I Can Accept Being Afraid of Failure - I Cannot Accept Being Afraid of Success

I believe that one of the main reasons people don’t achieve their goals is because they sabotage themselves. Achieving goals requires putting in a certain amount of effort often times, we imagine wanting to have or be something and then want that thing as immediately as when we imagined it.

However, life doesn’t work that way. The process of “putting in work” will require facing challenges, overcoming obstacles and solving problems that will arise along the way. The problem is, many people give up on themselves and their goals at the first challenge they encounter. Some take a second or third swing at their goals and give up if they strike out.

I believe that people don’t give up on themselves because they’re afraid of failing. I believe that they give up on themselves because they’re afraid of succeeding. In fact, I believe that it’s impossible to give up on your goals because you’re afraid of failing. If you’ve given up on your goals, you’ve actually succeeded at failing – so what, exactly is there to be afraid of?

It takes work to become successful; however, once you’ve achieved a goal, you can’t just squat where you are and call it a day. You have to set new goals. You’ve got to raise the bar. You’ve got to work harder. I believe that people who give up on their goals do so because they know that they will have to work harder.

You see, once you go about setting and achieving goals, you’ve three options:

1. Once you’ve achieved your first goal, in order to maintain your position you’ll have to keep working at the level you rose to in order to achieve that goal in the first place.

2. If you wish to set a new goal and rise higher than the goal you’ve achieved, that means you will have to work harder than the original goal.

3. Do nothing ... Do nothing and eventually revert back to that original state of mediocrity you were trying to escape from,

This is where fear of succeeding comes into play. To be more specific, it’s not really fear of success ... people are afraid of having to put in the work necessary to continuously excel.

It’s easy to succeed at failing. It doesn’t take any work at all – in fact all you have to do to succeed at failing is ... NOTHING. However, in order to fail at failing ... in order to succeed, you have to be willing to accept, face, and overcome all challenges and all challengers.

So when you find yourself looking across the distance between where you’ve set your goal and where you’ve achieved it; and you see the thunder, the lightening, and the roaring waters therein, remember the HRJR motto:

Maiestas Saluto Non Mediocris – Fortibus Fortuna Favet
Greatness Visits Not the Mediocre - Fortune Favors the Brave!