If someone were to tell you they were afraid of being successful, you’d probably think they were crazy, right? After all, people want to avoid failure as much as possible. But not everyone feels that way. I know, because I am one of these people.

I am okay with failing. In fact, I love failing. And while I don’t intend on failing forever, I do learn a lot from it. Each failure is a step toward learning more about myself and what I’m working on.

You’ve probably heard the story about the invention of the light bulb; it took hundreds of failed attempts until one of the light bulbs finally worked. And in a similar way, it can take years of hard work before you finally see results. Along the way, each step on the path you are on allows you to learn, grow, and change. Failure is normal, and I definitely think it shouldn’t be so looked down upon. It’s all part of the process, and you’ve got to learn to enjoy the journey.

Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash

A bit about me: lately, I’ve been getting pretty serious about changing my life. I dropped out of college because I was completely out of tune with myself; I hated being a student and was just not very happy in general. I guess you could say I failed college, but in reality I think it was college that failed me. I failed at the path I was on because I wasn’t even supposed to be on that path. So I stepped off that path, and am now on a new one. I have discovered a love for writing (among other things), and am hustling to do whatever I can right now to bring about radical change in my life. And that brings me back to my main point- what if I actually do — eventually — become successful?

Don’t get me wrong; I love change. I love constantly growing and improving. I honestly used to hate it quite a bit, but I grew out of that and now view change as a normal and wonderful part of life. The thing with becoming successful, though, is that it takes one very important thing: allowing others to see who you really are.

Now, you’re probably thinking that really shouldn’t be such a big deal. But in todays social media world, this is actually a HUGE deal. Do you actually think you can fully know someone just by their Instagram page? Perhaps with some people you can, but I would have to argue you can’t- because almost everyone just posts their highlight reel, not the other parts in between. This is something I’m working on. While it is unnecessary to share certain parts of my life, it is quite important to be honest about who I am if I am to get a following. Going after my dreams is incredibly important, but it’s going to take getting out of my own bubble.

My fear of success will not stop me from chasing success, but rather it will motivate me to attack the fear and go after my dreams.

So, my fear of success comes from having to be more honest with myself and others. Success is an exciting yet nerving thing to think about, because it means I am no longer staying within my comfort zone. Making my way up in the world, and straying from the normal path will mean more people will start to see me. Stepping outside my comfort zone is a daily choice, and it can only ever bring about great things. And I am not doing any of this because I think I am better than anyone, but instead because I just have different goals in life that I think I’ve finally completely realized.

To conclude my message: