Atychiphobia, What Is It? How To Get Over It

Atychiphobia, What Is It? How To Get Over It

" The Fear Of Failure Is Real and so is Procrastination. You won't find Success hiding in either."

Have you ever failed at something and felt discouraged? How did you overcome that feeling? Did you pick yourself up and try again? Or were you too shaken by your failure? Today, I want to talk to you about the word Atychiphobia. This word means that someone has an intense fear of failure.

Now, no one wants to fail or be associated with failing. But did you know that failing can help you succeed?  Yep, you heard me right. Failing now can mean success in the future. You see, failure is but one door that leads to success. Most of us have yet to walk through it. Instead, we quit.  Sometimes, setbacks can make us feel discouraged, but it's important to remember that failure doesn't mean the end.

Instead, failure can be a step toward success.  Please think about that statement while I tell you the story about Jack.  I call this story Jack and the Butterfly.  Jack was a dreamer, always thinking of improving his life. Yes, Jack had big aspirations even as a young teenager, but never succeeded. He failed at almost everything he tried.

Because of this, Jack developed a fear of failure.  One day, Jack was walking through the woods when he saw a beautiful butterfly trying to break free from its cocoon.  Jack watched as the butterflies struggled to escape.  Jack was in awe as he watched on. He had never seen such a sight. So, Jack decided to lend a helping hand.

He took out his pocket knife and carefully cut a small opening in the cocoon.  The butterfly emerged quickly, but something was wrong. Its wings were shriveled, and it couldn't fly. Jack was confused. He had helped the butterfly, but it wasn't better off.  It wasn't until Jack talked about his experience to one of his school teachers that he realized the butterfly needed to struggle to strengthen its wings.

Jack had robbed the butterfly of that struggle by cutting the cocoon open.  Jack began to meditate about his experience with the butterfly. He couldn't get the images out of his head.  One night, as he lay in bed thinking of the butterfly failure, He made an inspirational connection to himself.  He realized that his failures were nothing more than a struggle necessary for growth.

Jack began to embrace his failures and learn from them.  He tried new things, and even though he failed at some, he kept trying. Years later, Jack became a successful businessman. He attributed his success to the failures he experienced along the way. Jack began to teach others, who aspired to become successful business owners, to embrace failure and realize that failure was just the struggle everyone needed to go through to succeed.

So, how about you? Are you ready to learn from your failures? I believe you are. Like Jack, we realize that failure is the struggle we must endure to reach our goals.  So, how do you rebound from a failure?  One, breathe deeply. Know that failure is not the end of anything. A failure can give your journey value.

Two, identify the cause of your failure. If you can pinpoint where you went wrong, you can determine where to begin righting that mistake.  Third, create a plan.  Once you identify your mistake, it is crucial to develop a plan to avoid repeating it. Last but not least, do not be afraid to ask for help.  Always take advantage of any resource available to you.

I want to encourage you to set and go for your goals. If things don't go the way you want them to the first time, make the necessary changes and begin again. But above all, never quit.  The story of Jack and the Butterfly isn't the only example you have to lean on.  There is the failure of Steve Jobs, who was famously fired from his company, Apple.

Steve didn't quit, however. Years later, he came back and made Apple better than ever.  If that example doesn't do it for you, there is the creator of Dyson Vacuums. Who failed thousands of times. James Dyson created more than 5,000 bagless vacuums, all of which were failures except for one.  The difference between James Dyson and other inventors of his time who did not have successful lives was that James Dyson did not quit.

Do you have an intense fear of failure or Atychiphobia? If so, you can rid yourself of that fear by embracing failure. View failure as a stepping stone to success. We must learn from our mistakes and persevere rather than give up. So, let us see failure as an essential part of learning, and like Jack, keep pushing forward to a successful future.