Fear of Success: Why Some People are Scared

People love to dream of success, but it seems that many of them don’t do much more than just that. Dreaming about success is fine, but unless you act on your dreams there is no chance at actually succeeding. That leaves us wondering, “Why do people seem to fear success?” They talk about it, they dream of it, but they don’t act on it. For some, it is impossible to imagine not acting on your goals and working to make them a reality. For others, it’s an everyday way of life.

Fear of Let Down

According to psychologists, some people fear success because they fear the let down that comes with failure. While it is perfectly normal to become upset when you fail at something, you need to understand that it’s not a bad thing. No successes happen without failure. When someone is on the road to success, that road is actually named, “Failure.” Every time you fail at anything, you learn from it. Failure is an invaluable lesson that we all need, but some people don’t realize that.

Fear of Stopping

Some people are afraid of success because once they reach their goals and fulfill their dreams, where do they go? It’s the mentality that once you have everything you’ve ever wanted, there’s nothing left to have. This is a genuinely valid reason to fear success.

Belief of Entitlement

Some people fear success in a different manner. These people believe they are entitled and they don’t chase after their dreams because they feel they should be handed to them on a silver platter. People who believe they shouldn’t have to work for something, or that they’ve done something long enough, or that simply showing up to work every day entitles them to a corner office are afraid of success. They just don’t really realize it.