Do you have a fear of failure?

Looking back, my fear of failure was pretty evident. So what are the classic signs that we are High-FFs (as I call individuals with an increased fear of failure in What's Stopping You?)- both growing up and as an adult? Here are some - from personal experience, some from the wide body of psychological research on the subject (and all with the caveat that one of these traits is not evidence alone of the fear of failure - there may be other explanations).

1) Difficulty settling into mainstream activities. As above, this was certainly a serious one for me. I couldn't settle in any club or formalised non-curricular activity. Partly this was due to a natural rebelliousness (see below) but a core problem was I always secretly feared failure and, therefore, sought avoiding the experience. Occasionally I'd be tempted in - seeing other boys enjoying football or church-hall dramatics or chess - even so it wouldn't last. Whilst as an adult, hobbies are fleeting and shortly forgotten - usually following the first humiliation.

2) Rebelliousness. This can include music-based cultures - perhaps punks or (more recently) emos where the "shock"' is mostly delivered through inappropriate dress. Yet it can grow into something more serious - perhaps indulging in misdemeanours relevant to the social backdrop of the sufferer. Including becoming disruptive in class, being a petty vandal, a shop-lifter, car-jack, or even just a smoker. Bullying or, if less confident, becoming one of the bully's lieutenants is - surprisingly - another trait of the classic High-FF (anything that rejects mainstream behaviour).

3) Exam stress. It's an obvious one but even mild fear of failure can cause extreme exam stress, with High-FFs potentially taking their avoidance tactics (conscious or otherwise) to extremes. Feigning illness (or perhaps experiencing the illness), anxiety and panic attacks and perhaps deliberately sabotaging the exam are all avoidance tactics (perhaps feigning an "I don't care" attitude).

4) "Dream fulfilment" careers. One of the most outwardly-ambitious people may, in fact, be indulging in High-FF avoidance of sensible but challenging career choices. These could include those focused on "wildest dream" career choices for example pop stardom or TV fame. Crucially, the near-impossibility of achieving the dream means they are kindly judged for being "a trier", and it may mask their avoidance of realistic but challenging career choices (usually involving qualifications). Watch the initial episodes of the X-Factor or any other reality Tv series for examples.

5) Acting the clown. This one can follow us all the way through our lives. High-FFs in many cases are the school, office or shopfloor clown - the joker that everyone likes, despite (and partly because of) their lowly status. At first glance at least, being the most popular cheeky-chappie appears to be more valuable to the office clown than making progress. However, it is usually a mask hiding an inner feeling of inadequacy.

6) Avoiding promotion. High-FFs can actively seek to avoid promotion, even when they are the most obvious candidate. Excuses will vary (including claiming a "fear of success") but it's usually based upon an inner conviction that failure and - importantly - humiliation will result. Many declare themselves happier among the troops as opposed to officers or show no desire to "fall out with Fred/John/Joan" who may be contesting the promotion.

7) Criticising and feuding. The High-FF's view of his or her workplace (or school, studio, college) is likely to be a negative one. Indeed, High-FFs usually are highly critical of how all external life is executed - sometimes publicly and vocally so. They are often part of the moaning canteen gang - perhaps its leader. They usually can direct their criticisms at particular individuals - usually those they fear. Inevitably this can lead to petty rivalries that may even turn into full-blown and disruptive feuds. Oddly, the other end of the scale - over-enthusiasm - could also be a mask to hide self-perceived inadequacies.

8) Injustice convictions. This was definitely one of my major giveaways - assuming slights or insults were meant and private, looking (and, sometimes finding) prejudice or favouritism to others (real or otherwise), developing acute paranoia about the intentions of colleagues and managers. Naturally, these may turn into self-fulfilling prophesies if we are not careful, and may also lead to a disastrous vengeful attitude. In its extreme, this leads to pilfering and absenteeism and other misbehaviour based on a "why shouldn't I?" mentality.

9) Poor luck. High-FFs believe they have got poor luck. That they're always in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially at those crucial moments. Job interviews are blighted by late trains or random illnesses (food poisoning from a banana was one of mine). New jobs or promotions have unexpected crises or challenges visited upon them only after we arrive - all seemingly beyond our control. Needless to say, in truth we're searching the horizon for icebergs, and immediately manning the lifeboats, rather than giving them the wide berth the prior captain quietly managed.

10) Choking. Perhaps an obvious one but one no less harmful for that. Job interviews, presentations, key meetings - those important moments that need a strong performance are the very moments we lose our self-confidence and "choke". We may even develop physical traits such as the shakes, or sweats, or maybe a wobbly voice. More usually we say stupid things, forget obvious answers and come across like a fool: the typical self-fulfilling results of High-FF behaviour, basically.