When I first started online, I was able to find some people that believed in me and the skills I had. One of them encouraged me to launch a product, with ebooks and videos. He said that he would promote that product, so I could make money.
After a few very scary weeks, I started creating, and eventually finished the product.
Launch day I was terrified. I knew that there was no way I could fail, as this guy had a huge email list and lots of followers. So, why was I terrified? I was afraid of success. Fear tells me that there’s no way I deserve this guy promoting me, much less to make any money for my hard work. Just another one of the times my brain lies to me.
I launched, I made a buncha money and it was fantastic. It was fun, felt great, paid some bills!
I finally told this man about my fear of success. He listened to me, said he understood, and talked about what we could do when this happens again, because it will.
That man is a great leader and still a mentor of mine today.
Another person, at around the same time, I told him, “I’m not afraid of failure, I’m afraid of success”. He laughed. And laughed. Said that was ridiculous.
Now, why would somebody do that? I don’t know exactly. A secure person would say “don’t worry about it”, but you know I did for a long time.
I can guess and judge about why that person thought my fear was ridiculous. Instead I just distanced my real self from him, and continued to hang out with the great leader.
What I’ve learned is that EVERYbody has fears on some level. Everybody gets insecure, afraid, feels less than. Yes, some more than others, but everybody does it. Sometimes knowing that helps me accept that my fears will always be with me, but I am so much stronger and smarter than the fear.
