Overcoming Fear of Failure

Fear of failure is very prevalent in the sport of cheerleading and gymnastics. It is natural for us to be afraid of trying new skills because of the inherent riskiness of these sports as well as wanting to please our coaches, parents, and teammates. While this fear is natural. It is important to recognize that you can do hard things in the face of fear.

Be afraid and do it anyways.

A few quotes for you to think about:

“Don't permit fear of failure to prevent effort. We are all imperfect and will fail on occasions, but fear of failure is the greatest failure of all.” - John Wooden

"In order to be good at something you must first be bad at it" -unknown

"Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it's a small price to pay for living a dream." -Peter McWilliams

Cheer is much more about failure than it is about success. Constantly trying new skills to evolve the sport, means lots of falls and mistakes along the way. I have never met a world champion level cheerleader who hasn't fell, dropped a stunt or messed up in a performance or competition. The most successful people often fail the most because they aren't afraid of trying new things and putting themselves in uncomfortable situations.

I don't believe perfection exists. So instead of looking for perfection in my skills, I often looked for new ways to "fail" so that I could continue to learn and grow.

It is normal to be fearful, especially when trying new skills. I don't pretend to not be afraid, I just choose to do it anyways no matter how uncomfortable I feel. Get rid of your "perfectionist" mentality, get comfortable with being uncomfortable and don't be afraid of being "bad" at something because it will lead to learning new skills and becoming more successful in the long run.