The Real Risk And Fear Of Success In Business & In Life

By: Sandi Krakowski

I recently had a beautiful gal named Trisha reach out to me on my Facebook Page and she shared with me how things were really picking up in her business. More business coming in, more cash being made…. and then she said this, "But I'm struggling with this big fear of success. Have you ever dealt with that?"

My heart went out to her. So much so… that I told her I'd write today's newsletter just for her. So here I am. Trisha, this is for you!

The risk and fear of success

It's a crazy wild journey, this path to success. Whether you seek success in fitness or finances, there's a path less traveled that must be endured to reach the golden trophy. Along the way, warriors will cross tumultuous bridges that threatened to break, waves that seem as though they will drown and winding paths that never quite seem the same, no matter how long you cross them.

Yes, I have dealt with the fear of success…. and any entrepreneur who is worth their salt has as well. The one who seems to have it all together but rarely ever speaks of the journey to overcome is usually the one with the biggest ego, ie fake identity. 

So what is this fear of success all about and what can we learn from it?

Fear of repeating past failures.

This is a big one. If you've ever been hugely successful this one can glare it's ugly face your way. But it has to be overcome.

Your present fight right now has nothing to do with your past. Let it go. Face your reality now and keep moving forward. 

Fear of going beyond what I've always known.

PHEW… investing a lot of time and money in the last 7 years into my own career, it's obvious I have gone BEYOND what I've always known. I am building a whole new reality and have more experience in all aspects of business than I ever did before. Going beyond where we are now is the TRUTH of a good entrepreneur. Pity the leader who is giving the same message they gave twenty years ago.

Fear of rising to the place my mentor lives in.

I thank God everyday for people like Bill Glazer and Dr LaVonne Atnip, who not only mentor me but speak to me as equals. There is no Alpha Dominance like I see in so many immature leaders out there. Very similar to "The King's Speech" my mentors have positioned me along side of who they are and they have given me respect and honor…. which has fueled me forward. It has also taught me to lead clients who will even go beyond what I'm currently doing. THAT is what healthy mentoring is about. 

Fear.

If anyone says they don't encounter fear on their road to success, they have either never achieved success or they are flat out lying. 

The war for your art, your business, your skill, your destiny is not supposed to be easy. Easy is what Hollywood makes movies out of, it is NOT what we battle on a daily basis enroute to our destiny.

Kevin Cosner stated at the funeral of Whitney Houston that she will forever be in his heart a woman who had incredible talent… but she was a woman who didn't think she was good enough, thought she wouldn't be accepted and never had the confidence that she could actually do what she was called to. That touched my heart so deeply…..

It reminded me that during the last 5 months I've been aggressively healing from both Crohns disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

It's a daily battle to keep myself focused and obedient to a diet that requires Olympic Strength to follow. But when I hold in my two hands two choices- one being a bleeding colon and losing it … and the other being strong, healed and having the self-control of a giant as I stick to this protocol, the choice becomes easy. 🙂

The same thing became very obvious to me on the path to creating my 11th multi-million dollar company. As we hit six figure months and, brace yourself, six figure DAYS…. it became more and more apparent to me that this was not like any other journey I've ever been through before.

If I could tell you how to overcome the fear of success in 4 easy steps, I'd be a billionaire.

Anyone who even suggests that there are only 4 things or 3 or however many you want to come up with that when followed automatically create success, they are lying and have never gone down this path before.

But there are clues.

Success leaves them. Clues that I have gleaned from the many millionaires who are some of my closest friends and clues I've picked up along the way and have written them down on the tablet of my heart, so that they are never forgotten.

Clues Along The Path To Success You'd Better Pay Attention To

Clue Number One- Who you hang out with and who speaks into your life makes a world of difference. Successful people do not expect excellence to be birthed out of mediocre company. They expect like to breed like and they seek out the best to hang out with. When someone begins to vacillate in their commitment, grows fickle or lives a secondary life, many times, friendships will fade. Because stewarding who they are and being who they were designed to be is the goal.

Clue Number Two- You can't give an only 'good enough' portion and expect more than everyone to come forward. The successful have an unrelentless passion to move further along in life and be more, year after year. They do things that others won't, give of themselves in a way that others refuse. The successful know that to be different in business, you have to be different in and of yourself.

Clue Number Three- The successful constantly invest into themselves before all other investments. Before real estate, coinage, stocks, savings or what have you, the successful will always invest into the thing that they have 100% control of, themselves. The successful know that to continue growing, you have to keep planting and to keep planting you have to keep producing seeds. The way to get to the next level, is simply, to keep doing what you did at the level before and overcome the fear that is on the path.

Trisha, you asked me how I overcome this fear of success…. and I would be willing to bet you even wondered if I had a good definition of what it actually is, you are fighting.

Fear of success is a very personal thing. It comes with a very high responsibility and it must be overcome by you, and you alone. Fear of success is where you lay aside the lesser things that would attempt to hold you stagnant and you make a commitment to BE more.

BE first… then do… this is the way to have. It's not the opposite.

There is nothing that you can HAVE that will improve your being…. and the way to do , is truly from being who you are, 100%.

Your journey to success, Trisha, I pray will always be alive and active and growing. And I pray you have around you those who can speak life into you, speak hope over you and even those who will 'carry the weight' so you don't have to go  it alone.

Success… it's the favorable or prosperous outcome of attempts and events.

Success in life.

Success in business.

Success in relationships.

Success in fitness.

Success in every area of life. Body, soul, mind and spirit…. that's my prayer for all of you.

And I make this commitment to you right here, right now. I'll keep pressing on, I"ll keep pushing forward… it's now your turn to make the decision, will you?

With love,
Sandi Krakowski