be a leading cause of failure. Rather than a fear of failure leading to success, it produces what one fears and wishes to avoid. This is observable in school, work, or anytime a person has an assignment. In such cases, one misses the deadline to pursue perfection. One doesn’t like this or that aspect of the report, so one takes time to improve it. One has meeting after meeting to confirm one’s understanding. For all this delay and refinement, the product never materializes. Often, a solid, initial submission on time would be better than what is eventually submitted late. The feedback cycle exists for a reason. Chances are good that one will edit the submission regardless of what is submitted in school or at work. So, no matter how long an individual attempts to perfect the submission, it will still receive some edits. Feedback is part of how one learns. It is the job of instructors and managers to provide feedback. Students and employees are working to produce work, enabling the feedback cycle. Fear of failure often breaks the feedback cycle and changes the focus from work to the individual. This is often more awkward. The first step to success is often overcoming the fear of failure. #### Related Items [[Failure]] [[Performance]] [[Feedback]] [[Work]] [[Success]]