What Does Your Fear of Success or Failure Really Mean?

What do fear of success and fear of failure have in common? A lot more than you think!

Meet Sarah. Sarah has been working diligently at her job for several years. She consistently exceeds expectations, always receives positive feedback, and is the first to volunteer for special projects that go beyond her job title.

Sarah’s manager just announced that he’s retiring soon and told her in private that he’s recommending her for the position. However, Sarah feels comfortable in her current role and is afraid of taking on extra responsibilities. What if she makes mistakes or doesn’t enjoy working for the company anymore? To make matters worse, Sarah left her previous job after becoming a manager because it became too stressful and threw off her work-life balance. 

Sarah has both a fear of success and a fear of failure:

• Fear of success: She’s comfortable now and afraid of taking on more responsibility
• Fear of failure: She didn’t enjoy being a manager at her last job

If Sarah doesn’t apply for the manager position, her life probably won’t look too different, but she won’t achieve her full potential. She also won’t address the root cause of her hesitation, which isn’t a fear of failing or succeeding; it’s a fear of change. 

What’s The Difference Between Fear of Success or Fear of Failure?

There are countless reasons why you may have a fear of success or failure. Both fear of failure and fear of success are quite similar. There’s fear, and there’s change. 

If you fail, something will be different in your life. If you succeed, something will be different in your life. In my experience, people who have more confidence tend to experience their fear of change as a fear of success, while people with lower confidence tend to experience their fear of change as a fear of failure.

Regardless of which fear you’re consciously or unconsciously feeling, another way that the fear of success and the fear of failure are similar is that both fears keep you from moving and changing your circumstances, so you end up feeling stuck. Below are some of the ways each of these fears shows up.

Fear of Success

• Imposter syndrome: You feel like you’re a fraud who doesn’t deserve success
• Greater expectations: Success comes with more responsibilities and higher expectations
• Extra stress: More responsibilities and higher expectations = potential for more stress
• Perceived sacrifices: You may lose your work-life balance
• New challenges: You’ll have to step out of your comfort zone and face new obstacles

Fear of Failure

• Bad experiences: You had a negative experience in the past and don’t want to repeat it
• Low self-esteem: You feel like your work performance is a reflection of your self-worth
• Perfectionism: You set impossibly high standards for yourself and don’t want to deviate from your standards 
• Trouble coping: You have difficulty handling the emotional or practical consequences of failure
• Criticism: You don’t want to be criticized for making mistakes 

Do you identify with any of these feelings? If so, you’re not alone. 

Our brains are hardwired to resist change because it is unfamiliar. According to the National Library of Medicine your amygdala interprets change as a threat and releases hormones that stimulate your fight-or-flight response. In other words, even if you’re unhappy in your career or business, it’s easier to remain where you are because it’s familiar. 

How Rapid Transformational Therapy Can Help

The most effective strategy for conquering your fear of success or failure is to change the way you think, and the fastest way to do that is with rapid transformational therapy (RTT). RTT breaks barriers by addressing your fears on a fundamental level in your subconscious mind so you can experience transformational change. Here’s how it works: 

• Acknowledge the emotion: First, you must understand why you are afraid to succeed or fail. What is the root cause of that fear? With RTT, you can trace a path back to the origins of your fear and learn why it exists.
• Reframe negative beliefs: You need to develop a positive mindset by turning negative thoughts into positive affirmations. Much of RTT is focused on the belief that you are enough. Instead of thinking, “I can’t do this,” you’ll train your brain to know, “I can do this.”
• Self-empowerment: By shifting your self-perception, you can overcome your fear of success or failure. Your experiences may make you feel otherwise, but you are capable, deserving, and worthy of success. You are good enough. 

Are you ready to live up to your full potential? Overcome your fear of change by booking an appointment today!