EDITORIAL FEATURE
Fear of Success
By Rita Santamaria
S
igns of self-sabotaging your relationships and your business and
personal goals are demonstrating
your fears of success. Why do we
have fear? We feel vulnerable to new environments, situations, and people. Getting to the point of success can expose
our weaknesses and make us come faceto-face with our flaws; therefore, we maneuver around what could be successful
opportunities.
The fear of success is very real and often happens when you are moving forward in your life. The future is what we
are talking about and we are all heading
in that direction. We just don’t know
how to work on the future.
Sometimes we fear success as much as
we fear failure. We may openly express
our fear of failure but keep our fear of
success to ourselves. Success can be intimidating and then what if we don’t live
up to our achievements? What if we become a bag lady?
People may not believe in their personal opportunity for success because they
feel they may not be good enough, smart
enough, and handsome enough.
Here are some signs of
sabotaging your road to success:
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Negative, pessimistic thoughts:
“What’s the point of promoting this
product/service?” “They probably
won’t buy anyway and I will have
wasted my time.” ”I’m not worth
it.” “I don’t deserve to be successful.”
Focusing on all things that could go
wrong: “What if this or that happens?” “I am going to look really unprepared or stupid.” “If I achieve that
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goal I may lose my identity.”
Procrastination: Instead of doing your tasks at hand, you putter
around and do inconsequential
tasks or fluff work. You don’t take
the practical steps to get the work
done.
All talk and no action: You talk a lot
about what you want to accomplish
but you don’t start by taking the
steps to get it started.
A crummy self-image: “I am not
worthy.” “Wow, did I just get lucky!”
Why self sabotage? It helps you avoid
change and allows you to just stay in your
comfort zone. People with a fixed view
of their abilities get unsettled when they
succeed and then their performance begins to decline.
Here are some suggestions for
helping you get moving into the
successful direction you desire:
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Do not see your abilities or role as set
in stone. You are a piece of clay always ready to be flexible and changeable.
Create a detailed picture of the future
you want to create and achieve..
Write down your fears and then destroy the paper.
Imagine the worst case scenario if
you don’t achieve, then go step-bystep tearing it away and destroying it
in your mind.
Women often fear success because it
may lead to loneliness. They fear being
too powerful and therefore rendering
themselves unlovable. Even the fear of
losing weight we are told is the fear of becoming more attractive and not knowing
how to handle this new situation.
12 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ MAY 2015 ]
Women often fear success
because it may
lead to loneliness.
They fear being too powerful
and therefore rendering
themselves unlovable.
Even the fear of
losing weight we are told
is the fear of becoming
more attractive and
not knowing
how to handle
this new situation.
Take your power back! Once you conquer your fear and move forward, you
realize you could have been there all
along. What is there to gain from being
powerless?
Success is tied to achievement. Achievement is a good thing and
the fact is we never expected, intended,
or wanted to be a failure. Change your
behavior, your mindset, and believe in
yourself. There are people out there who
are smar