Don’t be afraid of success
posted in Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Freelancing, Productivity, Project ManagementI was driving home earlier today from a client meeting, and I had a moment of a type of self-awareness that I’ve never had before.
I realized that sometimes I allow myself to fear success. Even if it’s for only a few minutes.
This might sound strange to some, but it is definitely something I imagine affects others. As you grow in your career, and bigger opportunities come your way, you can either jump in with bags of confidence or hesitate a little , fearful of not being up to the task.
When I meet with new, bigger clients (not talking about their midriff circumference, but company size & budget) , I sometimes procrastinate just a little and up until today, I never really knew why.
It sort of makes sense, right? You get taken out of your comfort zone a little with greater challenges, and if you are in a mood of feeling weak, or lacking in confidence, you hesitate. And hesitation is one of the characteristics of failure.
The more I thought about this, I realized that while I might feel that slight hesitation off the bat, I quickly snap out of it, and start taking steps to ensure I take advantage of these bigger opportunities, embracing the challenges rather than fearing them.
Everyone knows there’s leaders and followers in this world. I think those that follow are the ones that allow this fear and this hesitation to take control of their actions, and thus, they are always following.
I’d be interested to hear from you in the comments if you’ve had a feeling of “fear of success” like this in the past.
I don’t usually post the Seth Godin style article, but it seemed appropriate today.
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I’ve gotten to know and love that little tinge of fear that comes along with the best projects. If a project scares me a little I can be certain I’m going to learn something.
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I think a lot of people feel the same. Like you said, it is just our initial reaction to being suddenly taken out of our comfort zones.
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I can totally relate to this post, glad to hear I am in good company. Congrats on being in the place of “good fear,” sounds like exciting things are coming your way. All best to you, thanks for the post.
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Interesting Post Brian , I understand how it me feel sometimes since im at the age of 19 in this interactive web industry. But in order to be successful you have to take strategic chances .
And I believe that somethings are not considered a mistake unless you never learn from the situation.
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Surely you’re fearing failure, rarther than success? you fear the fact that you might try for something bigger than you can handle, and fail?
That’s what happens in my case, anyway. Looking back at my past, the only times I’ve ever succeeded is when I’ve taken risks bigger than I normally would.
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Your article couldn’t be any truer. I often think about the quote “Do one thing every day that scares you.” from Eleanor Roosevelt. It’s good to be made uncomfortable.
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Sathish says:
Absolutely needed thought at this point of time for me. This is like magical boost for me. Thanks.
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That happens to me sometimes… I think we tend to be afraid because we’ve always been told so, even by our own parents. And it’s hard to think otherwise sometimes, but we must try on a daily basis!
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Rodrigo says:
I believe I’m on a deep cisis about myself. Always enjoyed to feel secure and confortable (who doesn’t?), but it felt like this was a false safety, and I was about to fall. Now I’m taking some steps that represents medium risks and it’s just scaring. I dont know if it’s fear of succcess or failure, like Alex commented above, but I believe it’s a process that must be passed through. Thanks for this post, it helped me to build more confidence!
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Moritz Lawitschka says:
You are absolutely right, this is a fact affecting everyone!
In these moments the best way is to try believing in oneself and think of it as a chance to improve and a challenge, of course, as you already said!
So…simply nothing to worry about, it’s just human…maybe even animal
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Step up to the plate man. Knock it out of the park… Life is a short trip, no time to dilly around wondering if you can or can’t do something…. man up!
Love your foooooter – and this 9% Quebecois beer I’ve been drinking for the last hour.
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For me it’s more like “fear of failure”, I’m afraid of turning the success to a failure. I think it’s a result of low self-confidence, for me at least.
I really like this post. Short, interesting and very honest.
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Monique says:
Thanks Brian… really… for being open. I have been tic-tocking along in my upstart videography company, always had confidence it would do well in my market. Then, when business started to really pick-up I got SCARED, like, ready-to-puke-nervous. I’m currently in this state as I write.
Ummm….. not sure if knowing other people feel the same is helping me feel any less scared. It does help me feel less alone. Thanks again.
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Being afraid of success pushes you to do your best in whatever it is that you are doing. This is one great motivation that one can have at times.
