Fear of Success

Many people believe they are held back because of fear of failure. I believe the opposite is true. Fear of success is the insidious shackle.

It has three prongs, each of which carries a different sting, depending upon the individual.

First, you may fear you will attain a higher level and then not have what it takes to sustain it. You may feel as though you’ve reached a level beyond your limits, so better to stay in a safe zone.

Second, you may feel you have propelled yourself into a position that you don't deserve. This is a more deeply seated emotional problem requiring a big boost of confidence that stems from your belief in your mission and support from your team. You must forgive yourself for everything. Make your amends, change the bad habits and let it go. The hardest person to forgive is you. Do it, and the forgiving of others is easy. To have prosperity, you must cut the negative emotions loose and make room for the positive.

And finally, many people who go into business, especially women, fear the long-term costs of success, the alienation of peers, the disconnect from family and children and the loneliness they may experience at the top.

Fear of success is prevalent among those who are dissatisfied with their current lot in life. You are not alone with these thoughts. Talk it out with a trusted
agent. You will find your fears will diminish when you let them out in the air.
They shrink under scrutiny.

The personal sacrifices you will make will have an enormous long-term positive
impact on your life and the people you share it with. You have to be committed
to sacrificing the television, the paintball tourney and the Friday night poker games.

This doesn't mean leisure time isn't important. Don't justify laziness by calling it relaxation. Real leisure is one of the elements in Stephen Covey's "Important" quadrant, but the reason you sacrifice now, for the life of the mission, is so you can completely enjoy your leisure time when it won't pull you off course, when it is a reward instead of an escape. Your mission should be felt in your gut, something that's a part of you that simply must be accomplished.

"Architecture is something visceral. It's something tangible and tactile. It's certainly much more about experience than it is about shape or even theory and ideas. It's an immediate art that provides reference, that clarifies relationships, that can reveal certain aspects of a place or activity that no other art can," wrote Brad Cloepfil.

This visceral knowing that you are building something extraordinary will transcend
all fears.