The document summarizes strategies for overcoming fear of failure by correcting cognitive distortions. It provides two stories of individuals who faced failure but were able to overcome challenges. It then discusses five common cognitive distortions - seeing failure as personal, exaggerating costs of failure, ignoring benefits of failure, equating a single failure with being a failure, and believing there is nothing to lose from inaction. For each, it offers perspectives and examples to help reframe thinking and reduce anxiety about attempting goals and dealing with potential failure.

1. Compiled by Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd),
MTech,CE(I),FIE(I),FIETE,FISLE,FInstOD,AMCSI
Contact -+919007224278, e-mail
muktesh_prasad@yahoo.co.in
for book ”Decoding Services Selection Board” and SSB
guidance and training at Shivnandani Edu and Defence
Academy
Fear of Failure
Ref- Blogs From internet

2. Story of Combating Failure- 1
 Only son of an Officer was very intelligent from child hood. As a child of 2
to 3 years he could compute mathematical problems using fingers on pillow.
Yes they were proud of him. But he was playful and loved all good things
from good food to best of sports .They did try to meet his aspirations with in
our middle class family affordability.
 As he grew up to 8th 9th class his environment took better of him and he
started indulging in pinching money and enjoying food and fun on debit. He
did well still till 10th when he was 1st or 2nd in Board Examination. His demand
from 11th increased to getting computer (Still very costly then) to attending
Kirmani Cricket Academy to having fun in Fun World. Used to skip classes
and coaching classes. Best of effort including psychiatrist and psychologist
help did not prove helpful till Dr Bhatt ,a renowned psychiatrist’s counselling
came to rescue.
 Had to take him off regular classes in Jan and he himself undertook personal
teaching for12th. He scored reasonably well from point of no return except
Maths which was his strongest subject, because of non attention and fancy
for computers.
 Had to put him regular Science classes ,where again took on to NCC and

3. Story of Combating Failure-1
 Had to undergo knee surgery which put him on bed for almost 6 months.
 Well journey of life stated there after and he decided to do something. From a
career in call centre to trainer to subject expert to co –founder of a
FINTECH Co to CEO India of a Singapore based FINTECH Co
,operating in all SE Asia region in India with reasonable pay packet. But
Corona and some misadventure in Vietnam put great pressure on Co
and with a very short notice operation in India had to be wound up.
Rather than raising arm he kept exploring and took up an European Co
who wanted to enter India with few consultancy at this difficult juncture
and remained a float.
 Failure is in itself an experience and does help to grow
provided you pay attention to what is needed then and use
your repertoire of Voluminous adventures.

4. Story of Combating Failure-2
 As a young village boy of class 7th studying in Hindi Medium school. Was the
ist student to newly opened Middle School in my village which had only one
teacher. Teacher was irregular as well. Hardly any study was conducted.
Class 6th I passed written examination and joined English Medium residential
Sainik School way back in Feb 1964.
 Final examination was conducted in probably Apr 1964. I did not understand
what was being taught being alien subject to me. Result I gave all blank
paper except for making line diagram in Science. But did extremely well in
Maths scoring over 90.Well had no option but to be retained in the same
class. Shame , probably yes and no! my elder brother naturally asked to
withdraw if can not manage. Well 2 months down undertook Bhargav
Dictionary and learned Hindi to English .Words became familiar but not the
grammar.
 Took it as a challenge and worked . Came 4th in Oct and thereon remained
topper in the class.
 Had the fortune of scoring 100 out of 100 in Maths and received Prize from
the then Chief Minister K B Sahay
 Failure never deterred me on the contrary propelled me to look in to my

5. Introduction
 Most of us have ambitions/aspirations/dreams like
 Promotion
 Degree
 Job
 Business
 The need to achieve is engrained in our DNA.
 Unfortunately countless dreams fall apart because
 Failure to Attempt
 Anxiety keeps us anchored and prevents us from moving towards
our goals.
 Fear of failure keeps us static as life passes by.
 Inaccurate thoughts generated by our minds called cognitive
distortions fuels fear of failure.
 By correcting these thoughts, we can reduce anxiety and get back on
track to reach our goals.

6. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 1. Failure is personal-
 Failure is universal human experience faced by all big or small.
 Hence not to be taken as personal but recognized as a valuable
learning experience .
 Most successful people have also faced failure in their journey to the
top.
 Michael Jordan, the legendary basketball player said, "I've missed more
than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six
times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've
failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I
succeed."
 Thomas Edison driving force behind innovations such as the light bulb and
motion picture cameras said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000
ways that won't work.”

7. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 2. The cost of failure is great.
 We magnify our fear of failure by concluding great fallout if we fail
without questioning their validity .
 Thus we avoid applying for a job/school/college .
 How much we would lose if not selected
 At worst we will be stuck at where we are.
 Are we not losing opportunity to unlock a door to success if we do
not apply ?
 Probably we may get selected.
 Otherwise There is a zero percent chance of the door opening.
 Why not grab a key and give yourself a chance?

8. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 3. There is no benefit to failure.
 Avoid tendency to fixate on the negative aspects of failure and filter
out its potential benefits.
 Failure is a valuable life experience .
 It provides us with a golden opportunity to
 Learn and
 Grow.
 We grow more from our failures than our successes.
 Hence can not avoid pursuing our goals because we dread the
disappointment and shame that may result from failing.
 As a personal example
 I left IIT Kharagpur to join NDA and Army
 Today I am thankful that I joined IIT Delhi for 1st course on Optoelectronics
and Communication which opened the door for visit and training at IIT
Kanpur and association with many technical projects

9. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 4. If I fail, then I am a failure.
 Failure is emotionally painful because we interpret it as a personal
indictment.
 When we fail, we experience
 Shame and
 A reduction in self-worth.
 Failure has no reflection on your self-worth.
 May indicate
 Room for personal growth and
 Need to go back to the drawing board to hone UP skills.
 May be simply unlucky.
 For example
 You may have been a strong applicant for a job opening but you were
competing against hundreds of other strong applicants.
 An inferior candidate asking much less remuneration and Co weighs
Quality versus Cost

10. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 4. If I fail, then I am a failure. … For example… Quality versus
Cost
 Self-worth is an essential and undeniable part of your humanity.
 You are worthy because you are human.
 Self-worth is not determined by level of achievement.
 No amount of success makes one more worthy.
 No amount of failure makes one less worthy.

11. Five cognitive distortions and how to overcome
them
 5. I have nothing to lose by staying put.
 We avoid taking action because we fixate exclusively on what might go
wrong.
 There are two sides to each coin.
 Keeping the status quo can come at a great cost.
 As an example
 In pandemic situation like corona many may have lost jobs and lingering feel of
being layoffs may continue.
 You can not keep your head down and hope for the best .
 One has to explore options and plan and act accordingly
 Why not respond to the warning signs by taking action?
 You may update your resume, explore job openings in your market or even talk to
a recruiter.
 Take matters into my own hands and fail on an endeavor
 Story no 1 is clear validation of this approach