I think it’s possible that ‘fear of failure + fear of difficulty’ doesn’t fully explain why people struggle to start/continue an action.
In fact, I think there’s a third reason, one that’s fuzzier and therefore perhaps somewhat more delicate to deal with which at least I encounter: I’m often vaguely aware (intuitively/not quite consciously) that a/some second-order consequence(s) will be impacted if I undertake the action, or if I undertake the action before obtaining more information, mustering up sharper focus etc (yes, I realise this is exactly how one might rationalise procrastinating, only about something that isn’t the core object). This is esp true if there’s a general sense of uncertainty about various ramifications of my executing/prioritising/executing in a particular way the action in question.
As context, this is something that’s become true for me in the course of heavy burnout. Quite simply, I lost confidence in my ability to effectively track ALL the things (hypervigilant? Me? What do you mean, overoptimising isn’t optimal?), which caused a bunch of paralysis. I’m working on it; simply becoming aware of these kinds of patterns has helped me tremendously. I think it’s worth recognising the impact such mechanisms can have, at least for people who struggle to trust their focus/discernment, either temporarily like me or possibly chronically, if that’s a thing for really anxious people.
I think there’s a way this failure mode can be rolled into your ‘failure or difficulty’ model, by conceptualising this as a subset of the potential failure or difficulty that may arise if you undertake the action.
One point I want to add to my previous comment:
I think it’s possible that ‘fear of failure + fear of difficulty’ doesn’t fully explain why people struggle to start/continue an action.
In fact, I think there’s a third reason, one that’s fuzzier and therefore perhaps somewhat more delicate to deal with which at least I encounter: I’m often vaguely aware (intuitively/not quite consciously) that a/some second-order consequence(s) will be impacted if I undertake the action, or if I undertake the action before obtaining more information, mustering up sharper focus etc (yes, I realise this is exactly how one might rationalise procrastinating, only about something that isn’t the core object). This is esp true if there’s a general sense of uncertainty about various ramifications of my executing/prioritising/executing in a particular way the action in question.
As context, this is something that’s become true for me in the course of heavy burnout. Quite simply, I lost confidence in my ability to effectively track ALL the things (hypervigilant? Me? What do you mean, overoptimising isn’t optimal?), which caused a bunch of paralysis. I’m working on it; simply becoming aware of these kinds of patterns has helped me tremendously. I think it’s worth recognising the impact such mechanisms can have, at least for people who struggle to trust their focus/discernment, either temporarily like me or possibly chronically, if that’s a thing for really anxious people.
I think there’s a way this failure mode can be rolled into your ‘failure or difficulty’ model, by conceptualising this as a subset of the potential failure or difficulty that may arise if you undertake the action.