Sometimes your fear may not be of failing. It may be fear of success. This may sound silly, however sometimes your underlying fears show themselves in different ways. This scenario is more common than you might think. People suffering this fear can sabotage themselves or find many reasons for why they can’t finish their goal. Their fear of success, and moving on past their goal, often drives this behavior.
Many of the symptoms are similar to those outlined in the “fear of failure” above. Here are some questions to explore whether you may have some underlying fears of success. Visualize yourself already at your goal and ask questions like:
· What does it mean now you’ve reached your goal?
· Are there more responsibilities that you have to take on?
· If you are training for a career or career change, how do you feel about going out and looking for work? Do you have the skills? Do you have a plan?
· Does your life become more complicated or unpleasant for any reason?
· What is your next goal once you have achieved this one? How do you feel about not having an organized training program to follow?
· Will there be extra pressure to stay successful? Are you concerned about decline after success?
If any of these bring out uncomfortable thoughts, you may want to explore them more to see if there are any underlying issues.
Often you can deal with fear of success using a similar approach to what I described in fear of failure above. Change your mindset to accept that it’s natural for many people to fear change. Make your fears known by talking to others or writing them down.
The key point though is you now have tools and abilities to deal with issues if they arise. Get out there and do what you want to do, and don’t let the fear of reaching your goal stop you.