Overcoming Fear of Failure (Part 4)

Proverbs 6:6-8 says: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

Our quote for today is from Tony Robbins. He said: "I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy."

In our last episode, we talked about how we can overcome the ‘vague dread’ of failure by acknowledging our fear and then acting as if it didn’t exist. Today, we will expand on this topic.

Of course it's not easy to act as though your fear did not exist. But this technique works. People who require an easy solution to every problem might as well resign themselves to a life of disappointment.

The point is that while this technique of "acting as if" is not always easy, nevertheless anyone can use it. And when you do, it not only enables you to get the task done, but it builds your ego. You develop a self­-image of boldness, instead of thinking of yourself as a victim of an invincible enemy called fear.

Of course, the technique can be used to develop other traits as well as self-confidence. William James and Friedrich Nietzsche both commented at length on the useful role this process can play in life, actually changing the realities of our existence. Thus, William James noted that whether we believe God exists or not, "We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full of special designs; lay plans as if we were to be immortal; and we find then that these words do make a genuine difference in our moral life."

...