Are You Afraid of Success?

Are  You Afraid of Success? Hey everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing an reflection on are fear and success. It is well documented that many people fail to achieve their goals in life due to the phenomenon known as “fear of failure”, but are you aware that a major factor often overlooked is a state known as “fear of success”? Fear of failure will lead many people into inertia – the inability to make a decision or take action in case they receive rejection or adverse outcomes. This mental state is pretty easy to identify, and there are many tools in the personal development industry to help combat this plague and reprogram the mind for success. However, the fear of success is much more subtle and harder to spot and eradicate.

Are You Afraid of Success?

Perhaps You Have This Tendency In Your Life

Here are some indications of a fear of success mentality:

• By studying and trying to implement self-improvement techniques and personal development tools, your life does not improve or may even worsen.
• You settle for less than you feel you deserve or are capable of achieving.
• You start new projects full of enthusiasm and optimism but wane in your efforts or stop short before you have completed them.
• You expect things to go wrong no matter how well the situation appears to be at the moment.

Can you identify your patterns in any of the above statements?

The fear of success can also make you behave in ways that hold you back. Look at the list below. These are the symptoms of anxiety about success.

Procrastination

Putting off what needs to be done or not doing what you know will bring you closer to your desired result. Everyone suffers from this inner ‘demon’ at some point in their lives (although some of us suffer from it more than others!).

Procrastination is a ‘success killer’! How can you expect to reach your destination if you do not take steps? Strive to do little things each day that will bring you small steps closer to your goal. This is why a personal development plan is essential in the fight against procrastination. Take action! Any action! Refine your efforts as you go along but do not sit and do nothing. Taking action is one of the critical aspects of personal development.

Can’t See The Forest For The Trees!

This is almost the opposite of procrastination but has the same effect on your personal development. The saying above is well known but have you ever given it real consideration?

Please don’t get caught up in your plan, believing it is more critical than the materialised goal! For many years I got caught in this trap. I started to think and act as though my plan was more important than my result and thus missed many opportunities to alter my path and reach my goals more quickly! Let go of your ego and allow the Universe to show you a quicker route to your goal. Remain flexible.

Thinking That The Time Is Not Right

Have you ever waited until the timing was perfect before starting a venture? Have you ever stayed until you had more information on a better plan?

Again ACTION is the key to the door to success. Taking small steps forward is better than taking none or waiting to see if your foot is landing on the right spot! Even if your actions take you away from your goal, you have at least gained insight and knowledge about what does not work!

Being A Perfectionist

This is similar to the point above and has the same effect: you never really move forward. No matter how good a job is, it can constantly be improved when it is finished! I have heard many great musicians say they hate listening to their songs because they can find a million things that need improvement. Yet, we still enjoy them. A classic example of this is “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon. This song is hauntingly beautiful, yet Mr Simon does not think it is good enough!

Seeing Only Problems

How do you use your focus? Do you constantly see only all the problems involved? If you are this way inclined, it is pointless trying to change overnight! However, you can use this mindset to your advantage while you strive in your personal development to acquire an opportunistic frame of mind instead.

“How can you use seeing only problems to my advantage?” you say. “Easily” is my reply! Look at the problems and prepare a plan to deal with them. Every time you overcome one, congratulate yourself. Use them as a gauge for your achievements. If you keep seeing more problems, remind yourself of how well you dealt with others. Look at how far you have come! If you see a problem, ask yourself, “how best can I overcome this challenge?” or “how quickly can I rectify this situation?”. The quality of your questions is essential, as I have outlined in a previous article. Use the problems as fact finders. Is there a real problem now? If so, then deal with it. Is it a potential problem? If so, create a contingency plan in case it does occur but don’t get caught up in it. Just be prepared.

Enjoy the journey, follow the above guidelines, and you will achieve success. Eventually, your fear of success will dissipate, and you will have moved a long way forward in your personal development.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Don’t forget to check out LSW Mind Cards.

Talk soon