Many people running a business don’t realise they’re held back from growing their business because they have an unconscious fear of being successful. The fear of failing, or standing out, means that you stay in your comfort zone. So how can you overcome your deep-seated fear of success?
There are certain clues which will help you discover if you have a fear of success, which you can see below. One of the main things you might recognise in yourself is that you aren’t able to meet your business goals and feel ‘stuck’.
Your comfort zone
When you stay in your zone of comfort, things tend to stay pretty much the same. You might feel disappointed with your progress, but you’re comfortable staying just where you are.
You know what to expect. You might not be 100% happy, but you’re excelling at the things you’re good at and have conveniently distanced yourself from challenging or difficult tasks.
Human beings don’t like change. Nor do we relish the prospect of failure or of being fully, authentically ‘seen’.
We have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone.
Roy T. Bennett
Do you have a fear of success? Here are some clues…
- You struggle to make decisions and often miss opportunities because you’ve spent so long procrastinating
- You talk a lot about your business and life plans/goals but rarely take action to see them through
- You have lots of incomplete projects, both in your business and home life
- You self-sabotage your business, especially when things are going really well
- Your business performs OK but deep down you know it could be so much better
Can you recognise any of these traits in yourself? If so, read on…
5 strategies to help you overcome your fear of success & take positive action today
1: Imagine yourself being successful
Visualisation is a very powerful tool. Not only do athletes embrace the power of visualisation to help them win (it’s proven to have a positive influence on performance), but many entrepreneurs include visualisation as part of their daily routine.
Make your visualization as vivid and real as possible. Imagine yourself living your day as if you had overcome your fear of success and had taken all the action you need to catapult yourself into your dream day as a successful entrepreneur.
How would that day look? Where would you be? Who would you interact with? Include all of your senses. If it feels uncomfortable at any stage, notice where in your body that feeling is located and imagine the spiritual release of any blocks or tension.
In time, visualisation will feel more natural and you’ll notice positive shifts in your behaviour at work.
2: Practice being seen
You might fear success because you don’t want to stand out. It’s very tempting to try and run a business ‘behind the scenes’…or should that say ‘hiding behind the scenes’?!
This is more common than you might think. How often have you visited a website and on their about page there is little more than a very formal introduction to the business? Or visited a Facebook page and there are no photographs of people, only logos and stock images?
There are a variety of ways you can practice standing out in your business. Start small and increase your visibility as your confidence grows.
Try introducing a little more personality to your about page, and/or add a photograph of yourself. Next, personalise your Facebook page and social media accounts. Build up to recording information videos and Facebook lives.
Practice being seen in your daily life too. Try a new hobby, go to networking events, or just get dressed up and wear your best clothes a trip to the supermarket.
By practicing being seen on a daily basis, your confidence will begin to soar.
3: Reframe failure
Fear of success could actually be a fear of failure.
Failure is just an undesired result; fail even stands for First Attempt In Learning!
See failure as opportunity to evolve. Whether a small local business, or a large company, most people in business have experienced failure at some point during their journey, often on an epic scale. You only have to read this article about entrepreneurs who’ve failed and then become successful to realise that if you’ve failed, you’re in good company.
Don’t take failure personally; it says nothing about you. It simply means that you need more practice, more time, or a better approach. When you can view failure objectively, there’s nothing to fear.
4: Stop overthinking & start doing
Can you relate to that one important thing which keeps cropping up on your to-do list…the thing you keep avoiding…the thing that the longer you leave it, the bigger it becomes?
You tell yourself a story about the thing. You imagine scenarios; you make excuses. Time is wasted.

That fact is, you can’t fear success if you don’t think.
The message here is if you have that thing you need to do, then just GET IT DONE.
The longer you think about it, the harder it becomes. Decide to do it today. Take action and you’ll realise it wasn’t quite so bad after all.
Do this daily using the Eat That Frog technique with all your important tasks and you’ll be able to meet your goals much faster.
5: Have a kick-ass vision for your business & life
When you have a meaningful goal that makes you jump out of bed each morning, you’ll be motivated to challenge yourself and make your business a success, so you can live the life you want to lead.
Revisit your Why? As in why did you start your business? Why are you doing what you do? Who are you helping? Why do you want to be successful? What will it mean to you and your family?
Create an amazing future in your mind that is worth overcoming any obstacle for. The fear of success seems less significant if you have an inspiring, compelling vision for your business and life.
It seems counter-intuitive to fear success, but it’s a common obstacle for many entrepreneurs. After all, success brings attention, the unknown, and the possibility of failure which is a daunting prospect to say the least.
Creating a vision for your future will pull you out of your fearful hiding place. Learn to deal with discomfort and avoid allowing the fear of success to limit your incredible potential.


Have you overcome your fears of success? If you have any tips to share, comment below!
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