# Rewiring the Fear of Failure | Gracee DeJarnette | TEDxETSU

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbTCevJ9IAY
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/SbTCevJ9IAY
Generated: 2025-12-22T16:42:38.636+00:00

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## Quick Overview

The speaker argues that overcoming the fear of failure, which is heavily promoted by Western culture and social media, requires actively reframing failure as a learning opportunity and embracing challenges to cultivate a growth mindset, demonstrated through a personal anecdote of falling while skiing.

**Key Points:**
- The speaker states that one in three Americans reports fearing failure, citing research from Stanford professor Dr. Carol Dweck.
- The speaker shares a personal story of skiing on a blue slope, falling, and then getting back up instead of quitting, which she says was a result of choosing a growth mindset.
- Societal and social media pressures often promote a fixed mindset where failure is seen as having serious consequences like losing scholarships or damaging relationships.
- A fixed mindset causes people to value looking smart over learning, leading them to fear effort and avoid challenges.
- A growth mindset, conversely, views intelligence and capabilities as moldable, making failure a learning opportunity rather than a permanent state.
- The speaker encourages the audience to take a breath, dust off the snow, and get excited to try again when they face failure, rather than letting fear dictate their actions.

![Screenshot at 00:37: The speaker illustrates the difference between fixed and growth mindsets by referencing the fear associated with descending steep blue ski slopes versus embracing the challenge.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-00-37.jpg)

**Context:** The speaker, Gracee DeJarnette, delivers a TEDx talk focusing on the pervasive cultural fear of failure, particularly how societal values and social media amplify this fear, leading to a fixed mindset. She contrasts this with the benefits of adopting a growth mindset, which encourages embracing challenges and viewing mistakes as essential steps toward mastery and improvement.

## Detailed Analysis

The speaker opens by admitting she is far from an expert skier, recounting an experience where she fell on a steep blue slope, landing flat on her face. She sat there for ten minutes, while her friends skied on, and she had to decide whether to stay down or get up. She realized her fear of failure, which she notes is prevalent in Western culture (citing that 1 in 3 Americans fears failure, per Dr. Carol Dweck), was preventing her from moving. She contrasts the fixed mindset, which prioritizes looking smart and avoids effort for fear of failure, with the growth mindset, which views intelligence as moldable and sees failure as a learning opportunity. The speaker explains that fear and excitement produce the same physiological adrenaline response; the difference is in the choice of reaction: succumbing to fear or choosing excitement and trying again. She concludes by urging the audience to reframe failure as an unavoidable part of life and an opportunity to learn, rather than something leading to anxiety, depression, or relationship issues, emphasizing that choosing a growth mindset allows one to step out of fear and embrace challenges.

### Introduction and Personal Anecdote

- Speaker admits she is not an expert skier
- Describes falling on a blue slope and sitting for 10 minutes
- Friends skied on while she decided whether to quit or try again

### The Role of Mindset

- Cites Dr. Carol Dweck; 1 in 3 Americans fears failure
- Fixed mindset prioritizes looking smart over learning, leading to fear of effort
- Growth mindset views intelligence as moldable and embraces challenges as learning opportunities

### Physiological Comparison

- Fear and excitement produce the same adrenaline response in the body
- The choice is whether to react with fear or with excitement to try again

### Call to Action

- Urges the audience to reframe failure as an unavoidable learning opportunity
- Don't fear failure; instead, dust off the snow and get excited to try again
- Concludes by thanking the audience

![Screenshot at 00:00: Speaker Gracee DeJarnette taking the stage at TEDxETSU.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-00-00.jpg)
![Screenshot at 00:22: Speaker visually describing the steepness of the ski slope using her hands.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-00-22.jpg)
![Screenshot at 01:34: Speaker holding up one finger while referencing Dr. Carol Dweck's research statistic \(1 in 3 Americans fear failure\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-01-34.jpg)
![Screenshot at 04:16: Speaker holding up two fingers while presenting the concept of a 'second mindset' \(growth mindset\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-04-16.jpg)
![Screenshot at 05:57: Speaker holding up three fingers while summarizing her final point: 'Don't fear failure.'](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/SbTCevJ9IAY/00-05-57.jpg)