Atychiphobia: How to Overcome Fear of Failure

As kids, we were told that we could be anything if we just worked hard enough. Astronaut? Suuure, just keep studying. The Picasso of the 21^st century? Absolutely, you can do it. But that uninspired enthusiasm never seemed to come with advice for what to do about the crippling fear of failure and negative thoughts so many of us would eventually face in pursuit of our lofty goals.

If you have atychiphobia, a fear of failure, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Jump To:

• Atychiphobia Meaning
• Atychiphobia Symptoms
  • Physical Symptoms
  • Mental Symptoms
• What is Kakorrhaphiobia?
• What Causes a Fear of Failure?
• How to Overcome Fear of Failure
• Atychiphobia Test
• Final thoughts To Overcome Fear Of Failure

Atychiphobia Meaning

Atychiphobia is an intense fear of failure. It’s an anxiety around pursuing goals or desires due to the possibility of failing along the way. This fear may manifest in putting off tasks, avoiding new projects, or giving up on pursuits early.

Often, atychiphobia includes a fear of failing in smaller tasks as well as large ones. It can be accompanied by fear around being perceived as dumb, unprepared, awkward, or otherwise incompetent by others.

Atychiphobia Symptoms

Like all fears and mental health struggles, atychiphobia can have different negative consequences for different people. Obviously, the general worry and discomfort around trying new things, putting yourself out there, or beginning a big undertaking are pretty universal to those of us with atychiphobia. But let’s take a look at some of the specific atychiphobia symptoms that you may face with this phobia.

Physical Symptoms

These possible symptoms of atychiphobia are identical to what we experience in response to any fear. Anxiety and panic attacks may even result from atychiphobia, both of which manifest in the following (among other) symptoms as well.

• Sweating
• Racing heart
• Shortness of breath
• Shaking
• Chills
• Nausea

Mental Health Symptoms

Feeling unable to perform and achieve at the level we want to due to atychiphobia can be incredibly frustrating and disheartening. It’s an emotional drain to have a fear constantly weighing on you and holding you back from your goals. These are some of the mental/emotional symptoms that may come along with atychiphobia.

• Fear of performing tasks (even simple ones)
• Fear of judgment
• Loss of concentration or focus
• Catastrophizing
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Panic Attacks
• Insomnia
• Lack of confidence
• Pessimism

What is Kakorrhaphiobia?

Kakorrhaphiobia, atychiphobia, and fear of failure are all terms for the same thing. Kakorrhaphobia, like atychiphobia, refers to an intense and somewhat crippling fear of failing. This fear leads to procrastination, a feeling of “stuck-ness,” giving up easily, and avoiding new things.

These debilitating symptoms of kakorrhaphobia can interfere with a person’s self-esteem, productivity, career, fulfillment, social life, and more.

What causes a fear of failure?

A fear of failure is often the result of the misconception that one’s self-worth is directly correlated with their ability or competence in an area.

Some people are predisposed to having more fears and phobias thanks to their genetics or the environment they were raised in, but the root of atychiphobia can be traced to what a person believes failure says about them as a person.

Interestingly, this belief that how well you perform on tasks is an indication of who you are as a person is a well-studied phenomenon as it is a symptom of what is called the “fixed mindset,” a phrase coined by psychologist Carol Dweck.

(Related: 5 Fixed Mindset Pitfalls Even Growth Mindset People Fall Into)

How to overcome fear of failure

Unfortunately, there is no way magic cure to completely eliminate the risk of failure in all things. Failure is simply a part of life. But the good news is, when we can unravel the relationship between our achievements and our fundamental self-worth, it becomes a lot easier to face the idea of failure without debilitating fear.

Thankfully, there are a variety of ways to overcome fear of failure – if you’re willing to be patient with yourself.

If you’re willing to work towards overcoming your fear, you’ll find a whole new life on the other side. One that includes less anxiety, less procrastination, better relationships, and higher self-esteem. I hope these ideas help you to overcome fear of failure so you can begin living a more vibrant life!

Admit and Understand Your Fear

As with most worthwhile transformations, the first step to overcoming your fear of failure is to admit its power over you and get to know how it works.

Next time you feel yourself getting overwhelmed by your atychiphobia, pay attention to when the fear comes up, what thoughts come along with it, how you automatically respond etc. This step is just about research. Try not to judge or criticize yourself for what you find. Remember that this is the first step towards finally taking control of your atychiphobia and changing your life.

Re-Frame Failure As Part Of The Process Rather Than A Statement About Who You Are

The possibility of failure is inevitable. 

In order to take control over your emotional response to potential failure, it is necessary to reframe what failure means to you. This is, of course, easier said than done. We have to begin to untangle the relationship between our self-worth and our abilities and accomplishments.

Remind Yourself “Why” You Want To Accomplish Something

If something is triggering your fear of failure, chances are there’s a reason you want to do or have that thing. The best way to snap yourself out of the fear spiral is to remind yourself “why” this achievement is important to you and worth having in the first place. It can be helpful to begin a task focused on your motivation to succeed, rather than your fear of failing.

(Related: What’s Your “Why”? How To Craft A Strong Personal Why Statement (with examples))

Allow Yourself To Fail At “Small” Things First

Cliché, but with good reason: practice makes perfect. If you’ve spent a good chunk of your life dealing with a fear of failure, you can’t expect it to be resolved overnight.

It may be helpful to “allow” yourself to be bad at or fail at small things before you attempt to expand that mentality to everything you do. You can use these more surface-level failures as a learning experience for your bigger goals. Once you believe that your self-worth isn’t affected by your ability to do menial tasks, it may become easier to apply that belief to more meaningful undertakings.

Focus On What You Can Control, Let Go Of What You Can’t

Here’s the thing. There will always be things that are out of your control and hinder your ability to be “perfect.” If you try to hedge against every possible setback that may befall you before you even begin something, of course, you’re going to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of starting.

To overcome your fear of failure, try to focus on what you can control and let go of what you can’t. Next time you take on a new project, try to be proud of how you handled the things you could manage. Your self-worth isn’t dependent on the final outcome of anything, but you can derive a boost of confidence from how you showed up along the way.

Boost Your Self Esteem In Other Ways

If you suffer from atychiphobia, your self-esteem probably takes some major blows when things don’t turn out right. It’s really important to remind yourself that you are a whole, capable, worthy person – even if you’re not perfect (since none of us are).

Make time for things you love and that you’re good at. Do things that make you feel proud. Take care of your mind, body, and spirit so that you have the clarity and energy to make better choices for yourself.  

Be Realistic About Your Worst-Case Scenario

Oftentimes, we get overwhelmed by the prospect of failing miserably and “everything going wrong.” In reality, the worst case scenario for most undertakings isn’t really death or destruction.

I know this will push you out of your comfort zone, but take some time to consider what would really happen even if you completely “fail” at the pursuit you’re afraid of. Will you face embarrassment, a financial hit, or a stern word from someone important to you? Even if these things are painful, it might be helpful to realize that they are also fleeting and surmountable. 

Practice Positive Thinking

I know what you’re thinking, “If I could, I would,” right? Well, there’s a reason it’s called a practice. Eliminating your negative self-talk that tells you you’re not good enough takes practice. ​

Start with small steps to improve your self-talk. Remind yourself that no one is perfect and failure doesn’t define you. Use a mantra that grounds you and reminds you you’re more than your accomplishments. Practicing positive self-talk in your daily life is a mindset shift that will drastically improve your mental health and improve your fear of failure. 

Remember, anything can be turned into a learning experience that propels you forward if you let it.

Related: (Rewire Your Brain and Change Your Negative Self-Talk (4 Simple Steps))

Practice A Growth Mindset

As mentioned above, one of the hallmarks of a fixed mindset is believing that your self-worth hinges on your achievements. This is because the fixed mindset says you are who you are and that will never change. That belief can make hard work terrifying because if you are already as good as you’ll ever be and you can’t do well even with hard work, it can be deeply disheartening.

Try learning about and practicing a growth mindset which says that you can always grow and improve in any area with hard work and an open mind to continue learning. This mindset shift will give you the freedom to work hard and know that even if you fail, it doesn’t reflect negatively on who you are as a person.

Atychiphobia test

Here is a simple atychiphobia test to help you determine if you suffer from a fear of failure. Chances are, if you have atychiphobia, you know it. However, sometimes it’s hard to admit to ourselves that our own fears have played a part in the way things have gone for us.

Since the first step to overcome an extreme fear of failure is to admit and understand your fear, use this atychiphobia test to get to know the ins and outs of your fear better. If you answer “yes” to most or all of these questions, the next step is to use your responses to do some self-reflection about this patterning.

1. Do you worry about not doing things perfectly to the extent that you often get “stuck” and don’t do things at all?
2. Are you anxious about what other people’s response will be to your work/product/attempt etc?
3. Do you get preoccupied with making sure you don’t look dumb/incompetent/awkward etc. when you take on a new task?
4. Do you struggle with procrastination?
5. Do you struggle with perfectionism?
6. Do you have long-term goals you haven’t accomplished yet because you’ve been too worried about failing to even begin?
7. Do you make excuses for why you give up on things early or don’t try new things to avoid appearing “bad” at things?
8. Do you make excuses for why things you’re working on won’t be perfect before or during the process to hedge against it reflecting poorly on you, as a person, if it doesn’t turn out right?
9. Do you feel like your self-esteem takes a hit when you don’t do things perfectly?
10. Do you get crippled in the early stages of new things and become emotional (angry, irritated, pessimistic, sad, overwhelmed)?

Final thoughts To Overcome Fear Of Failure

A fear of failure, also known as atychiphobia or kakorrhaphobia can be frustrating and debilitating. It’s not easy to challenge the way we’ve seen and interacted with the world our whole lives. But in this case, it’s totally worth it. A fear of failure can hold you back from accomplishing and experiencing amazing and beautiful things in your life. Be brave and begin down the path to recovery from your fear of failure so that perfectionism, procrastination, and excuses no longer rule your life.

If you need help to break out of this mindset, you may consider hiring a coach. I can work with you to overcome your fear of failure and start living the life you want to live. Who better to help you than a recovered atychiphobia sufferer herself? Contact Coach Mary here for more info.