What is Fear of Success and Why Does it Limit Your Growth?

One of the strangest fears is the so-called fear of success. Fear of failure is understandable - it 'hurts' to fail, to have your limitations revealed - but to actually fear that you'll get what you've been working for all your life... Well, it just sounds daft, doesn't it?

Well no, actually.

Fear of success is very real and very serious, and quite often the worst thing about this fear is that it goes unnoticed. And that's because the person 'suffering' from it seems to be happy and seems to be successful, but they could have so much more! (Or, in some situations, they have simply resigned themselves to the belief that they 'just can't do it'.)

And that is where this fear comes from: what will 'more' be like? What will happen when I am as successful as I have always deep-down wanted to be? (What will drive me forward, afterwards? What else will there be left for me to do?)

And these types of questions are all really subtle variations of a different fear, altogether: fear of change.

And unless this success fear is 'noticed' AND overcome - i.e. you become aware that you are frightened of unlimited success, and take the necessary steps to challenge your fear (known as facing fear) - then that invisible 'glass ceiling' that limits your growth WILL limit who you can be.

And that would be a sad shame for all of us.

How about an example of fear of success. Well, an obvious example is the perpetual dieter who always seems to put the weight back on whenever he (or she) gets close to their 'ideal' weight. The truth is that they *are* able to challenge their many behavioural habits that see them eating too much and exercising too little. But fear of success - fear of being the attractive man or woman they have always dreamed of being, perhaps - really means fear of having no excuses left for not then attracting the woman or man of their dreams.

(This is one reason why fear of success blights dieters, but there are many.)

The thing is - and this is a sad indictment of most, if not all human beings living today - we really do not believe that we deserve to be happy, sometimes; we do not believe that we deserve to be in a great relationship, and to be fit, healthy and strong.

So our fear of success makes sure that we never achieve these goals.

Thankfully, there is *always* good news when it comes to fear. Especially when we realise that, as Gerald G. Jampolsky puts it, love is letting go of fear. So when we can recognise our fears, and our lack of self-love, then and only then can we begin to take the necessary action to overcome fear of success.

Fear shows us our limitations (our limitations of thought). And love shows us our possibilities.

Or, if you prefer...

"FEAR is an acronym in the English language for "False Evidence Appearing Real""
-- Neale Donald Walsch

So recognise that you may well be suffering from a fear of success. Understand what that fear means to you, to your growth, and what it means to the important people in your life (and that's everyone!), and then take action to challenge this fear and express your self-love in the process.

And I'll be there with you, doing exactly the same...