Monday, February 10^th, 2020

Fear of Success

The next day, I called Jack to see how his book deal was coming along. He had signed the paperwork. It made him happy, but sent his anxiety through the roof. We laughed about how many people we knew who feared success.

“How many times do you see people get shaky as they get close to their first year sober?” I asked. “They can’t seem to accept they’re doing well.”

“My brother couldn’t sleep at night for the first two months after he got promoted at work.  He was worried he couldn’t do the job. Turned out he could do it half awake.”

“I couldn’t count the people who relapsed on their last day of outpatient treatment. The worst was over, but the fear of success got to them.”

Jack snorted, “Before Jill, I killed every successful relationship. Happiness made me nervous.” He thought for a moment, and then asked why people sabotage their successes.

“I’ve known people who questioned whether they deserved success. They saw failure as inevitable so they wanted to get it over with. They were afraid the more successful they were, the more would be asked of them. Most people get past their fear and are glad they did. Never a good idea to give into the fear of success.”

Today I’ll try not to fear success.

2020 Vision ©2017 by Ken Montrose

2020 Vision is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/