Articles

Moving Beyond the Fear of Success
by Karen Johnson
Copyright © 2005 

Success has been a motivator since the beginning and man has been on an ongoing quest ever since.  Most of us want to be successful.  Do you?  So what's stopping you?  Why is one person successful and another not?  We all want IT but somehow for some of us it keeps eluding our grasp.  Some long for a better present but spend their time living only in the future... existing mainly on the promise of tomorrow.

WHAT IS SUCCESS

Success is nurtured.  Success is freedom.  It's allowing you to be who you are and expressing what you need to express and what you've come here to do.  Sometimes the most difficult or darkest part of the journey is actually finding our way through the maze of obstructions we create, attract, or magnetize towards ourselves.

OBSTACLES
Will I be accepted if I'm truly successful? Will people still like me?  What if I allowed myself to truly step into my own power, what would the world look like them?  Within yourself take a moment and think about success and what that feels like.  But for some, success or being successful is an unknown outcome:  they have no blueprint for it.

We all believe that we want success.  But do we really?  We want it.  We crave it.  We often fear it.  Success in itself sometimes leads us into self-defeating prophecies.  What will we do when we have success?  Sometimes we feel an unconscious need to make amends for real or imagined sins.  Other times it's as if we're almost handcuffed to our family with a deep-seated unconscious belief or even fear of exceeding their level of success.

We've all have had the experience of doing things wrong.   Maybe we've heard someone say 'who do you think you are?' when we tried to do something different to stand out from the 'Tribe'.  It may bring up huge patterns of belief, self worth, or even deservability issues.

By the time we reach age two or three we have already encountered failure.  In a toddler's world it may begin with an inability to be understood.  By the time we start school most of us will have experienced some degree of failure each of us finding strategies of coping or not.  We are all familiar with such patterns.  It may be self-sabotage programs, self-punishment, self-hate, self-esteem or deservability issues.

Have you ever found yourself just going along with life, and life is good.  You're feeling happy, contented and suddenly you think "this is too good to be true" ...before long, it is.  We have set up a network of self-sabotaging programs that protects us from moving into this arena 'success.  

For many, hidden in their belief system, is a hierarchical structure of programs protecting them from being successful.  What some of us have more difficulty with than failure is actually accessing the rhythm of success.  Many of us have not had preliminary groundwork set in place to help us deal with this experience.

HIDDEN BENEFITS
There are benefits to living under the 'reign of fear of success'.  You can stay in the same place or even move backwards.  There is no need for accountability or responsibility.  You can look to other people to take care of you.  You won't be seen as a threat.  People will like you.

Sometimes, we are own worst enemies.  Instead of looking over your shoulder to see who is sabotaging you or what malevolent force is trying to take away your power, perhaps it's time to look a little closer to home.  Fear of success can set up a pattern where we will do anything to avoid success regardless of the cost or consequence.

Although we may get close, under no circumstances will we allow ourselves to become successful.  Have you ever been in a situation where you achieved your goal and then ended up messing it up, throwing it away, doing something that resulted in your success disappearing, dissolving, fading away... self sabotage.

Remember, some of us may be unknowingly holding on to some unspoken grief, unresolved issues or things that no longer vibrate or resonate at the frequency we're at; that we've somehow been carrying along with us on our journey.  It may be the time to say goodbye or to release what is no longer serving you so that you can make space for success to enter your life.

There may be some limitations that distorts our vision and our mission or purpose, but we can and do achieve great success, we have great potential.

THE PROCESS
While thinking you're aligning with success, or the frequency of success, have you been actually aligning with the 'fear of success', fear of scarcity, fear of being seen, fear of not being good enough...

When was  the first time you can remember feeling this fear.  Was it as an adult?  As a child?  Has it always been with you?  Perhaps you grew up in an environment that fostered fear?  Perhaps you came in with it?

Facing our fear of success may feel overwhelming.  Simply put one foot in front of the other.  Take a breath.  Remember, as in all things, success is an energy:  you either align with that energy or you don't.

How do you change?  Do you need to spend years in therapy?  That is an option, or you could choose another route.  You have the power to make  this experience as difficult or as easy as possible:  just choose and align yourself.

Perhaps, for you it will happen in an instant.  Just be hearing this information, it will shift you.  Or perhaps, you'll need someone to guide you.  Be open and receptive, and know that it will unfold as you need it to.

We look to external sources as being key to our success.  Remember, we've joined together on this  journey to discover more about ourselves.  We are all creators and each of us is individual.  It makes sense then that each of our journeys will be unique.  Understand, that you are where you need to be and remember, where you are changes with every minute.  You must always honour your own process.

SOLUTIONS
Ask for help.  If you don't know what to ask for help with, ask for help in figuring it out.  Relax and have fun.  It's all part of the development process.

Allow yourself to make mistakes.  In order to be successful, you need to be fluid.  Stretch, stretch, stretch and listen to that inner guidance system.

Start with simple steps, and each step will create a building block in your foundation.  You are laying down new pathways for yourself:  new ways to move in the world.  Create an environment that nurtures you.  Surround yourself with people who support your visions and believe in you.

Take a breath and ask yourself, what is stopping you from being successful.  If success is a frequency then why not tune into that frequency?

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For more information:
Karen Johnson, CHt. MHt.
The Carrot Common
320 Danforth, Suite 202
Toronto, ON  CANADA M4K 2N8
416 466 6225
karen@awakeningheartandsoul.com

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