What did you fear the most in 2021?
From Google’s search engine we can see by individual states this year’s top fears and phobia’s.
Alabama: Fear of failure
Alaska: Fear of failure
Arizona: Fear of heights
Arkansas: Fear of heights
California: Fear of blood
Colorado: Fear of failure
Connecticut: Fear of the outside
Delaware: Fear of flying
District of Columbia: Fear of social media
Florida: Fear of blood
Georgia: Fear of blood
Hawaii: Fear of holes
Idaho: Fear of flying
Illinois: Fear of blood
Indiana: Fear of water
Iowa: Fear of intimacy
Kansas: Fear of snakes
Kentucky: Fear of water
Louisiana: Fear of water
Maine: Fear of germs or viruses
Maryland: Fear of intimacy
Massachusetts: Fear of failure
Michigan: Fear of water
Minnesota: Fear of failure
Mississippi: Fear of being alone
Missouri: Fear of blood
Montana: Fear of people
Nebraska: Fear of failure
Nevada: Fear of blood
New Hampshire: Fear of spiders
New Jersey: Fear of intimacy
New Mexico: Fear of holes
New York: Fear of intimacy
North Carolina: Fear of water
North Dakota: Fear of the outside
Ohio: Fear of failure
Oklahoma: Fear of spiders
Oregon: Fear of water
Pennsylvania: Fear of water
Rhode Island: Fear of the dark
South Carolina: Fear of spiders
South Dakota: Fear of the outside
Tennessee: Fear of blood
Texas: Fear of blood
Utah: Fear of needles
Vermont: Fear of failure
Virginia: Fear of failure
Washington: Fear of blood
West Virginia: Fear of the dark
Wisconsin: Fear of failure
Wyoming: Fear of clowns
Beyond the expected fear of Covid-19, fear of spiders, water and public speaking the top fear was “the fear of failure”. The best way to overcome the fear of failure is through learning.
How to overcome fear
1. Figure out Where the Fear Comes From
2. Reframe Beliefs About Your Goal
3. Learn to Think Positive
4. Visualize all Potential Outcomes
5. Look at the Worst-Case Scenario
6. Have a Backup Plan
7. Learn From Whatever Happens
Learning from failure is key. However, saying you need to learn from failure for many is like saying “just climb Mt. Everest.” How do they or you learn from failure? That is the questions that I worked on for the last three years while researching my new book Learning Frames.

I close with this profound thought from CEO Allison Roberts:
“People often think of failure as not hitting a very specific mark (state champion, management consultant, etc.). I’ve always been of the mentality that I’ll shoot for the stars and if I miss, I’ll still be in outer space. Life isn’t a cleanly defined, linear experience. Success will look very different for different people. I think we should look at life’s experiences as learning milestones and a series of pivots. I’m very happy with where I am today. If I had “succeeded” at some of the goals I listed above, I might not be where I am today. But I’m happier now than I would have been in another position. So really, I “succeeded” by failing at my other goals. Life’s really what you make it. What is the most important thing you’ve learned from failure? Failure is the greatest teacher, and not because you need to get slammed really hard to learn. It’s the greatest teacher because it shows that YOU were willing to put yourself out there and shoot for something audacious. You learned a lot more from that than you would have with a smaller goal in a sterile environment.”
How do you overcome and learn from failure?