In this episode, guest Ryan Levesque—Inc. 500 CEO of the Ask Method Company and number one bestselling author of the books Ask and Choose—raised a common problem holding many people back from going for the great they can achieve.

It’s an amazing thing to realize how so many of what keeps us from success are intangible forces. Because at least when it comes to the physical obstacles, it’s something we can just do something about.

But when it comes to the intangible obstacles, they demand a high level of discipline, perseverance, and sheer willpower to overcome.

In this episode, Travis and Ryan highlighted the fact of how there are people who are afraid to lose the good to go for the great.

This is especially true for people who have lived comfortable lives with the path to their future already set for them.

But when they start getting this gut feeling that they’re meant for something greater, meant or something they know will fulfill them in a way that no high-paying job can ever give them—

They would most likely choose to not pursue it.

Why?

Imagine already living in a comfortable life where you didn’t have to go through real-world struggles early in life.

You think in that situation, you have all the opportunities to just go for what you want and enjoy, right?

Sadly, that isn’t for most, if not all, people living like that.

The surprising thing about that is it’s because they’re living comfortable lives they feel less inclined to take risks.

This is also apparent in a business setting.

Notice how it’s the smaller, lesser known businesses and companies who would take a leap of faith in order to achieve success.

Yet when we look at some of the bigger companies today, they would much rather stick to a formula they know works than take risks.

Again, why is that?

It’s because they’re afraid to lose all the good stuff they have now for a great they cannot guarantee.

In other words—

They are afraid of failure.

No one’s exempted from this fear.

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or an already successful one, the fear of failure is still a challenging obstacle to overcome.

But we all know it’s only when you take risks will you ever achieve success.

So what can you do about the fear of failure?

Why is failure bad in the first place? It is this fear of realizing that all the time and effort you put into something were just wasted.

But do you really lose anything when you fail?

Ask yourself, would you be where you are now if you had nothing but successes in your life?

As much as we all hate failures, we’ll have to admit—

Failures are a part of growth.

Failures are opportunities for growth to happen.

They present you the chance to learn what you did wrong and what you can do to improve yourself.

To overcome failure, you’ll have to reframe failure.

Change the way you see failure.

But how can you do this?

Here are some practices to help you see failure in a different light:

• See past failures for what you’ve gained from them. What did you learn from past failures? What valuable information did you get from those failures? Past failures are learning experiences. They expose the flaws you needed to deal with. After all, it’s better to have dealt with these flaws early rather than have them show up in the future.
• View possible failure as a challenge. Don’t let the possibility of failure shackle you. See it as a challenge for the skills and knowledge you’ve gathered throughout the years. After all, the only way for you to know how far your skill and knowledge can take you is by putting them to the test.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself when you experience failure. Failure is natural. You should never expect yourself to do everything right or perfectly the first time. The anger and frustration you feel from failing come from the feeling of embarrassment or shame. But remember this—there’s no shame in failing.

Instead of punishing yourself for failing, reward yourself for trying. In fact, trying and failing is a success in itself. Because you found it within yourself to take the risk. When you take risks and fail, you only come out stronger and better prepared than before.

So don’t let the fear of failure prevent you from realizing your full potential.

“I just felt like there was something inside of me. I felt like there was more than I had to give. I felt like there was this untapped potential inside of me. And if I didn’t do something about it now, then when was I gonna do something about it?” – Ryan Levesque

Let us know, how do you overcome your fear of failure? Any suggestions or practices you want to share? Leave them in the comment section below!