Could You Be Afraid of Success?

Seriously, fear of success? I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say, “I sure am afraid of success!” It sounds crazy, right? As a life and business coach, I hear it all the time. Now, I am not saying that my clients come right out and say, “Carrie, I am so afraid of success.” No, in fact, most of us are not even in tune with ourselves to know this could be an area where we need help. Have you ever found yourself picturing your BIG dream and all of the steps to create it, yet your freeze when it comes time to take action? You know what you must do, yet you procrastinate? Perhaps you start to busy yourself with non-essentials that slow you down and you end your day frustrated that you didn’t accomplish your daily goals. The tiniest details may derail you, and if you have partners, they began to easily frustrate you or you may begin to easily frustrate them! You may wonder, “What’s wrong with me?” These all can be classic symptoms of fear of success.  A condition that can be hard to identify because no one talks about fear of success, but honestly, this fear holds back more people than you think, and it is something that I have personally struggled with until my coach helped me examine my own fears around this area. Here are the two most common symptoms of fear of success, and what you can do about them. 1.Fear of Change This is a BIG one for people, simply because it is scary to think about what that change could look like.  Take just a moment to reflect on your beliefs around successful people. Growing up, what did you hear about people that obtained success? Intentionally or unintentionally, LOTS of people believe that people who have obtained success are evil, arrogant, big-headed, backstabbing, no-good people.  I know that I surely don’t want to ever become labeled with any of those negative words! Personally, this is one of the areas that I had to acknowledge in my own life. I worked on this by intentionally looking for people who had found success and were truly good people. They used their success to become a blessing to others. Yes, I also found LOTS of examples of people who had found success who I believe were arrogant and looked down on others, but I choose to focus my attention on those who strive to do well in this world and use their success to bless others. 2.Fear of Maintaining Success “What if I can’t maintain my success?” Success raises the bar on us, and we may wonder how we can keep that level of success going. The crazy thing is that we may play this mind game about success before we even reach that level of success. We may be subconsciously asking ourselves, am I willing to do what it takes to be successful day after day and year after year? That thought excites some and can paralyze others. How can you overcome this sabotaging mind game? When you catch yourself with these negative thoughts, you must change those thoughts. Redirect your thoughts to what success looks and feels like to you. You are not on this journey alone, so surround yourself with people that can help and support you on your road to success.