Do you FEAR failure?
No doubt you have said yes to this question, as most of us don’t like to fail at anything, do we?
However, the reality is many successful people fail at some time in their lives, don’t they? Consider Richard Branson, Gary Barlow and Andy Murray. What do they all have in common? They have all experienced great successes but also many ‘failures’ e.g. a business venture that bombed, an initial solo career that went awol and that elusive grand slam title!
Developing Winning Mindset
It is all too easy to give into fear, isn’t it? Why bother to make the effort if it might not work out? However, how great would it feel if it did?
The 2014 Football World Cup and Wimbledon have highlighted two very different approaches and mind sets to facing failure. Firstly, the little known Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios. A wildcard at Wimbledon who had an amazing tournament, with the highlight beating world number one Rafa Nadal. Was he afraid of losing to Rafa? Like heck he was! Even though he was being told by his nearest and dearest it would be a bridge too far, he went out to prove them wrong and winning was the only thing on his mind! Nick is clearly developing winning mindset, isn’t he?
Compare the approach of England football captain, Steven Gerrard. His way of ‘rallying the young troops’ was to get the team together and tell them how bad it feels to experience failure and how the nation would feel let down if England didn’t get past the group stage. So what was their focus? …. Fear of failure!
Turning FEAR into Focus
Isn’t it remarkable given the value placed on sports psychologists, that Steven Gerrard was given carte blanche to get the team to focus on fearing failure instead of developing winning mindset? What if the focus of his rally cry was around what an amazing experience and how proud they should be to be playing for their country in the World Cup, how great the players, team and nation would feel if England did well in the tournament? A very different focus and mindset, I’m sure you will agree?
What was different?
Nick was….. Feeling Excited And Ready
England were fearful focused on…… False Evidence Appearing Real
Why? Because of Steven Gerrard’s perspective of the situation.
The result = Failure Expected And Received!
Check out this inspiring video, which showcases many famous ‘failures’ who have since become world famous, for developing winning mindset! Next time you feel fearful reframe your perspective to turn your FEAR into focus and start developing winning mindset!
