Fear of Failure Example

Here's an example of fear of failure from John Nathan's autobiography/memoirs.  It's what Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen mention in their work on procrastination, and what Tal Ben-Shahar mentions in his work. 

Nathan is describing early classes as one of the first foreigners admitted after the war to Todai, Japan's most prestigious university:

"Bihari [from Hungary] regularly interrupted the class to ask for explanations in his heavily accented Japanese.  I envied his freedom from inhibition without understanding it was modesty.  I wanted to be admired for my fluency and spent my time in class in dread of being exposed."

From: Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere by John Nathan.  New York: Free Press. 2008.