How the fear of failure may manifest itself in your life
Most of my clients shared the same initial fear before we began our work together: “What if I fail?” They worried about putting in tremendous effort, only to return to square one.
Perhaps you can relate to this cycle of weight loss followed by weight gain, or the frustrating battle with overeating or binging that seems to resurface every few months.
Fear of failure might manifest itself in thoughts and feelings that getting rid of your unwanted eating habits
– is too difficult,
– takes too long,
– is impossible because you won’t have the willpower to do it,
– means that you will have to deprive yourself.
These negative thoughts and feelings will stop you either during the process or might even stop you before you get started.
Potential reasons for your past “failures”
But what if I told you that your past experiences don’t define your future? It’s time to break free from the limitations that have held you back and discover a fresh perspective. Let’s explore some potential reasons behind your perceived “failures”:
Unsustainable Approaches
In the past, you may have tried restrictive diets or fleeting strategies that left you yearning for your old habits or forbidden foods. Your body, depleted and craving nourishment, made it nearly impossible to resist overeating, resulting in weight gain.
Unaddressed Emotional Eating
The challenge of coping with intense emotions without turning to food is a struggle many of us face. Sometimes, you might not even recognize the emotion itself; instead, you experience an overwhelming urge to eat during or after certain situations.
Black and white thinking, aka. Perfectionism
“If I can’t do it perfectly, I won’t do it at all.” Giving up completely after just ONE slip-up because “It doesn’t work anyway, might as well go back to my old habits.”
Masochistic equilibrium
It’s like having an internal maximum happiness thermostat that tells you how much happiness you can or deserve to have. If for some reason you are happier than your set maximum, it feels “too good to be true” and you start self-sabotaging your happiness. Due to your past experiences and maybe traumas, you are only comfortable with a certain amount of joy.
According to Carl Jung when our lives don´t have meaning and purpose we indulge in bad habits to create drama and excitement, to have something stimulating and exciting in our lives, even if they have negative consequences.
Now imagine embarking on a different journey
Here’s how we do things differently in my 12-week, one-on-one coaching program so you can break free from the fear of failure:
Balancing Eating Patterns
Our primary focus isn’t solely on weight loss. Instead, we prioritize establishing a balanced eating pattern, making physical hunger predictable and recognizable. This newfound awareness helps you differentiate between physical and emotional hunger.
Additionally, a balanced body is more resilient to stress, reducing the need for food as a means of comfort or stress release.
Understanding Hunger
You’ll gain the ability to differentiate between emotional and physical hunger and discover the strategies that genuinely satiate both types.
Embracing Failure
When you embrace failure instead of worrying about it, failure becomes a valuable learning opportunity rather than a devastating setback. As Winston Churchill famously said, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Emotional Tolerance
You’ll develop the emotional resilience to navigate challenging moments without running for food to cope. This way it will be also easier to break free from the fear of failure.
Imperfect Actions
You’ll learn to embrace imperfect actions that lead you closer to your goals. Progress, not perfection, is the key to breaking free from the fear of failure.
Allowing yourself to feel good
Breaking free from the addiction to drama and allowing yourself to experience happiness and joy more frequently. As Nathaniel Branden reminds us, “What is required for many of us, paradoxical though it may sound, is the courage to tolerate happiness without self-sabotage.”
I invite you to embark on this exciting journey of self-discovery and growth. Break free from the fear of failure and embrace the potential that lies within you. Join my coaching program today and take the first step toward a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life.
If you would like to talk about breaking free from the fear of failure and your specific issues and learning more about the program, consider booking a 60-minute complimentary call here.
I’m looking forward to speaking with you.
