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Are YOU afraid of Success?

What if everything you have been taught about success is wrong?

I was misguided about success. I (like you) was trained to work harder, move faster and do more. For years, I was programmed to believe that success was something we had to chase, 24/7. I used to drive myself so hard that despite everything I achieved, nothing ever seemed good enough. The weight of “what’s next” followed every accomplishment.

Success is more complex than failure. Becoming successful is uncharted territory.

How do I know it’s uncharted territory? Nothing like being lost on a journey to help you discover that all the maps are wrong!

How do you know success is uncharted territory? Look around. Are you or your co-workers afraid? Yes—afraid. I was afraid of success and I would wager you and most of your team are as well.

Too many of us are afraid of success. The symptoms may include the following:  

  • “What if we win this client? Will we have enough resources to handle it?”
  • “If our business continues to grow, our quality of work will suffer.”
  • “I don’t have any time to support that…”  

It’s only human to wonder whether you’ll be up to the challenge of “success.”

Nobody wants to intentionally let others down. Most don’t want to give something up, even if it creates space for something better. The anxious parts of us would rather not take the risk, for fear of losing what we already have. For some, it’s more comfortable to stay in a familiar situation, even if that situation isn’t optimal.

Author and spiritual teacher, Marianne Williamson said it best, “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.”

Are you standing in the way of your own success? I was.

I wrote about my journey in my book: “There Must Be a Better Way.”

Here are two things I learned about success:

  • Success doesn’t require sacrifice—not to my health, family, sanity, well-being, or anything else that’s important. Focus is my friend, distraction is my enemy. Quiet time is essential—for my creativity, my sanity, my clients, and my life.

  • Business doesn’t have to be so hard. But it’s not easy, either. Success is not something you have to fight for but instead something you gracefully create. I built a business that both honors and blesses me (the life I want) and my clients with what they are trying to achieve. I care so much about my clients and want to provide exceptional service, so I created a system to support that level of value. We work on those things that move the business forward—or we question doing it. Not everything is a fire that requires an immediate response. We use red flags only for red flag things. We set boundaries and define clear expectations so no one is disappointed. We provide honest feedback, even when it might be hard for others to hear, because authentic feedback is essential for growth. Just because I tell my clients to do something doesn’t mean they have to. They (like me) must learn to trust themselves. The same is true for those you lead.

Success is within and we have to bring it forth—not by the sweat of our brow, but by the content of our thinking.

Contact me, and we will help you and your team to reestablish the joy and happiness that success is meant to generate.