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A fearless mindset is the great defense against the fear of failure. Having the right perspective, a dose of motivation, and plenty of optimism can carry you over the finish line to achieving your goals. 

You might be fearful now, but that doesn’t have to be the way you face life going forward. You can reduce your fear of failure.

See how a fearless mindset may be the missing component for your success:

1. Optimism is important. If you expect the worst, you’ll never try. With a positive attitude, you’ll be better able to forge ahead with your plans. An optimistic attitude will allow you to handle failure more easily.

• Practice being optimistic in your daily life. Expect that the weather will be good today. If the weather is bad, expect that it will clear. Have high expectations for everything you do, from looking for a parking space to asking someone out for a date.
  
  
• Interestingly, studies show that pessimistic people tend to be more accurate, but optimistic people are more successful. Would you rather be right or be happy?
  
  

2. Be a consumer of motivational material. Expose yourself to things that you find motivating.

• Books. Read things that get your juices flowing. It could be quotes, biographies, or articles related to successful people. Think about your heroes and learn more about them. Fiction, non fiction, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re inspired.
  
  
• Listen to motivational material. Songs, speeches, books on tape, or seminars. Try to listen to something each day that inspires you to be your best.
  
  
• Movies. Maybe Rocky puts you in the mood to take on the world. Think of the movies that motivate you to take on the world and watch a couple each week.
  
  
• Take advantage of all three types of materials. By reading, listening, and watching things that motivate you, you’re attacking your brain and mindset from every possible angle.
  
  

3. Become good at dealing with discomfort. That negative feeling you get when you think about failure is just an uncomfortable tingle. You don’t have to allow it to change your behavior. Learn to keep moving forward anyway. It will go away soon enough.

Change your mindset and watch your life evolve. When you change the way you look at failure, you change your behavior and the way you evaluate risk. Spend a little time each day motivating yourself and become comfortable with discomfort. You’ll soon feel like you can handle anything the world throws at you.

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt

Famous Failures

Many of your favorite actors, writers, singers and historical heroes dealt with a stunning amount of failure. You can derive inspiration from these people and perhaps duplicate their success. You can be just as successful as anyone else. The key is surviving failure.

Many famous and highly successful people suffered a long string of failures, such as:

1. Abraham Lincoln. He may have been the greatest US president, but he wasn’t always successful. It’s safe to say that he had more failures than most of us are willing to endure:

• He went into the Illinois militia as a captain and left as a private.
• He was defeated when he ran for the state legislature. 
• Failed in business.
• His girlfriend died. 
• Had a nervous breakdown. 
• Was defeated for Speaker of the Illinois State Senate.
• Defeated while running for Congress. 
• Defeated for US senate. 
• Defeated for nomination for vice-president. 
• Lost for US senate again.
  
  

2.  J.K Rowling. As the author of the beloved Harry Potter series of books and a net worth of nearly $1 billion, Rowling had her fair share of rejections before finding success.

• After spending five years to write the first Harry Potter book, it took an additional two years to find a publisher.
  
  
• She was a single mother, on welfare, and wrote the book on a manual typewriter. Word processors were available by this time and electric typewriters had been around for many years.
  
  
• She was rejected by a dozen publishers before she found one who was interested.
  
  

3. Sylvester Stallone. While he managed to become a household name, earn millions of dollars, and win an Oscar, Sylvester Stallone faced many challenges in becoming an actor.

• He was turned down by over 1,500 talent agents in New York City. There weren’t even 1,500 talent agents in NYC. After he approached every agent in the city, he started back at the beginning of the list and tried again.
  
  
• He was repeatedly told that he looked and sounded funny and didn’t have a chance of making it as an actor.
  
  
• He had many problems in school throughout his childhood and attended a special school for kids with learning disabilities.
  
  
• He got his first job by spending the night in an agents office. He had been rejected at 4pm and refused to leave. He was still there the next morning and was given his first job.

How much have you really failed? You can bet that the most successful people you know have failed much more than you. 

Be inspired by these great stories. Pick up a biography of your favorite hero and read about his life. You might be surprised and motivated by the amount of struggle they were able to overcome.

“Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.”

- Wilma Rudolph