Confidence and Regret
When it comes to mulling over the idea of becoming your own CEO or even switching careers within the corporate world, understanding that you have the skills to do the work that’s required is the easy part. It’s getting over the fear of failure that trips most of us up.
With a lot of the women, I work with (and for myself when I first thought about leaving my cushy corporate job), using the skills they’re valued for in the workplace to build their own businesses makes perfect sense. The problem is, they doubt they can actually do it.
Recognizing fear of failure for what it is, is tricky. It likes to show up as pragmatism and logic. It can feel like your brain is taking a tough-love approach to make you see why you’re being unreasonable to even consider something so dangerous as working for yourself.
And believe me, I get it! I was there too. Leaving the security of my corporate job to work 1:1 with women in the private sector seemed far too risky, even though it was the exact same thing I was doing within the company. The lightbulb went off for me when I realized job security meant nothing if I felt trapped in a career I wasn’t passionate about anymore. Living a life without purpose and meaning sounded a whole lot scarier at that point.
Once I asked myself how much I valued my happiness, it all clicked for me. Sitting in a cubicle building somebody else’s dream was no longer an option when I knew I could be contributing to the world on a much bigger level and in a way that felt authentic to me.
The thing I tell my clients is, feeling afraid when you’re about to take a huge leap of faith is to be expected; it’s totally normal. But you have to put that feeling of fear into perspective. A great question to ask yourself is, “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” When you sit with that question, the real answer is rarely as scary as the initial anxiety you had about all the things that could happen.
And in most cases, even if the worst-case scenario did happen, it’s not something you couldn’t recover from.
So, keep in mind, having a fear of failure is probably inevitable but allowing that fear to stop you from doing something you feel called to do might just become your biggest regret.
Food for thought…
Agata Galuszka
Founder of Confidence & Financial Independence Academy - The online school for women
P.S. If FOMO is fear of missing out, shouldn’t fear of failure have a cute little acronym too? 😂
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