elizabeth kershaw

Founder of Journee. Digital Nomad. Personal Development Girlie.

The fear of success

Everyone always talks about the fear of failure… but NOBODY admits to a fear 10x more dangerous.

A lot of people actually experience this hidden fear, but:

→ It’s deeper under the surface
→ It’s WAY more difficult to admit

But I’m here to say it: I have a fear of success.

When I started out in business, I had nothing to lose.
↳ I could try everything, and if nothing worked - oh well, onto the next! 🤷🏼‍♀️

It took me a LONG time to realise that this “onto the next” mentally was actually a deeper problem.

I wasn’t sticking with something long enough to see where it could truly go, I was cutting myself off before it had the chance to flourish. I was keeping myself safe by staying small.

Like many other people, I didn’t realise that deeeep down, I had a fear of what might happen if something actually succeeded.

Because if it did - now I WOULD have something to lose:

→ “What if I make a mistake?”
→ “What if I disappoint people?”
→ “What If everything comes crashing and burning and I have to delete myself off the internet forever?”

… okay, that last one might be just me.

Either way, I thought that being scared of success meant I wasn’t cut out for running my business.

But actually it's the opposite!!!

It's a really clear indicator of something very important: That I CARE 💗

This feeling means I take full responsibility for what I put out into the world. And that’s actually a massive advantage over most big companies.

So this is just a PSA:

- Being scared just means you care,
- It also means you're capable,
- So go for it anyway!

I believe in you :)