The Fear of Success

We know all about the fear of failure. On any stage and in any performance, no one wants to make a mistake, stumble, or perform poorly. The embarrassment and ridicule we feel when others judge us harshly for our missteps feeds our fear of failure. We will do almost anything to avoid it. 

Ironically, most performers owe their personal growth and success to a modest fear of failure. When not taken to an extreme, the fear of failure drives leaders and performers to prepare, practice, and rehearse so they might reduce the odds of a blunder or meltdown. They develop strong skills in the process. 

Once a leader or performer has learned to tame the fear of failure, using it as a motivating force instead of as a performance inhibitor, they often face a newfound fear — The Fear of Success. Mostly unconscious or denied, the fear of success is very real and must be overcome for performers to reach their highest potential. 

The fear of success arises most often when leaders and performers have achieved moderate mastery and are on the cusp of attaining the highest level of accomplishment or victory. At that point in their development, they begin to sense that reaching the pinnacle of achievement, such as a promotion, a competitive victory, or the spotlight, will change what is expected of them and how they are viewed by others.  

When the fear of success takes hold, the leader or performer begins to feel an unusual internal pressure. They start to believe that if they continue to succeed, they will be incapable of sustaining that success. 

They astutely recognize that continued success will increase the responsibility and work required to live up to the new bar set by high achievement. They worry that others will expect great things from them and increase their scrutiny and judgment of how they perform. They panic at the thought that others will learn their true limits. 

They falsely believe they are somehow unworthy or undeserving of more success. They even have a concern that continued success will create peer jealousy and weaken their connection to friends and peers who lack the talent or opportunity to reach the same heights. 

In other words, they develop a deep and abiding fear that more success is not something they can handle. If they don’t confront these perceptions and fears and overcome them, the anxiety over succeeding continues to build inside. To release this pressure, they sabotage themselves, making higher success an unlikely outcome. 

When succumbing to the fear of success, self-sabotage comes in many forms: Leaders and performers may procrastinate and fail to complete assignments, find excuses not to practice or rehearse, turn down important opportunities, or avoid competing or playing with others who are better than they are. They undermine themselves to prove why more success is just out of their reach.  

The fear of failure is nowhere near as destructive as the fear of success. For highly skilled performers, the deepest fear is usually not about stumbling. Instead, it is about admitting to themselves that more success comes with a package of pressure they do not want or are not ready to conquer.