ON BUSINESS || Read This if You Fear Success
"I fear being successful."
I recently heard this from two of my close friends, who have been mulling over what they want to be and do with their lives. We're all having our mid-life crises and yearning for a change.
"Great," I said, "so go try it out. What are some steps you can test out to see what happens?"
And so the conversation continues to all those things that could be, if only they could get started.
"What's keeping you from doing something about it?" I asked. The response I got was something along the lines of what I had gone through earlier in my career--the fear of it actually working. What do I do if it ends up working? Then what?
There are three potential outcomes.
Some people get to where they want to be and figure out it's different from what they want.
Some people reach the goal and then find a new one to continue levelling up their lives.
Others never get there, and they realize they cannot get there with the talent and resources they have at their disposal.
Regardless of the outcome, you took action, and the worst thing that could happen is you're back at square one. For some, square one is something they want to run away from and never return (well, you have more motivation then). For others, square one is pretty decent. So, what do you have to lose?
To say that you fear success is like watching a celebrity or successful businessperson on TV and saying, "Omg, what if I ever got that famous? What would I do?!" Well, you would never know because you're sitting here watching TV and not doing whatever it takes to become that person you're watching on TV. When someone tells me they're afraid of success, my interpretation is it's an excuse not to take action.
I have not been in my friends' shoes nor know all the details of their lives, so I cannot say I completely understand their situations, but I can share how I overcame my fear of success. It's okay to be afraid IF you are moving forward. When starting out, you fear failing, but you must keep going.
Here's what I thought when I was building my first business. "I'm spending all this time building this startup, and we haven't seen one sale from all this effort. It's cool to raise money and be applauded for the courage to pitch all these investors, but have I seen a real check yet? No. What the hell am I doing?" I had spent over six months asking for money from investors at different events, in one-on-ones, and getting grilled at conferences and presentations, and nothing happened. I was starting to feel like I was wasting my best years on something that wasn't real.
Fortunately, I eventually secured funding, which led me into the next phase, where you get the cheque. It's in your hands, and you go to the bank to deposit it. A string of numbers shows up in your bank account, and you have money. You have the ammo to build the business you dreamed of. However, the critical point is: It's not your money. You must generate a return on it and ensure you use it well. The rule of thumb is not to spend it on ping pong tables, a fancy office, or overhire "to get ready for growth" when you don't have any traction.
The final boss is when the cash register starts ringing. With the first sale, your first thought is, "Um, this is real now." And when the money keeps coming in, you have this pressure to keep repeating the success, which means increasing sales every week, month, quarter, and year. This final phase is what startup owners fear -- the prospect of it becoming real and what happens after that.
Building the product isn't the hard part. Getting more sales is still easy; the most challenging part is proving you can STAY in business without running it into the ground using actual revenue from paying customers, not investor money. The other tricky part is repeating the sales numbers and having those numbers go up.
For entrepreneurs, continuing the stream of awesomeness and innovation to prove we were worthy of success and accolades keeps the pressure on and our feet on the gas pedal 24/7. No one wants to feel like they're going backwards.
In summary, it's okay to fear success because it comes with the permanent pressure to continue to deliver at the new level you've attained. However, saying you're afraid of it when you haven't even tried isn't a reason to fear.
You haven't even taken the first step of starting the business. Why are you worrying about all the what-ifs? You don't even know if you have what it takes to get to step two or step three. Being scared of success when you haven't made any progress is delusional. It's like being afraid you won't be chosen for the Olympics when you aren't even an athlete. The next time you want to cheat yourself of a great opportunity by falling back on the 'I'm afraid of success' excuse, please have someone you trust to give you a reality check.
