Moving Forward When Fear Blocks Your Way to Success
“For me, the solution to being courageous and overcoming fear is taking tiny steps of practice.”
Photo by Christin Hume
Like a lot of New Yorkers, I thrive on achievement. This means that I also have a “healthy” fear of failure.
Recently, an exciting new job opportunity came my way and while I was preparing for an interview, I got caught up in a failure loop. The role was being created specifically for me by my former colleagues because they thought I would be the right fit. I wanted to do my best, but I also realized that preparation was something that could quickly get overwhelming if I let it.
My “go-to” coping strategies for dealing with the tension between seizing an opportunity and feeling like I might not have what it takes, are as follows: back-to-back Hallmark Channel movies, Tetris games on my phone, Instagram, and then buying laughably unnecessary things from Amazon, served to me via Instagram, like a lint scraper for only one rug in my apartment.
At this point you may be wondering how I achieve anything at all! Despite all this inactivity, I am not a quitter. As a two-time National Champion competitive cheerleader in high school, I’m pretty good at pep talks. But this time, those pep talks didn’t seem to help either.
It felt like I was at war with my fears. Even in the seeming paralysis of inaction, my soul had its bow drawn and arrows were flying. They just didn’t seem to hit the target.
NOT FIGHTING ALONE
This is where I have learned to lean on Jesus for strength and shelter. Scripture says his grace is sufficient. That means his protection is enough to cover us in the battle. I’m not fighting alone, and neither are you.
When I can’t will myself forward, God’s strength helps me every single time. His grace helps me realize the simple and sometimes obvious solution.
TAKING TINY STEPS
For me, the solution to being courageous and overcoming fear is taking tiny steps of practice. So I practice the seemingly inconsequential or mundane things that will someday allow me to shine. In this case, I did a Google search to learn about the business. Then I talked through my own resume. After that, I practiced my answers to all the classic interview questions that I knew would inevitably come up.
God, the Creator, seems to frequently break down work into smaller, careful assignments. We see this order around us in nature where things happen one moment, one doable task at a time. A tree doesn’t grow in a day, and neither do we have to accomplish our purpose in such a short time. Likewise, separating a large job into smaller chunks we can easily handle helps us not be overwhelmed by what’s ahead.
If fear is blocking your way to success, seize the moment. Don’t worry about the whole day. Before you realize it, that fear will be a distant memory.
What do you do when you feel afraid of failure? What small steps to a solution may God be showing you?
Haley Wright works in marketing and communications for the legal industry. She loves helping organizations craft stories to show the world who they are. You can often find her shoe shopping, practicing Krav Maga, coffee hunting, or exploring to find a new favorite restaurant. Through her volunteer work, she is an orphan and foster care advocate with The New York Foundling and Many Hopes. Her desire is for all children and youth to know what it is to have someone cheering them on and loving them deeply.