Don't Let Fear Derail Your Job Search

Fear comes in all shapes and forms and it can happen to even the best of us. Some may have the fear of being so exposed during an interview or it could be that fear having to "sell" themselves. For most however, the fear of failure leads the way.

Why is this so pervasive among so many people? Frankly, failing is uncomfortable. We don't want others to see us fail. We avoid situations where we may fail so that nay-sayers don't have an opportunity to say "told ya so." But when we avoid failure, we avoid the opportunity to learn.

Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times before the light bulb worked. Mark Cuban, Internet mogul and current owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fired from computer software sales job. Even George Washington had failure after failure during his professional and military career. Don't fear failure, just make sure you learn from it when it happens.

There are a couple of ways to reduce the fear of failure. Always make sure that you are as prepared as you can be. When you prepare you will feel more confidant about the course of action you're taking. Although, make sure that you don't use preparing as a way to procrastinate. Many people fall victim to analysis paralysis.

Practice is another great weapon to fight against the fear of failure. It's just like working a muscle, the more you do it the easier it will get. Novice sales reps are sometimes encouraged to call on incompatible customers. The object isn't to make a sale but to become comfortable with presenting their sales presentation.

If you want further encouragement, check out the video below. It's about 8 minutes long and talks very candidly about success being born from failure. Enjoy!