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Why My Biggest Fear is Failure

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Words: 595 |

Page: 1|

3 min read

Published: Sep 1, 2020

Essay grade:
Good
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Words: 595|Page: 1|3 min read

Published: Sep 1, 2020

Essay grade:
Good
arrow downward Read Review

My biggest fear is failure, and I want to write an essay on it. As a child I was accustomed to my performance meeting up to my high expectations. But, as I grew older and eventually began attending high school I found myself time and time again not living up to my own expectations. My initial response to failure had been to continue persevering, but the more it occurred the more I turned to avoidance. The more I failed the greater my fear became and the more I feared pursuing what I wanted to do, what I wanted to say and when I wanted to speak. The pattern began to resemble a spiral of avoidance. One revelatory day this toxic and exponentially worsening pattern was brought to my attention. I noticed that my drive to avoid failure had become more powerful than my drive to succeed in the first place and I knew that there was something fundamentally wrong with that idea. So I began questioning whether my fear of failure was rational. I figured that in many of the things I had avoided due to my fear of failure I would not have lost anything material.

There was nothing that would have resulted in damage that I would not be able to fix. Along my journey, I started paying attention more to situations in which I failed. I noticed that failure can be a good teacher and is a good way to learn things fast. Every failure big or small made me less fragile and more resilient. I realized that the costs of avoidance outweighed its benefits. Instead of facing risks head on I was wasting my time and energy on calculating ways to avoid them. Also, when I avoided participating in something I was depriving myself of potentially valuable experiences. When I looked for benefits I realized that there were none at all. I decided to not allow fear to sculpt my life. After all humans are rational beings and can get wrongs right with the snap of a finger, right? Not that fast! It was of course easier said than done. My fear of failure did not go away overnight. I accepted the fact that I may need to fail a couple times before succeeding. I had to learn to become more open to risks of failing and tolerant to thoughts of distrust towards myself. I figured out the best way to deal with those thoughts was to simply to fight them by not acting upon them. The importance of taking risks in arts and science cannot be overstated. One of the most interesting and unexpected things that occurred to me when I allowed myself to fail was that I gained more creative confidence. I allowed myself to have and pose questions and was less defensive and more willing to participate in constructive discussions. When I looked at my paintings and noticed that event my brushstrokes had grown stronger.

I can delightedly state that I am no longer fearful of what I want to do, what I want to say and when I want to say it. I have successfully escaped the spiral of avoidance that I had immersed myself in. Now I am able to now enjoy spending time on things that I am passionate about rather than avoiding them. I know that my journey to accept failure is still progressing. I will never stop learning from the mistakes I make and the chances that I take. I hope that my failures will help me for the rest of my days.

Works Cited

  1. Brown, B. (2010). The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Hazelden Publishing.
  2. Duckworth, A. L. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner.
  3. Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(6), 1087.
  4. Freud, S. (1930). Civilization and its Discontents. Hogarth Press.
  5. Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
  6. Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
  7. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.
  8. Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. Atria Books.
  9. Sweeny, K., & Duckworth, A. L. (2019). Failure as Fuel: A Self-Regulatory Approach. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 13(11), e12508.
  10. Tice, D. M., & Bratslavsky, E. (2000). Giving in to feel good: The place of emotion regulation in the context of general self-control. Psychological Inquiry, 11(3), 149-159.
Image of Dr. Oliver Johnson
This essay was graded by
Dr. Oliver Johnson
Essay’s grade:
Good
What’s grading
minus plus
Expert Review
This essay discusses the author's biggest fear, which is failure. It provides an insight into the author's personal experience with failure and how they overcame their fear of it. The essay is well-organized and maintains a clear focus throughout. The author uses simple sentence structures and their voice is clear and concise. However, there are some minor grammatical errors that could be corrected.
minus plus
What can be improved
The essay begins with a clear statement of the author's topic, which is their biggest fear of failure. The first sentence could be improved by rephrasing it to make it more engaging. For instance, the sentence could be rephrased as "My heart races every time I am faced with the possibility of failing. Failure is my biggest fear and I want to write an essay on it." The author then provides some background information on their experience with failure. However, the sentence "My initial response to failure had been to continue persevering, but the more it occurred the more I turned to avoidance" could be improved by rephrasing it as "Initially, I responded to failure by persevering, but over time, I began avoiding it." The author then discusses how they realized that their fear of failure was irrational and how they learned from their failures. However, the sentence "Along my journey, I started paying attention more to situations in which I failed" could be rephrased as "During my journey, I started paying closer attention to situations in which I failed." Additionally, the sentence "Every failure big or small made me less fragile and more resilient" could be improved by rephrasing it as "Each failure, whether big or small, helped me become more resilient and less fragile." The essay ends with a positive note on the author's growth and development. However, the sentence "I can delightedly state that I am no longer fearful of what I want to do, what I want to say and when I want to say it" could be rephrased as "I am delighted to state that I am no longer afraid to pursue what I want to do, say what I want to say, and express myself when I want to." Overall, the essay effectively communicates its message but could benefit from some minor improvements in sentence structure and grammar.

Cite this Essay

The Fear of Failure As My Biggest Failure in Life. (2020, September 01). GradesFixer. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-fear-of-failure-in-my-life/
“The Fear of Failure As My Biggest Failure in Life.” GradesFixer, 01 Sept. 2020, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-fear-of-failure-in-my-life/
The Fear of Failure As My Biggest Failure in Life. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-fear-of-failure-in-my-life/> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2024].
The Fear of Failure As My Biggest Failure in Life [Internet]. GradesFixer. 2020 Sept 01 [cited 2024 Dec 5]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-fear-of-failure-in-my-life/
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