We often doubt our abilities and think that we’re not good enough to be successful. Is there such a thing as fear of success? What is the real fear of success, and how does it work?
How does one deal with fear of success
What would happen if a small business that was on a $30–50 daily budget on ads scaled to say $300–500 daily?
Imagine the results of a 10-15k/month ad giving results… I’m sure 99% of these business owners would be too scared to even think of the results.
If done wrong without planning and building systems in place, the business owner may probably lose a few nights of sleep trying to adjust and deliver.
And if done right, it’s a big opportunity to further scale or sell the business.
Fear of success leading to procrastination
Sometimes we wish for a certain level of success, and when it’s close or almost ours, we self-sabotage or dread it. Then go back to our old ways and how everything was done.
One thing we must acknowledge is success also comes with a cost: change and discomfort.
First, your goals must align with our vision; e.g. nothing bad with selling a business once you scale it to a certain level.
Then we must remember that getting successful in anything does not come by accident most times but with a set intention.
Making plans, putting effort into avoiding self-sabotage, and pushing through despite the uncertainty and fear are what make the difference.
What is really fear of success and how does it work
I witnessed a form of this fear recently – I scaled a part of my business successfully in terms of the returns and coincidentally work doubled at first.
It was both scary and exciting.
What was most important was whether this was part of my vision for the business – and I realized it was. All that was needed was embracing this new discomfort and optimizing my systems and team.
Let’s not forget the naysayers would always be around to tell you why things can’t work. Growth is uncomfortable and who you hang around with while gearing towards success matters.
We need to remember that everyone has to start somewhere and that we can always improve.
1: Make a Plan
Winners begin with the end in mind. What steps do you need to take to achieve your definition of success?
Break them down into small, manageable pieces.
For example – how you set up your business in the beginning will determine if you’ll ever escape the grind in the future.
Keep building systems as much as possible where you can automate repetitive tasks and delegate low priority tasks.
Understand the steps you need to take to achieve your definition of success. Then, create a plan to help you stay on track.
Online businesses are the greatest example of building business with a plan for more freedom and don’t need you to run when they become successful.
In a large sense, you are earning today exactly what you have decided to earn, no more and no less. If you are not happy with your current income, decide to earn more. Set it as a goal, make a plan and get busy doing what you need to do to earn what you want to earn. – Goal Setting, Brian Tracy.
2: Avoid self-sabotage traits
I have a set standard I intend to meet daily in both my business and lifestyle.
While trying to keep up, I noticed my nutrition was falling off.
So everything else was not holding so well, so I resorted to doing some more self care and strategizing lately.
Self sabotage is all about about habits that eventually draw you back including:
- Lack of self-belief
- Poor self-care
- Toxic habits
- Only thinking short term etc
3: Surround yourself with the right people
Find people who will support you on your journey to success. You need to be intentionally hanging around the right people to make progress in life.
These people can help you stay motivated and accountable. If you spend more time with people who think “it’s not possible” or associate success with evil then you’re always going to detest immense growth and progress which is necessary for success.
There are people who are literally risk averse and fear change – so they mask this fear by claiming to know it all.
You’ll always be afraid of success if you’re not mindful of who you surround yourself with – so make effort to surround yourself with the right people.
4: Model Success
A friend was asking which medium would be best for his product and i asked him where he saw his competitors running ads the most and his brain clicked … research is key.
Don’t reinvent the wheel but model success, that way you’ll have results way much faster.
Plus you’ve got to make sure what you’re applying is relevant for your stage of growth, capacity, and the specific business and life you want to create.
Document your research and model success. Reading books, taking courses, consulting with smarter people and doing what they’ve acknowledged to work is a good start.
Then you can give yourself permission to tweak it as necessary with time but first you must model success.
This is the motivation you need to keep going and not be afraid of success.
5: Focus on goals not obstacles
When you feel uncomfortable taking action – it’s a good sign you need to lean into the discomfort and put in the work.
Don’t let the fear of the unknown get over you. Embrace change and growth that comes with it.
The key to success is to focus on goals not obstacles.
Don’t sit around and think of all the reasons WHY you can’t achieve something. Instead look for the reasons you CAN.
6: Trust the process
Sometimes we get caught up in the success of others not realizing the journey and process which includes the struggles, obstacles, the long nights and early mornings, the $0 days and everything else that they endured to reach that level.
Success usually doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s a process.
You have to TRUST the process while towards success in life.
7: Don’t be afraid of what others will think
We often worry about what others will think of us if we’re successful. We think they’ll say we’re bragging or that we think we’re better than them.
The truth is, most people will be happy for us and our success. This fear can limit your mindset and would prevent you from going all in.
Some even go as far as equating all success to fame which they’re afraid of. Or thoughts of whether the government would be after them.
So you’ll prefer to play small to feel accepted by your mediocre friends.
Ditch that and do you.
8: Think Long Term
Thinking short term is detrimental to your success and it takes discipline and consistency to think long-term.
Having a long-term vision and setting goals help you define what success means to you and keep you focused.
What does success mean to you?
What are your goals and what would achieving them look like? Focus on your long term vision not your short term fulfillment.
9: Be Patient
Change takes time. Don’t expect to overcome your fear of success overnight. Building wealth or anything worthwhile takes time and consistent effort. Stay disciplined in your financial practices and be patient with the process.
Be patient with yourself and trust the process. There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs. No short cuts, no cutting corners, nothing happens in a snap.
Everyone goes through hardships, failures, sacrifices, heartaches, pitfalls, bumps, rejections and even a lot of “nos”, but successful people never give up or throw in the towel. Persistency pays off, if you do the work and do it for a long period of time, sometimes you don’t even notice you reached the top already. ~ Rosette Ramos Pasetes
10: Appreciate every little progress
Appreciation and gratitude for every little thing you have in life is the right attitude for success.
And as a bonus – if you can focus on building the right attitude, you will attract the right people.
Success and growth are simple for you to achieve when you are surrounded by many people with the right attitude. Start by acknowledging your successes, big or small.
Congratulate yourself for a job well done instead of dwelling on what could have been done better.-
11: CONCLUSION
Sometimes success comes slow and then all at once.
We must make plans for it, trust the process and cultivate gratitude as a habit to counter any fear of success.
I got attracted to tech from an early age getting close to my Father. Coupled with learning some high end skills i was able to build a 6 figure Ecommerce store a few years ago after graduating from Pharmacy.
The only way I have found to express myself as an introvert is through writing.
I’m convinced 100% that to build a 6-7-figure business and beyond you need to invest in yourself and your personal development.
The more you grow, the more your business will grow.
PS: I wrote a short book on why you don’t need more motivation and how to push through in such moments – get it here:
This is such a great motivational and thoughtful post! Everyone is scared of success, because that usually means you have to keep a standard all the time. That in itself is stressful! Thanks so much for sharing! I’ll definitely hold onto this for future reference!
I am great at making plans, but reading your post I finally understood better why they never work. I always try to make my plans as detailed as possible so that I focus on short term actions rather than long term. And I am really impatient most of the time. Great and useful reading!