7 Things People Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You’re Afraid Of Failure

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1. You (knowingly or unknowingly) self-sabotage chances at success.

It’s weird, given how super counterproductive this seems if you’re harboring a fear of failure. But you know the thing about success? If you achieve it, you’re bound to fail too. It’s a symbiotic relationship. But if you don’t succeed? Then you can’t fail. So instead, you end up just…floating. Floating might not be exciting, but to you, it feels safer.

2. You do only the bare minimum.

You are not giving 110% because giving 110% would mean vulnerability. It means you might screw up. It means someone might discover your weak spots. When people try, and I mean really try, they open themselves up to critique. By only doing what’s being asked, no one will really expect too much from you.

3. You frequently turn down opportunities.

People don’t understand why you’ve passed on some seemingly awesome opportunities – things others would kill for. What people don’t understand is just how terrifying a change in routine is for you. You’d rather stick to what you know because you can predict the outcome.

4. You have a hard time completing projects.

You have a habit of starting a thousand things and abandoning them before ever actually finishing. While something being incomplete could be seen as failure to some, you just push it aside as something you’ll get back to eventually.

5. You often seem disconnected or like you’re stuck in your own head.

You’ve been told you can be flighty or like you’re just not super invested in things. Be it in relationships, your job, or even self-proclaimed passions. You rationalize this behavior by convincing yourself by not becoming too attached, then (what you fear is inevitable) failure won’t hurt quite as badly.

6. But strangely enough, you get very wrapped up in what other people think of you.

If you’re working to stay detached and uninvested, one might assume you won’t care what people think about you. Wrong. It’s a huge source of anxiety and distress. What are people saying about you? Do they think you’re going to screw up? Are you a screw up? Do they know you know you’re a screw up? You can drive yourself crazy simply speculating what others might think.

7. You have trouble adjusting to change.

Obviously this doesn’t just apply to people who fear failure — change is something that can throw a lot of people for a loop. But it takes you extra long to feel balanced again. The unknown makes you very unsteady and want to hide until things are back to normal.