What's Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential, and How You Can

The Link with Low Self-Esteem

While the above interpretation of failure is, as stated, the classic view of the High-FF, it also reveals another personality trait that cannot be ignored when dealing with fear of failure: low self-esteem. Of course, fear of failure and low self-esteem are different afflictions: fear of failure undermines our actions (changing our behaviour), while low self-esteem distorts our beliefs (generating negative evaluations). But, like fear of failure, low self-esteem is a self-fulfilling condition – leading us to evaluate the world in ways that encourage their external confirmation (that we will fail, or that we are worthless).

And while not all High-FFs have low self-esteem (or vice versa), fear of failure and low self-esteem ...