How Students Can Overcome The Fear of Failure?

WHAT IS FEAR?

According to Paul Ekman, an American psychologist, “Fear arises with the threat of harm, physical, emotional, or psychological, real or imagined.”

Fear of failure is one such imagined fear which is known as “Atychiphobia”. Failure is an idea which has not yet happened but maybe because of our past experiences or future expectations we find it lingering in our minds and it gets the best of us and we start to over think and imagine the scenarios which are farfetched and likely will never happen. 

Students are most likely to develop the fear of failure because we live in a society where good grades and academic achievements are more important than a child’s mental health; people in our society compare their kids to other children which creates inferiority complex among children.

Following are the reasons a student might begin to have the fear of failure:

• Teachers forcing students to study harder than their capabilities because a teacher is judged upon the results of their students.

• Parents pressurizing their children to do better than other children.

• Parents forcing their children to choose subjects they have no interest in just because it might be better for them to brag in front of people.

• Parents deciding career goals for their children without caring about their interests.

• Society (teachers, fellow students, other relatives) mocking the child because of how he/she performed academically.

• Burdening academic writings, projects, assignments, deadlines given by academic institutions

All of these things can develop the fear of failure in a student. If this fear of failure is left ignored it can cause serious issues for a student, fear of failure might only be a beginning or a trigger for a bigger psychological problem. This can lead an emotionally unstable student to commit suicide as well. According to American College Health Association (ACHA), suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students.

Overcoming the Fear of Failure:

Know yourself:

Knowing one’s self is the most important part of overcoming fear or any other negative emotion. Knowing your capabilities and what you can do and how you can’t do it will give you an upper hand in any situation. Test yourself in order to know yourself, give yourself challenges to overcome and if you can’t succeed, then you’ll know your limits.

Accept yourself:

Only knowing your capabilities won’t make a lot of difference, knowing is the beginning but actually being comfortable with yourself and your limits, is what will create a difference.  If you are OK with, who you are and what you are good at, then you, are one step closer to overcoming your fear of failure.

Accept your failures:

Failure is not the problem, being stuck on that fact that you failed is the problem. There is no one in this world who hasn’t failed; everyone has tasted failure once in their life. Failure is a driving force to do better if perceived in the right way. Accepting your failures will lighten the burden and will allow you to focus on why you failed which will help you succeed later on.

Learn from your failures:

When you will focus on why you failed, you will start to notice the things you did wrong, giving you a chance to not make the same mistakes. If you think you failed your exam because you couldn’t understand a certain topic then you should focus on getting help from someone or watch a video that explains the topic this time. If you think you couldn’t submit your academic projects on time because of other responsibilities then you should go for thesis writing services in Pakistan to help you with your assignments next time.

Set your goals:

Setting goals will help you create a road map of where you want to go in life and what you want to do. Without setting goals you cannot reach your desired destination.

Fear of failure in students is a mix of parental and educational pressures. You need support from the people around you to overcome it but we don’t always get it, that’s why it’s important for students to develop self confidence to follow the above steps. One step at a time can make a difference in your life.