Steps to Reduce Fear of Failure and Social Anxiety

Steps to Reduce Fear of Failure and Social Anxiety

Failure can be scary. You spend a great deal of time and effort on a project only to come up short. This can be additionally fueled by social anxiety and experiencing failure in a social setting.

Unfortunately, being constantly bogged down by fear can interfere with your willingness to achieve those big goals or succeed in your life. Being afraid of negative outcomes is no way to go through life.

Here are steps you can take to overcome this fear. 

Redefine What Failure is to You

The term failure carries a very negatively charged perception in our society. We are conditioned to believe that failure should be avoided at all costs.

Rather than travel down that rabbit hole, consider failure to be an opportunity for your personal growth. Failure shouldn’t be something you avoid but rather something that you can learn from when it inevitably happens.

Redefine failure as being a stepping stone to achieving your goal rather than a hard endpoint to your storyline. With each failure, you can learn more about yourself, how your anxiety becomes triggered, what coping strategies work, and how you can most effectively manage your anxiety.

Develop a Growth Mindset

In shifting your perspective, you can relieve yourself of some of the burden and shame that automatically comes with instances of failure. Be open to learning more about yourself and using occurrences of failure as part of your lifetime development. 

When you’re focused on your growth, it will be harder for that fear and anxiety to overcome you and derail your progress. 

Focus on the Things Within Your Control

Anxiety is often fueled by racing thoughts about past matters that you no longer have the ability to change or future matters that haven’t even happened yet. Neither of these things is within your control.

While this may seem easier said than done to start, try shifting your focus to the things that you do actually have control over. This shift can be a powerful means for reducing fear and navigating challenges that arise in social settings. When you have control over a situation, it minimizes areas for anxiety to creep in. 

Establish a Plan

If you’re prone to experiencing social anxiety, having a plan can be helpful for you to maintain control over your situation. Think of the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario. What would your actions be in either of these instances?

Thinking through these outcomes and having a plan of action ahead of time can prepare you for such challenges. In the event something goes awry, you won’t be caught off guard and can respond accordingly. 

Gradual Exposure

You’ve probably heard that facing fears is the only way to conquer them. There is some truth to that, especially where social anxiety and fear of failure are concerned. One way to effectively start facing your fear is through gradual exposure.

Practice exposing yourself to anxiety-inducing situations, starting with small and manageable ones. Starting small and working your way up to more challenging ones can help you overcome some of that fear and reduce the onset. 

Avoid Substances that Fuel Your Anxiety

Many people run on that morning cup of coffee or use that glass of wine to wind down at the end of a long day. If you deal with anxiety, it’s important to pay attention to how your body responds to such substances. 

While coping strategies are important for the management of anxiety, certain substances can actually make feelings of anxiety worse in the long run. Alcohol, caffeine, and other drugs can be a short-term fix but a longer-term issue, so try to avoid those. 

Seek Professional Help

If your fear of failure and struggles with social anxiety are hindering your personal or professional life, there is help available. Different treatment approaches, coping strategies, or even medications are options to explore. 

If you’d like to learn more about your own anxiety, schedule your appointment today.