We are all familiar with the Fear of Failure. There has been numerous speeches, articles, books etc. addressing the Fear of Failure, but in actuality is it the Fear of Success that most plagues us?
Maryanne Williamson, a Presidential Candidate and Spiritual Leaders sums this fear perfectly well in her quote from “A return to love” : She said ” Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, talented, fabulous…?”
Here are 5 irrational reasons that causes the fear of success.
- Fear of Responsibility : Success comes with responsibility. You have to be responsible and accountable to more people. People will depend on you for guidance, income, perspective.
- Fear of Loneliness : We have often heard of the phrase “It’s lonely at the top” Success might come with isolation, loss of some friends, and going after your goals alone. Sometimes, you are not sure if people are just your friend solely because of what they want from you.
- Fear of Criticism : There are two phrases that exemplifies this. “Don’t stick your head too high, if you don’t want to bump it on something” or “The nail that sticks out, get hammered down”. We are often afraid of what the world will say about us if we attain success.
- Fear of Change : Success often come with change, it comes with the need for you to be uncomfortable. We often want to stay in our comfort zone.
- Fear of losing current success : This is a big one. Some people are afraid of pursuing the great in fear of losing the good. Hence why sometimes, people that have nothing to lose end up being the ones that pursue greatness.
Fear of Success is extremely difficult to spot which is what makes it difficult to overcome.
Here are 5 symptoms that you are suffering from the Fear of Success
- You refuse to set big goals. You tell yourself that you do not want to grow too big.
- You intentionally engage is self destructing behavior…such as drinking too much, partying too often, drugs, binge entertainment.
- You have big ideas, you talk about your big ideas often but never take action to accomplish your big ideas.
- You start big projects, but you never seem to complete them either because you are a “perfectionist”, self-sabotage, distraction, procrastination, etc.
- You work on several projects at once and never seem to complete any of them. You have the same goals…year after year.
What to do about this?
The fear of success is real, and it is normal albeit irrational. We need to be aware of the symptoms and the reason for the fear so that next time we run into this, we can immediately spot it and work to overcome it. The remainder of Maryanne Williamson’s quote says. “You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine…and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
To wrap up, one of my favorite quotes is of Steve Jobs who said. “Remember, everything in this world, was made up of people no smarter than you. And you have the power to change it or make your own as well.”
For more articles like this, please visit my website at www.victorlofinmakin.com/new-blog.
You can pick up a copy of my new book “Success Made Simple on Amazon, Kindle, iBooks etc using this short linkhttp://amzn.to/2dpwvDY
At your service,
Victor Lofinmakin
“Obsessed with Service”
2016 Top 20 Under 40 Realtor
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