10 Ways to Overcome Fear of Success

fear of success

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If you are suffering fears success will usually be living with an internal conflict. Part of you wants to be successful , but there is another part of you that will hold you back because of the fear of success. Fear of success will prevent you from succeeding.

What is the fear of success called? fear of success  is also called Achievemephobia. People suffering from Achievemephobia or fear of success  are not able to handle success: they might sabotage themselves  with self destructive behavior: drinking, drugs, sex etc and end up losing all that they have achieved

Atychiphobia is an extreme and irrational fear that keeps us away from enjoying some aspects of life. One of the most paralyzing phobias and everyone hates to fail. Fear of success can elicit feelings such as anger, disappointment, frustration, sadness, regret, and confusion. It could also be described as the fear of shame that becomes a psychologically toxic emotion instead of feeling bad about our actions. Let’s talk about the causes, signs of the fear of success, and how it could be overcome.

What is Fear of Success

Fear is a powerful feeling among all other emotions, and extreme fear of success is weird to many.  Fear of success is called Achievemephobia, a real social phobia. There could be different types of phobic issues, such as getting hired, messing up one’s relationships to making her/his a prisoner in this situation. It is like the fear of failure and seems weird to fear success. The phobic’s mind shows that success is natural; therefore, he/she is not looking for a change.

What causes fear of success?

Many phobias could be linked with the fear of success phobia related to fear of failure.  Success brings fame and money but comes at a cost such as jealousy, envy, hurt, limelight, etc. There could be many causes of fear of success.

  1. Fear that friends and family will envy you: you might have the irrational idea that people will envy you if you are successful, therefore you will lose them.
  2. Fear of loneliness: You might  think that your friends will abandon you.
  3. Fear of not fitting in: some people fear success not to be different. If you are a women you might have been raised with the belief that women should not be successful or is better to stay unnoticed.
  4. Fear of change: If you have the fear of change because you do not know what would happen if you are successful an how this will not only change your life but the fear of the other’s reaction.
  5. Fear of maintain your success . What would you have to do next to maintain your success?
  6. Fear of getting what we want and being unable to handle achieving it.
  7. The deep fear of success is usually deep-rooted, and a person may have a list of underachievement. Asa result the person becomes sad and refuses to set goals.
  8. Introvert people face the fear of success because they do not like to stay in the limelight.
  9. Some people have fear to breaking ties with their friends, colleagues, and family members.
  10. Sometimes the reason forfear of success is parents’ comments. When they say, “do not study so hard, you will tire yourself, we will always love you even if you are unsuccessful.” This thing deters the child from setting goals.
  11. Another major reason forfear of success is to listen to the hateful comments like you will not succeed; you are not good enough, etc.
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10 signs you have a fear of success

You can notice the fear of success in yourself or other individuals because these show anxiety symptoms. It is an unconscious phobia, and people don’t realize it.

There are ten signs you have a fear of success

  1. People who have Achievemephobia mostly go to self-destructive behavior such as drugs, sex, drinking, or losing up all the achievements.
  2. You do not set your goals in the first place. You compromise in the name of realistic instead of taking risks.
  3. You have a fear to disappoint people or rejected; therefore, you say yes, even when you mean no just for the sake of people.
  4. If you have low self-esteem, that means you are afraid of making a decision. If you have high self-esteem, it tells you to leave a toxic relationship.
  5. You worry more and think life is getting complicated day by day.
  6. You don’t like the idea of trolls coming after you
  7. You Worry about the responsibility like you think if the responsibility will increase then how I would manage.
  8. In fear of success, you avoid speaking up for what you believe. You don’t let your voice be heard when your integrity is being threatened.
  9. Fear is uncomfortable as well as an unhealthy emotion that holds you back from your dreams. In stress or fear, your body responses negativity that ultimately decreases your immunity.
  10. Due to fear of failure, success, uncertainty, criticism, or rejection, you tend to stand on the sideline where you feel safe. At this level, your motivation replaces procrastination.
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Other signs

  1. Perfectionism,
  2.  Lack of motivation
  3. Procrastination
  4. Refusal/dislike of setting goals
  5. Conveniently “forgetting deadlines”
  6. Turning down good opportunities with no reason
  7. Sabotaging yourself  by creating drama, calling in sick, etc

How to get over fear of success?

Fear is a natural feeling, but it could be overcome. For that purpose, one thing is acceptance, even if you consider fear is a gift. There are some ways to overcome the fear of success, but I am sharing with you 4 ways here.

  1. The first step is to change your beliefs. You have fear of success because you have a belief, what is it? Take a piece of paper and write: I fear success because… and fill in the sentence without thinking.
  2. If you failed to find the belief you can try using hypnosis. Try now Fear of Success
  3. Think about past successes. Take a piece of paper write down all your past successes. Read them often and feel proud.
  4. Make small changes. Try to eat something different for dinner, take a different road to go to work, etc. Remember that the root of fear of success is change. So try to make changes every day.
  5. Pay attention to ways you sabotage yourself.  You can start a journal and if you start noticing something write it down.  Eventually you will discover a pattern that you can easily overcome.
  6. Replace Negative Thoughts with Positive. Write down the thoughts and then replace these negative thoughts with a great self-help technique. If something makes you doubt yourself, then think logically and explain yourself the reason behind it.
  7. Deep breathing. One of the best exercises or techniques to keep away yourself from negative thoughts is deep breathing that also relaxes your mind. Yo feel good about yourself that makes you more creative and happy.
  8. Meditation. Mediation considers the effective idea to stay away from the fear of success. For meditation, first, find a quiet place and do it on regular bases. It will help you to get on track once again.
  9. Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is an effective way to deal with the phobia. It relaxes the body and mind. It pulls out the imagination associated with success and failure. Fears self-hypnosis download.
  10. Use EFT tapping to overcome fear of success.

Using EFT For Fear Of Success

You can use in an alternative therapy such as Emotional Freedom Techniques to help you overcome your fear of success. I will give you an example on how you could start tapping.

Start with the karate chop point and tap repeating:

Karate chop point: Even though if I am successful (specific situation) will happen, I deeply and completely accept that I have these feelings.
Even though I feel afraid that I can’t handle too much success, I release this fear now and I deeply and completely accept my feelings and love and accept myself as I am.
Even though I’ve got this fear of too much success and that “they” will expect more of me than I can give, I release this fear now. I deeply and completely accept myself even if I have this conflict

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Then tap the following sequence

Eyebrow: I’m afraid of success
Side of Eye:This fear of success when (past situation) totally stressed me out
Under Eye: I don’t want to be a target for anyone
Nose: They won’t like my success
Chin: They’ll criticize my success
Collarbone: All this conflict
Under Arm: I’ve always been afraid of success
Head: It’s safer to stay where I am

Take a deep breath, and continue tapping :

Eyebrow: Releasing this fear of success keeping me blocked
Side of Eye: I give myself permission to be successful
Under Eye: I know I can handle success and I choose to do so now
Under Nose: Releasing all this fear of success
Chin: I choose to be successful now
Collarbone: I know I deserve success
Underarm: I NOW release this fear and choose the joy of success!
Head: I give myself permission to be successful now

Take a deep breath.

Conclusion

Just be aware that if you want to reach your goals you have to eliminate the fear of success.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ― Marianne Williamson

Summary

All the fears attack your life, and you lose your confidence level. Fear of success is one of them which trap you and stop you from what you want in life. However, you can overcome this fear with the above-mentioned therapies.

Read Fears books

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