The fear of success

You may wonder – how is it possible to be afraid of success? It sounds strange, to say the least! It is obvious how one can fear failure. But success? Meanwhile, this happens more often than you could have guessed. 

It is not so easy to catch the fear of success “by its tail”. It doesn’t announce itself as loudly as other fears that we have. Surprisingly, it disguises itself as a fear of failure. People cannot understand why they stop just a short step away from achieving a big result, or, instead of making the last big push, they switch to another task, or suddenly fall sick with some mysterious illness at the most crucial moment and prevent themselves from changing their lives to the better.

How can you understand if you are subconsciously afraid of big success and can sabotage it?

• You have a feeling of guilt when achieving even a moderate success – what if someone gets offended?
• Your achievements are a well-guarded secret – what if someone will jinx or envy you? And in general, bragging is bad.
• You avoid important projects, where you are visible and success will be assigned to you, not to the team.
• You procrastinate a lot, to the point that your plans may get derailed.
• You give up too easily, at the first sign of difficulties.
• You have a vague feeling that you are not worthy of success. Success is for other people, not for you…
• You devalue your successes – “you call it a success?”

Most often, the reason for the fear of success stems from childhood beliefs. Who hasn’t heard phrases like these: 

“You are laughing? You will cry later!” (Meaning that you need to pay for your happiness).

“A lot of success – a lot of responsibility” (Meaning that you can’t pull it off).

“Stay on your own side of the fence” (Meaning that this is not for you).

“You must be humble, otherwise you will grow up to be self-centered!” (Meaning “do not stick out, keep a low profile”)

If you live according to such rules, any success brings a lot of risks. So, it seems like it is better… not to achieve it?

So what can you do if you found this “emergency brake” in the form of fear of success? You need to investigate it! It is worthwhile to spend time to learn about your fear of success so that you could make your future better.

In reality, when you recognize and name your problem, you already considerably reduce its influence on your life. And then…

• Finish this phrase: “I am afraid that if I will be successful at <…>, then <…>.” Analyze your answer. Do you have any rebuttals? 
• How may my close people react if I become successful?
• What will change in my life if I become successful?
• What bad may happen if I become successful? And what good?
• How do I sabotage my success? What can I do to stop doing it?

We wish you success in overcoming the fear of success! ?