Fear of success #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published two years ago:

Are we more afraid of success than failure?

 Here's an interesting view of fear of failure vs fear of success from Psychology Today:

The familiar cliché is fear of failure, but that’s a misnomer. Most people are very familiar with failure, and as a consequence have very little fear of it. 

That may sound like a riddle, but it’s easily explained by a phrase we use all the time: “In a crisis we go back to old beliefs and old behaviors.” Since we know failure so intimately, it’s that familiarity that calls us home. 

The real issue is fear of success, and since we are not familiar with it, we are drawn away from it and back to what we know best, failure. It may seem odd since we covet success so much that we would veer from it just when it’s within our grasp.

Being successful takes you out of your comfort zone...it's a new experience for many of us. You may leave some of your friends behind and they may resent you for it. It's so much easier to stay where you are or even regress a little to keep your buddies comfortable.

As Hugh MacLeod says:

“Success is more complex than Failure.”

Think about it. Being a failure is a no-brainer. All you have to do is sleep till noon, get out of bed, scratch your balls, have your morning visit to the bathroom, turn on the Star Trek re-runs, help yourself to some breakfast [Leftover pizza and a bottle of Jack Daniels, Hurrah!], light up your first joint of the day, download some porn, and already you’re well on your way. Sure, a few inconvenient variables may enter the picture here and there, to complicate an otherwise perfect day of FAIL, e.g. what you’re going to have to say to your brother in order to convince him to lend you that $300, so you can pay off the telephone bill, that kinda thing. But for the most part, the day-to-day modus operandi of your “Average Total Failure” is quite straightforward. 

Being successful, however, is a whole different ball game. Breakfast meetings at 7.00am. Conference calls at midnight. Visiting twelve cities in five days. Fielding question from a swarm of hostile journalists. Dealing successfully with an enraged, multi-million dollar customer who’s screaming bloody murder over something rather trivial in the grand scheme of things. Making sure there’s enough money in the account to meet the payroll of all your legions of highly-paid, highly-effective, highly-talented employees. All these hundreds of unrelenting issues to deal with, all day, every day. You get the picture.

Here are some steps on how to overcome the fear of success:

1. Be positive.
2. Continually remind yourself that you are part of something larger than you. 
3. Take time to find your authenticity. 
4. Create your success library.  
5. Learn. 
6. Live in balance. 

Along with #2 above, remind yourself of why you want to succeed. Always come back to your why when you begin to doubt yourself and that should help you get back on track.

Interesting days

Today - Mint Julep Day, Loomis Day and Water a Flower Day

Tomorrow - No Tobacco Day, Macaroon Day, Web Designer Day and Save Your Hearing Day

Next Thursday - Applesauce Cake Day, Caves and Karst Day, Gardening Exercise Day, Drive-In Movie Day, Russian Language Day and Yo-Yo Day

June 30 - Log Cabin Day, Social Media Day and Meteor Watch Day