A big aspect of my past is a fear of taking chances. In a world full of uncertainty, a delicate economy, and countless misfortunes that could happen to anyone, its easy to see why most people are inclined to play it safe. I have always had a fear of taking chances because I did not want to fail. But playing it safe has risk as well. If you never dare to fail your success will have a low ceiling.
I have never been the type of person to take risks. Although many of my friends encourage me to try new things, I still stick to what I know. Most people underestimate their merit and ability to recover from failure, leading them to pass up valuable opportunities. The biggest risk that I fail to consider is the benefit that I will lose by avoiding high risk/high reward opportunities.
Failing may not be a big deal to some people, but to me, it is. I know that I can not succeed at everything I do and I've failed a few times before. I have realized that the issue is that without taking risks, I can't exploit any opportunities. I can live a
quiet and reasonably happy life, but I am unlikely to create something new, and unlikely to make my mark on the world. And from that I have learned that it's okay to take a chance and fail.
Overcoming my fear of failure will help me be more forgiving towards myself, help me to develop a boundless curiosity and enjoyment of new challenges, and help me to change the way I approach success to make it fun and much less daunting.
I have thought of a few ways to over my fear. Some of them are: consider the cost of missed opportunities, research the alternatives, put the worst-case scenario in perspective and understand the benefits of failure.