Fear of Success

I'm sure there are a great many of us overachievers who are on "Life version 2.0", and don't have anyplace to talk about it. Maybe this warrants it's own forum?.. lol

Nice to know I'm not alone.

Broker,

To tell you how paralyzing it truly is; I have been driving around with my TR goal setting seminar on my iPod for a month now. I finally got myself to the tipping point, and felt it was time to "pen a new course". I am so paralyzed by the idea of commiting myself to a new direction, that I manage to talk myself out of, or distract myself in such a way as to miss my opportunity to be alone with myself and my yellow pad.

It's like quitting smoking; I know it's the right thing to do, I know it will save my life, I know if I don't I will suffer with the consequences of inaction every day and I *still* can't seem to get it done!.. ( I did, however, manage to quit smoking last November).

wow...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TommyMac5

It's like quitting smoking; I know it's the right thing to do, I know it will save my life, I know if I don't I will suffer with the consequences of inaction every day and I *still* can't seem to get it done!.. ( I did, however, manage to quit smoking last November).

wow...

I know where you are coming from.

I'm coming in a little late to this discussion but it seems to me that fear of success is fear of change. Yeah, we have fear of failure but if you miss the next sale what's new about that? Failure is a demon but it's a demon we know. Success is all new territory we know it supposed to be good but we also know that we don't really know. Maybe it's a subconcious fear that being successful is even harder than becoming successful. It reminds me a song lyric " Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die"

Great post jkenn. I think you are right on track.

You Know AZ, there is a relationship between sales success and success in quitting smoking. What they have in common is DECISION. I quit smoking man years ago but only after several failed attempts. To make it really work requires a really solid, gut decision that you are going to quit and you refuse to allow the possibility of failure. A half-hearted attempt usually fails after about a week or so.
"Think and Grow Rich" has an entire chapter devoted to Decision and I believe it is one of the most important chapters in the book.

Imagine being a Sales Manager and hiring sales people. You're then depending on them to want to succeed. I had one company interview me and as part of the process, I had to meet with a pyschologist. They had determined the 'success profile' and this guy actually had the ability to stop someone from being hired.

Susan

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkenn

You Know AZ, there is a relationship between sales success and success in quitting smoking. What they have in common is DECISION. I quit smoking man years ago but only after several failed attempts. To make it really work requires a really solid, gut decision that you are going to quit and you refuse to allow the possibility of failure. A half-hearted attempt usually fails after about a week or so.
"Think and Grow Rich" has an entire chapter devoted to Decision and I believe it is one of the most important chapters in the book.

Great response jkenn, that's exactly right. The funny thing is that there can be as much in an excpected good outcome as there is in a bad one. DECISION means no turning back, under any circumstances, which is a very scary prospect.

Fear of Success

Self Improvement - Personal Development Forum