Overcoming the Fear of Success

Do you have a fear of success? You may say, “Are you crazy? Of course I’m not afraid of success.” But sometimes I run across folks who really are afraid of being successful. Why is that?

Several things may contribute to the problem. It could come from a negative experience you have had related to success. In my own case, I lived with a very wealthy art patron when I was going to art school and she was always stressed out about her money and how her lawyers might be ripping her off. My conclusion at the time was that it wasn’t very much fun having a lot of money and that affected my earning ability for many years.

Another way you can form a fear of success is by imagining that it will affect your current relationships adversely. Or it could be some negative belief about being successful you acquired from a parent such as, “Successful (or rich) people are (fill in the blank) (i.e. greedy, thoughtless, stubborn, etc.).” No matter what the cause is, there are solutions that can be applied to your fear of success.

Most fears are events that you don’t want to happen but there is an added conflict with the fear of success. This is something that you do want to happen on some level and don’t want to happen on another level. As long as you have the conflict, you are stuck in the middle. Here is what I would recommend that you do for this obstacle to your success.

1) Take a good look at the fear
When you really take a look at a fear, you will see that it is only an illusion. A fear is something that MIGHT happen, with unpleasant consequences. But it hasn’t happened yet and projecting the negative effects is just that---a projection. It’s not reality. Now it may be based on an experience of the past that you don’t want to repeat, but that’s not a good way to think. And it certainly is not going to help anything. It’s really just negative thinking. So the first step is to understand that there is little if any truth to the fear.

2) Make an excitement list
The next thing you can do is to make a list of the things that really jazzes and excites you about your future success. If you are working on a specific project that you want to be successful, make the list about that project. Then every time you experience a negative thought about the success of the project, such as doubt, worry, anxiety, read the list. This will not only elevate your mood, but also raise your vibration so you will be closer to the point of attraction of your goal.

3) Form a new belief
Many times your fear of success stem from your beliefs. If you can shift your belief to form a new one, you can overcome it as an obstacle. For example, let’s say that it is your belief that having a successful business will mean that you are earning more money than your husband (if you are a woman) or your friends, and that is a negative consequence for you. One approach to shift this belief is to ask yourself what you would like to believe about this situation. Wouldn’t you rather believe that you can have a successful business, earn more than your friends and still have a good relationship with them? Then start by saying to yourself, “I want to believe that I can be successful in my business, earn as much as I want, and maintain healthy relationships with the people I love.”

Every day you say it you will start to believe it a little bit more until eventually you will be able to say, “I believe that I can be successful in my business, earn as much as I want, and maintain healthy relationships with the people I love.”