6.10 Reasons for Procrastination: Fear

Fear of Failure

A fear of failure is a common reason people procrastinate. For some people, this fear of failure elicits feelings like frustration, sadness, disappointment, anger, shame, and regret. In these cases, the motivation to avoid the feelings of failure exceeds the motivation to succeed. In addition, the pain of trying and feeling like one failed may seem greater than never having tried at all. Many people who struggle with a fear of failure unintentionally sabotage their chances for success by procrastinating. For example, rather than preparing for a job interview by learning about the organization or role-playing common interview questions, someone might spend that time buying a new outfit for the interview, which allows them to use the excuse, “I didn’t have enough time to prepare” if the interview doesn’t go well (Winch, 2018).

Fear of Success

For some, a fear of success leads to procrastination. People who struggle with a fear of success might be afraid they won’t be able to continue performing at the expected level to continue to be successful. Or, they might fear the other expectations or side effects that come with success. For example, an individual wants to exercise regularly, but fears that doing so will mean they will stop getting invited to other social gatherings, their more sedentary friends will resent them, and they’ll need to buy a whole new wardrobe to accommodate for their changing body and lifestyle. Even if we’re not aware of it consciously, subconsciously the unexpected side effects of success can be enough to prevent us from taking action.

Another way the fear of success impacts procrastination is via the imposter phenomenon, a feeling of inadequacy that persists despite evidence to the contrary. People who struggle with imposter syndrome suffer from chronic self-doubt and often work much harder than necessary to ensure they won’t fail. Unfortunately, this action can perpetuate the cycle because they end up believing they only succeeded from doing all of the extra work or because of parts of their identity, rather than being skilled. People who identify as perfectionists often suffer from imposter syndrome as well. Because they set very high goals, perfectionists often feel like they must be perfect all or most of the time, and accuse themselves of not being good enough if they don’t meet their expectations, they often experience self-doubt and worry about being exposed as a ‘fraud’.

Fear of the Unknown

Sometimes, we procrastinate due to fears of the unknown. When we experience a fear of the unknown, procrastination occurs because the current status, belief system, or our current knowledge about the issue is less frightening than learning the truth. We might hold off on going to the doctor to address a health concern, avoid a tough conversation with a partner, or procrastinate on addressing our concerns with a supervisor. Although the “truth” might not be as bad as we make it out to be, it’s the fear of not knowing that gets in our way of addressing it.

Learning Activity: Identifying Different Types of Fear