Startups

6 Surprisingly Simple Strategies To Turn Fear Of Failure Into Business Success

Published

11 years ago

Apr 16, 2015

6 Surprisingly Simple Strategies To Turn Fear Of Failure Into Business Success

Has it ever happened to you?

You’re about to do something important, and suddenly you’re struck with this sickening, pounding feeling just above your stomach?

It’s nauseating. You can’t breathe; you just can’t get enough air. Pressure sits on your shoulders and you just don’t know where it is coming from.

Or do you?

This paralyzing fear appears every time you plan on doing something outside of your comfort zone or if you’re not sure what will happen, no matter how banal the task may be.

But mostly, you’re afraid you’re wrong about yourself.

Maybe that entrepreneurial aspiration of yours is the fruit of an illusion that you can succeed. Maybe your ideas are ridiculous, and everyone is waiting for you to crash. Maybe you’re just a fool, and this fantasy of being an entrepreneur is just that, a fantasy.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho

You are afraid to fail, and this fear suffocates you, has control over your life, and threatens your business success.

What if I revealed a few ways to take back control of your life? What if I told you that proven strategies could turn your fear of failure straight into business success? Isn’t that exactly what you need?

But before we look into those strategies, let’s see where your fear of failure comes from.

Of course you have a fear of failure. You went to school, right?

We usually fear failure when we’re about to do something for the first time or when we get different results each time we try, like when you call someone. We normally don’t fear failing at tasks we’re well accustomed to.

Please be aware; you’re not born with low confidence or fear of failure. Your fear of failure is an acquired emotion, acquired in your early youth and especially your school years.

What is the only thing that is rewarded in school? Giving the right answer the first time.

Giving the wrong answer is certain to lead to punishment and humiliation from peers, teacher’s disapproval, discipline, and possibly lower grades. Consequently, at the end of your schooling years, you’re effectively trained to be afraid to fail.

Yet, acquiring your fear of failure is actually a good thing. It does not belong to you like your eye color; this means you can lose it again!

With fear of failure, you get more than you bargained for. Humans have many fears to cope with. Depending on who you ask, you will get a list of 15 to 20 types of fear.

The fear of failure is a nasty thing because it actually combines a variety of different fears.

The most common fears found within fear of failure are the following:

1) Fear of embarrassment
This is the fear of failing in front of others.

2) Fear of being judged
This fear is based on our need for approval, which we developed in our childhood.

3) Fear of rejection
This fear is based on personalizing what others do or say about us.

4) Fear of vulnerability
This fear is based on our fear of getting hurt if we open up to others and expose our true inner selves.

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” – Jack Canfield

The combination of these fears can paralyze you. It makes you hesitant to take action. But it doesn’t have to.

Use your fear of failure to become super successful.

No matter what your intention is, maybe it’s to complete a challenging project at work or start your own business. Fear of failure can paralyze you, hold you back, and put your emotions in control.

But you can take back control by embracing fear as a growth tool.

pursue-your-dreams-picture-quote-addicted2success

Top professional athletes and entrepreneurs are not immune to the paralyzing effects of fear of failure, but they have learned to handle it with a little outside help.

Even better, the strategies used to battle fear of failure also have a direct positive impact on how you approach your professional life.

They make you amazingly focused and help you do business feeling supercharged.

In my career of over 10 years coaching top professionals in Europe and North America, I have used a variety of strategies to help my clients overcome their fear of failure.

So let me show you how you can overcome it too.

Combine the following six strategies to create your own strategic success plan:

1. Get crystal clear on your goals

Write down your goals and what you want to achieve in the next 12 months, but sub-divide them into smaller, easier, achievable goals, and be as precise as you can be.

If you don’t know where you want to go, you won’t know how to get there. That will confuse you and make you fearful.

But knowing where you should go gives you confidence.

Every goal achieved is a success and makes you feel successful.

2. Identify the obstacles preventing you from achieving your goals

Contrary to most beliefs, obstacles are not a bad thing as long as you can identify them. If you know what your obstacles are, then you know how to remove them; e.g., you have more to do than you have time.

One possible solution would be outsourcing.

Eliminating that obstacle between you and your goal means clearing the way toward your goal and therefore toward success. Knowing your enemy (obstacle) gives you confidence.

So make a list of your obstacles, and your fear of failure will decrease significantly.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

3. Plan how to overcome your obstacles

Write out exactly how and when you will overcome your obstacles. Not only does this create a plan to follow, but it puts you into a positive emotional state.

Since your brain cannot attend to opposite signals simultaneously, it cannot maintain fear of failure any longer.

This puts you back in control.

Your fear will have passed by now.

Plus you have a blueprint that leads directly to success (which should be part of any good business plan anyway).

4. Embrace choices

If something doesn’t work out as expected, don’t see it as a failure, see it as a conclusion to shift into a different direction that offers another opportunity for a successful outcome.

Business means constant change, and adapting is not a sign of failure but rather good business sense.

5. Celebrate

Celebrate not only big, but small achievements.

Again, you focus on the positive the success you just experienced and your brain cannot attend to opposite signals.

So you will face your next task less fearful. Plus, if you can’t have fun working, what’s the point of doing it.

And if you should run into sudden obstacles, don’t panic.

6. Breathe

When you’re about to enter a situation you fear, you tend to draw shallow breaths.

Deep breathing will reduce your anxiety.

It also increases blood circulation and oxygen to the heart and brain. It removes muscle tension too, which allows you to move easier and gain confidence.

Deep breathing releases endorphins that create natural highs and easy sleep.

You will be calmer, and a calm mind moves toward control.

Yes, you CAN turn your fear of failure into business success. Aren’t you tired of being a slave to your anxiety attacks?

Isn’t it exhausting to feel defenseless, hopeless, and afraid of failure for no reason? Don’t allow your fear and anxiety to hold you back and render you paralyzed in your business affairs.

This is not you. You know that you can do better than that!

You can take back control of your life, and your days of unexplained anxieties can end today.

Set big goals, chase your dream, be happy, and celebrate. Create your own success story.

What are you waiting for?

Related Topics:belief Business Dream fear of failure Goals motivate overcome obstacles Success take control visualize

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Wilfried Lehmkuhler

Wilfried Lehmkuhler is passionate about helping people achieve their dreams; create financial Freedom and a Life they love by applying proven success strategies. Wilfried is a blogger, speaker, consultant, and accomplished author who has worked with professional athletes and businesses in Europe and North America. You can find him at FinancialFreedomAndALifeYouLove.com or @WLehmkuhler

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

1 week ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.