Could Fear of Success Be Stopping You from Writing?

I just finished reading an article about fear of success, to which I’ll provide the link at the end of this post for those of you who are interested.  I’d never truly understood before how one could tell the difference between fear of success and fear of failure until I read this.  To me, the terms were interchangeable, as both lead to the same result.

 

But now I know that’s not true at all, and the realization simply blows me away.  I see where I have clearly fallen on the fear of success side of the fence off and on during my writing career.

 

Here’s how I know—if I’d suffered from fear of failure all these years as opposed to fear of success, I most likely wouldn’t have attempted to do or try almost everything I’ve done and tried in my life so far, from sending out query letters and emails to launching WriteSuccess.  In the corporate world, I attempted (unsuccessfully) to climb the management ranks several times, and while I now know my inability to do so was simply the closing of one door and the opening of another, if I’d feared failure rather than success I most certainly would not have kept trying after the first rejection.

 

Fear of success, on the other hand, does explain why the mental paralysis some of us experience whenever we have a really big idea that we want to pursue.  Oh, we’ll take the initial baby steps towards big goals, and sometimes even spend a great deal of time, effort and (when necessary) money on them.  But as we get closer…some of us freeze.  We seem to totally lose interest, or do anything to avoid working on it.  Let’s face it, the comfort zone may be less than fulfilling, even boring, but man, is it ever comfortable.  Who knows what dangers lay beyond its borders?

 

There’s a certain amount of relief in having a name for what has kept me from making big moves or taking big chances for decades.  It doesn’t mean I’ve found a cure or antidote for it, but as the saying goes, knowing is half the battle.  I at least know what the dragon I need to slay looks like now, and I find that knowledge curiously exciting and refreshing.

 

How about you?  Could fear of success be keeping you from your writing success?  Read more about it here and see if you identify:

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/are_you_afraid_of_success

 

Here’s to your writing success.

 

Mary Anne