The Fear You May Not Be Aware Of: Fear of Success

Fear of failure is spoken about all the time but fear of success not so much… We assume that of course we would want success, of course we want to achieve all our goals and create the life we’re dreaming of BUT we feel like something is stopping us.

Fear of success can be defined as being afraid of achievement to the point of self-sabotage.

Unconsciously you may not feel worthy of success, or you might fear more responsibilities, hard work, having to make sacrifices, life becoming more complicated and how the success will impact your relationships and how people view you.

You may not be aware of these fears at all, but it may feel like there is an internal conflict between the part of you who wants to succeed and the part who feels scared.

Fear of success might look like:

• Not setting any goals

• Quitting just before you are about to succeed

• Procrastinating

• Putting obstacles in your own way

Fear of success might feel like:

• Worrying about the new responsibilities you will have to take on

• Feeling scared of being in the spotlight

• Feeling anxious your life will become more complicated

• Worrying about how it will impact your relationship and friendships

• Feeling anxious about what other people might say

• Worrying you’ll leave other people behind

I often have clients who say “I want this (insert goal) so badly, why am I not doing it??”

If that resonates it might mean that some part of you is scared of success.

Fear does not need to control your life and if you’re ready to overcome this, then the first step is awareness. Spend some time answering the following journal prompts from a place of curiosity rather than judgement.

Journal Prompts

• Write down the success you would love to achieve in your life (think about every area of your life!)

• What do you think will happen when you achieve this level of success?

• Will it be hard/easy?

• Will you have to sacrifice anything?

• How will it impact your health/wellbeing?

• How will it impact your relationships?

• What do you want to think/believe/feel about the success you would love to achieve?

• If you thought/believed/felt that what would be different? What action would you take?

• How could you start taking this action?

I really encourage you to try and take a small piece of action, as this is key to moving forwards in your life. You can start small and really think about how can I support myself to take this action.

If you want to get your unconscious mind on board too then I recommend purchasing The Breakthrough Tapes which utilise the same neuroscience-backed techniques trusted by Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 executives to permanently rewire success patterns in your brain. Included in these 12 guided sessions is one specifically focused on Fear of Success. Listen to it as much as possible to really cement the positive suggestions into your mind.

Remember I believe in you!

Elyssa x