I had a conversation about the same topic with two completely different people this week. The topic was trying something which was difficult and/or dangerous and failing. Failing the difficult means there was an attempt made at something which a person may not have been prepared for. Failing the dangerous means there is the possibility of death, serious injury and/or a long recovery process. Both have their own, potential, repercussions of varying magnitudes. Both are serious learning situations, if survived.
Depending on the situation, the attempt may mean certain failure, but experiencing that failure will help you become a more experienced person. Sometimes the failure will push you over the edge of a great divide you may have had for yourself, forcing you to reevaluate your personal priorities or considerations of a particular skill set or aspect of mindset. This is especially interesting when you are pushed completely out of your comfort zone and into a new area which you have either never been or very rarely been. Getting punched in the face is a perfect example of this type of failure, most people are afraid of being punched in the face because of various weak reasons. Overcome your fear, your fear of failure and exploit it whenever possible. As Bill Rapier says in his mindset talks, go and get punched in the face for a few months at a boxing gym. After you get punched in the face a bunch times you stop fearing it, because you know what is going to happen, you will learn to fight it, overcome it even. That process/formula can be applied to every skill set. You should evaluate your life and make attempts at situations you may be afraid of failing at. You will know where you are, and after failing you may know what steps you will need to take in order to succeed. The trick is to take the first step and make the attempt.
Fight the fear of failure in every aspect of your life because that will cause inaction and that hinders progress. We should always be looking forward, moving forward, mentally, emotionally, or physically. Fear should be look upon as a positive and not as a negative. Fear shows us exactly the direction we need to go in order to progress, the more it sucks and hurts to do the stronger you will become in the long run from working through it.