Scared of Heights?

Scared of heights, Friend?

People can be as scared of success as they are of being at the bottom.

But the thing is…

Fear of failure is largely understandable.

Fear of success is less easily understood.

Everyone wants to achieve big things, right?

Well, not always…

Here’s how you can tell if you fear success:

The first sign is you feel like you don’t deserve success or you feel unworthy.

You’re stifling your growth and even greater success because you feel like a fraud.

You develop imposter syndrome and as such, feel like you don’t deserve to be at the top.

The second sign is when you worry about other people’s expectations of you.

You’re afraid they’ll expect something from you that you can’t possibly deliver.

Being successful and being in the spotlight can bring about people who expect you to be a constant achiever.

After all, once you “make it” you’ve got everything to lose.

You’re at the top, and being dragged down looks like a greater likelihood than continuing to scale the mountain.

For example, you’re afraid that if you become a successful writer, people will expect you to write bestselling novels 24/7.

You’re afraid that people will hate you and stop reading your books if you publish a lacklustre book.

As a result, you continue writing in the privacy of your home, with no plans of ever publishing it and sharing it with the world.

This can be true for athletes, musicians, and entrepreneurs too.

The third sign is you’re afraid of being isolated.

You don’t want people to create a wide berth around you and put you on a pedestal because you’re not that kind of person.

You still want to hang out with your childhood friends even after you’re successful but you’re afraid they’re going to keep you at arm’s length, and you don’t want that.

Everyone telling you that “success is a lonely road” reinforces your fear.

You may also have friends that could be jealous of your success and don’t want to have anything to do with you simply because they’re insecure about their own mediocrity (but respectfully, f*ck these “friends”).

Lastly, you might be afraid of change.

You might be afraid of the unknown that success will inevitably bring.

You don’t want to disrupt your routines and current setup at home.

More success could mean more responsibilities, longer working hours, and greater problems to deal with.

All of these fears are completely valid.

It’s not wrong to feel fear, whether that’s fear of success or failure.

However, I want you to identify the type of fear you may have.

Self-awareness is pivotal and it’s the first step to overcoming the fear.

You wouldn’t drive somewhere you’ve never gone before without putting in the directions, would you?

Identify your roadblock, weigh up the options and see how much evidence there is to support your fear.

That’s how you overcome it.

The situations we think about are often worst-case scenarios.

Once you identify your fear, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to find alternatives that still get you to the same end goal.

For example, if you want to be an entrepreneur but the fear of responsibility is overbearing, then you can instead be a “solopreneur” and become a one-person business such as a freelancer or consultant.

Don’t let your dreams die because you’re too scared to employ a team.

There’s always a way - find it.

Much love,

Mason - Founder of New Mentalities

PS - This is an extract from my eBook “The Discipline Divide”. You can download it here for just $19.