Royane Real
Fear of Success - What Causes it?
By Royane Real
Do you suffer from a fear of success? Fear of success is a mysterious occurrence. Fear of success doesn't make sense. Why would anybody be afraid of being successful?
Most of us can understand a fear of failure. We can understand why people might be reluctant to pursue their goals because they have a fear of failure. They may worry that if they try and fail, they will feel humiliated and ashamed.
But why would anybody fear success? This is indeed a mystery which can have many causes. Many of the people who are paralzyed by a fear of success don't realize that this particular fear is ruling their life.
The fact is, a fear of success can hide in plain sight, but it hides in disguise.
One common reason that people have a hidden fear of success is because they have an inner picture of themselves as failures. They are so comfortable when they think of themselves as failing, that they don't want to change their inner self image.
Some people hold back in life because they feel guilty that if they become successful they will surpass the achievements of their parents. Or they may have had parents who predicted failure for them. When they grow up, they act as if they are still hypnotised by their parents' instructions to be failures. They feel they must prove their parentsl were right when their parents predicted failure for them.
Some people are afraid of being successful because they have held on to a negative self image for such a long time that they cannot imagine having a positive self image instead.
If you have a fear of being successful, your fear may be different than mine was, but it may be just as paralyzing. It may or may not benefit you to learn where your fear of success comes from. It's probably much more important to know what to do if you have a fear of success.
The best thing to do to overcome a fear of success is not to spend too much time agonizing and analyzing your fear. Too much analysis can keep you paralyzed.
You need to take some action so that you can get used to the feelings of real successes and real failures, and not just the imaginary successes and imaginary failures you have built up as big obstacles in your mind.
Instead, take action even if it's on a small scale. Let yourself tart to get used to having little successes. Notice how you feel. Allow yourself to enjoy the success and feel free to talk back to yourself if you start criticizing yourself for being successful.
( The above article is by Royane Real, author of “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative” available at http://www.lulu.com/real
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