How to Overcome FEAR of Success

Finally Achieve Your Dreams

Read Time — 7 minutes

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Hey bud,

Have you ever felt stuck because you were told you have to work hard for your dreams, but you don’t really want to work so hard?

Do you avoid taking the path to success because you feel that when you achieve that success, there’s SO MUCH more work to be done?

Or maybe you avoid the path to success because you don’t want to lose the friends you have now.

You don’t want to be judged for shining your light so much, and so you choose to dim it for the sake of others.

These are indicators that you have fear of success.

And you might be wondering: “Fear of success?? Don’t people usually have fear of failure?”

Yes they do, but did you know that fear of success is almost as common as fear of failure?

In this week’s letter, we’ll explore what this fear of success is, where it comes from, and what you can do to overcome it if you struggle with it.

If you find yourself struggling with this, and want to talk about it in more detail, we can talk about it one-to-one.

Feel free to book a conversation with me using the link at the end of this letter.

I’d be happy to listen to your journey.

Let’s get into it.

The Fear of Success

Fear of success is a phenomenon where you are held back from personal and professional growth.

Specifically, here’s what that looks like:

• Doubting your capabilities

• Resisting the achievement of your potential

• Averting yourself from attaining success in different parts of your life

• Self-sabotaging when you are 90% of the way to your goal

• Achieving a goal, but then immediately after burning all your progress to the ground (and ending up worse than when you started)

In essence, you standing in your own way (similar to fear of failure)

You become your own worst enemy.

If you resonated with one of these examples, then you have some unresolved “fear of success.”

But what if I told you that there’s no such thing as fear of success?

Reality is, you aren’t actually afraid of getting what you want.

You’re afraid that getting what you want will bring something unwanted in your life.

Let’s explore what those are.

Where Fear of Success Stems From

The fear of success can come from many things. For this letter, I want to focus on just 3 things.

1. Fear of Being Judged

The fear of success comes from the fear of being judged.

As humans, we are wired to find connection with other people.

We are wired to avoid rejection from others.

It’s a survival thing.

If we connect with and we’re part of the tribe, we had more chances of survival (back in our caveman days).

When we think of achieving success today, we think that we won’t fit in and won’t connect with our usual friend groups and peers anymore.

You may fear being told: “You’ve changed.”

or even

“You’re not the friend I once knew.”

If you look at these statements from the lens of rejection, you will definitely hold yourself back from creating the success that you want (or you may not even want success in the first place).

Going deeper into the fear of being judged, you will find that the true fear is the fear of being alone.

Ever heard that saying before?

This is what stops many from pursuing success.

2. Fear of Responsibility

When you think of creating success, a natural byproduct of that is expectations.

A natural byproduct of success is accountability.

A natural byproduct of success is responsibility.

You may not want to work hard and be exhausted all the time.

And the common fear that people have is that when they become successful, there’s so much more work to be done to maintain that level of success.

Let’s face it, it’s easier to not be successful than to be successful.

It’s easier to fail than to succeed.

If you’re the type of person that likes the easy way out, you may not want to have so much responsibility on your hands.

3. Feelings and Beliefs of Inadequacy

You may fear success because you have a belief that you don’t deserve the success that you want or that you aren’t capable of creating it.

A whole host of problems can arise from this such as imposter syndrome, procrastination, and self-sabotage.

If you don’t feel like you deserve something, you will unconsciously find means and ways NOT to get that thing.

Or if you already have it, you’ll find ways to get rid of it (remember the burning all your progress to the ground example?).

So, let’s explore how you can overcome these blocks to your success, shall we?

How to Overcome it

Before we get into overcoming those blocks, here’s what you stand to gain once you’ve minimized this “fear of success.”

• Personal and professional growth

• Increased self-confidence

• Financial security and later financial freedom

• Self-empowerment

• Happiness and fulfillment

Now, to overcome these blocks, you need to reflect on where this fear of success comes from for you, personally.

It’s different for everyone. But as I said earlier, the fear of success doesn’t exist. It’s just a smokescreen for what you’re really afraid of.

Whether it’s fear of judgement, fear of responsibility, fear of change, fear of being alone, fear of looking selfish, or fear of the limelight (attention) — these are some of the underlying fears that cause you to think you have fear of success.

You associate success with one of these unwanted experiences.

To overcome it, you must first identify and acknowledge it.

That’s step 1.

Step 2 is to focus on overcoming that specific fear you’ve identified you associate with fear of success (this may require a more personalized approach — so shoot me a message if you’re tackling one of these fears).

Finally, step 3 is to take small steps in the direction of the success you desire.

If you are tired of these fears getting in the way of you living life on your terms, schedule a conversation with me to find out how you can overcome it for good.

In Conclusion

The beautiful thing about success is that you define it on your terms.

One last reason that I see most people avoid or have a “fear” of success is because they let other people define what success is for them.

So, let me ask you: How does success look like for you?

Does it look like earning millions of dollars on a yearly basis?

Does it look like having a quiet life in a remote part of your country, not having to worry about much.

Does it look like traveling the world and seeing different cultures?

Does it look like building a successful business that lasts generations for your family?

Or maybe it looks like enjoying a 9-5 stable job which gives you great benefits and a secure retirement.

Know that none of these are wrong as long as it’s how YOU define success for yourself.

(I give further insight on overcoming fear of success in this letter — click to read for free)

I’ll leave you with this beautiful quote to encourage you to pursue your own definition of success.

Keep spreading your light so that others may spread theirs.

I believe in you.

All the love,
All the power,

— Zach Marañon

P.S. Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways that I can be of help to you:

1. Follow me on Instagram here if you want a source of bite-sized ideas and content that can help you reach your next level in life.

2. Book a free kick-off conversation for one-on-one coaching here if you are an entrepreneur or sales professional currently looking to create solutions to a problem or challenge in your life but you seem to be stuck.

3. Download my goal setting guide here if you are wanting to create clarity on your desired outcomes (Free until 100 downloads — and then I convert it to a paid resource).

P.P.S. If you are from the Philippines and are looking for a personal mastery workshop to help you experience growth and transformation, check out Discovery by I Am Plus Coaching and Training Systems. It’s where my journey of self evolution personally got fast-tracked.