Overcoming fear of failure: Part 4

This article is my fourth (and, I think, final) in a series exploring fear of failure in ski racing. If you missed the first three articles, you may want to catch up before diving into this one (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). In those first three articles, I examined my evolving perspective on fear of failure and its root causes.

As I noted at the end of Part 3, a recent email from a reader asked the obvious question, “I now understand why my child keeps getting in his own way in his racing. He has a fear of failure! So, what can I do about it?” This question led to extending my Fear of Failure series and discussing ways in which racers can let go of their fear of failure.

Let me preface my thoughts by saying that there are entire books devoted to fear of failure and how to overcome it. Also, in severe cases, months of psychotherapy are required. My point is that, as with most things in life, there are no magic pills or quick fixes. At the same time, if you (as a racer) or one of your children (as a parent) has a fear of failure, there are some things everyone can do to relieve the burden of fear of failure and begin to pursue success rather than avoid failure.

What Parents Can Do

A basic tenet of mine regarding child development is that “children become the messages they get the most.” What this means is that children weren’t born with a fear of failure. Instead, children develop their attitudes toward and beliefs about failure from the world around them.

Some of those harmful messages about failure, no doubt, come from our popular culture and from overly competitive coaches.

But, as sad as it is to say, fear of failure in children usually comes from their parents. They do so in three ways. First, as role models, if you react to your own failures by getting angry or despondent. Second, by sending direct messages to your children that failure is simply unacceptable (“You better win today”). And, third, by your emotional reactions when your children don’t live up to your expectations, for example, getting angry at them after a bad race. In all three cases, the message they receive is: “I can’t lose or I’ll really upset my parents.” The subtext of this statement which is so difficult for parents to believe is, “If I lose my parents won’t love me.” And there is nothing more fear-inducing in children than that.

All quite depressing, to be sure. But here’s the good news: If you can send unhealthy messages to your children, you also have the power to send healthy ones. And that is where you can first begin to turn your children’s fear of failure around.

The best way to change children is to change the world in which they live. In other words, if you can change your messages about failure, your children will get those new messages and begin to shift how they think and feel about failure.

Here are some practical steps you can take to ensure that your messages about success and failure are healthy:

1. Look in the mirror and get feedback from your spouse about your relationship with failure and how you react to it.
2. Be aware of your emotions the morning of a race, when your children cross the finish line, and when their times are posted.
3. If you’re unable to control your emotions while at races, stay home.
4. Identify any unhealthy messages that you directly or indirectly send to your children about failure and in what situations you send them.
5. Specify alternative healthy messages about failure that you can begin to send to your children about failure and the situations in which you should send them.
6. Create a plan for what you will say and how you want to feel, so when you arrive at those situations you’ll be ready.

Other practical things you can do include:

• Refrain from talking about results with your children.
• Focus on process and fun when you do talk about their ski racing.
• If they talk about results, either ignore it, redirect the conversation to process and fun, or change the subject entirely (e.g., “What do you want to eat?”).

What Racers Can Do

Reality test perceptions. Fear of failure is about the perceptions that racers hold about failure and, for the vast majority, those perceptions are entirely disconnected from the reality of their lives. They perceive that bad things will happen if they fail, but the reality is that nothing particularly bad, aside from some disappointment, will likely result from a failure.

For example, as I noted in a previous article in this series, the main causes of fear of failure include disappointing others, being perceived by others as a failure, and having to conclude that all of your efforts have been a waste of time. Yet, I’m going to argue that none of these things will happen. You can challenge these perceptions by asking your parents and friends if they will be disappointed in you (and, as a result, love you less), realizing that the most successful people in all walks of life failed frequently and monumentally on the way to success, and that you will gain far more than you will lose from your ski racing and learn many wonderful lessons that will help you later in life. So, I encourage you to reality test those perceptions and find out if your fears will come true (I’m pretty sure they won’t).

Take risks. The very nature of ski racing is that you cannot ski your fastest without taking risks. Whether attacking down a pitch, straightening out a flush, or staying in your tuck a second longer, you won’t find real success unless you put it on the line. The problem is that when you take risks, you may fail. But, if you don’t take risks, you will be slow, which is the worst kind of failure.

I encourage you to make a commitment to taking risks for two reasons. First, to show you that you will be OK if you do fail. Second, that when you take risks, good things will happen (though not always, of course). You should start small, for example, in training, and slowly increase your risk taking in bigger races. In doing so, you get comfortable with taking risks, see that the downsides aren’t so down, and upsides are really up.

Adopt the “F&%# It” attitude. The “F&%# It” attitude (sorry for the bad language) means not caring too much about the results. It means being able to accept whatever results you have if you give your best effort and try to ski as fast as you can. Bode Miller is my poster child for this attitude. He isn’t concerned with results and defines his success as going as fast as he can regardless of the result.

Take a leap of faith. Ultimately, if you really want to ski your fastest you must take a leap of faith. The leap of faith begins with the conviction that you don’t want to go down the path that your skiing has been taking you any longer. The leap of faith continues with, well, faith, that if you let go of your fear of failure and ski your fastest, good things will happen. The leap of faith involves having a basic belief in yourself, your skiing ability, and your ski racing goals. Recognize also that some misgivings are a normal part of the process – you can never be 100 percent sure that things will work out the way you want.

You must also understand that this leap of faith is not blind faith. Rather, you will have prepared yourself for the leap with a rigorous conditioning program, lots of work on your technique and tactics, and, of course, with a good dose of mental training as well.

Take your shot. Taking your shot is inherently risky, but it is far better to take your shot and lose than to never take your shot at all. You have only one shot at life; there are no do-overs. At the end of your season, career or life, there is one emotion and one question you don’t want to have to face. First, you don’t want to feel regret, which will certainly come if you don’t take your shot. Second, you don’t want to ask yourself, “I wonder what could have been?” Fast or slow, finish or crash, win or lose, after a race, you want to be able to say to yourself, “I left it all out on the course.” You may feel some disappointment if it didn’t work out that day, but you may also feel exultation knowing that you took your shot and it paid off.

The great thing about all of these steps to overcome fear of failure is that they build on each other. The more you do to overcome your fear of failure, the easier it becomes. And, as you do so, you will learn two important lessons. First, failure is fleeting and you will long outlive it. Second, when you let go of your fear of failure, you will ski faster and be more successful than ever.