How to deal with the fear of failing out

Mistakes and failures are part of an everyday trading experience. Dwelling on your fear can cripple your trade success. This article explores ways to overcome your fear of failing out.

Trading phobos (Fear)—explanation

Like in every profession requiring decision-making and rewarding results, trading comes with its fair share of fears and worries. Fear is a normal part of daily living. It is a powerful emotion capable of influencing life-changing decisions, defeating common sense, and humbling the most intelligent people. This emotion may be attached to material things or imaginary situations. 

For traders, fear is often linked to imagined scenarios and possible adverse outcomes. Dealing with fear the right way can prove to be a motivating factor for brave and uncommon trading decisions. It is common for people to back out of meaningful choices because they are afraid of the consequences. Fear can introduce confusion and halt major business strategies and plans. 

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The fear of failing out

This is also referred to as the fear of failure. The goal of every trader is a successful deal. The aim of every calculation, research, strategy, planning, and timed decision is to succeed. It is easy to forget that failure is a natural and necessary part of every success and growth story. We learn from mistakes. We grow because of learned lessons. Failure is necessary.

Trader or investor: what’s the difference?

The fear of failure means that you are constantly worrying about the adverse outcomes of every business decision. You focus so much on what could happen if things don’t go as planned, the potential losses, the impact on your business, etc… You begin to procrastinate, prolong the decision-making process more than necessary, turn away from profitable business opportunities, and ignore investments. 

Why are you afraid?

—You lack experience: Fear can be heightened by having minimal experience in a new trade, investment, or area.

—You lack confidence in your capabilities: you may pass up on profitable ventures because you don’t think you can handle them.

—You lack mentorship: having a healthy source of business advice and support can boost your confidence, equip you with knowledge and improve your skills. It is normal to feel afraid when you have to take huge risks alone. 

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Dealing with fear of failing out—4 quick steps

You must remember that fear will be a constant presence throughout your career and in every important decision, you make as a trader or investor. You cannot make it go away, but you can make it work. Here are ways to deal with trading FOF:

1. Recognize your fear, acknowledge it and identify the reasons for your fear

These are the first critical steps to overcoming fear in every field. When you do this, you can create solutions for your problem and move forward.

2. Change your attitude

Failing is always possible, but rising to the challenge is your responsibility as a trader. To win, you must develop and sustain a winner’s attitude. Embrace your losses and learn from your mistakes. View your losses as a learning channel to scrutinize your trading patterns and habits, then identify areas of improvement and make the necessary changes. 

3. Work on your trading game 

This begins with changing the negative or unrealistic mindset. Set realistic goals and weigh your risks objectively. Observe market trends, research them, and learn to anticipate and interpret them as they come. 

4. Build your network

Every trader must build a reliable network to expand their knowledge and gain access to a prosperity of experience. 

A step forward

Many people fail in trading because they let their fear control their decisions. Fear clouds your mind when you have no control over it. A trader must learn that success begins in the mind and should therefore identify fear of failure as a limiting factor, convert loss to a learning process and constantly strive to be better at taking risks.