There is a secret about fear of success that not many people are aware of. There is no fear of success. There is no fear of failure. There is no fear except for one...

One thing that has become painfully clear to me in the last couple of years is that there is just one fear, and it manifests itself in several ways. There is only one fear, and it is the fear of the unknown.

If you have the fear of success, you need to take a closer look at the fear, and if you do, you will discover that you are not afraid of success, but instead you are afraid of the unknowns related to success. What are the unknowns that are causing your fear? Perhaps you do not want your relationships with your closest friends and family to change, and you are worried that things will change and not for the better. Not knowing how things will change will cause fear.

People are afraid of change, but again, it is not change itself that is the problem. The real problem is what unknowns are attached to the change. If you have ever had a haircut, or bought a new pair of shoes, and you did not experience fear, this should show you that change itself is not the problem. To have a haircut is to change something about yourself. To buy a pair of shoes again brings some change to your wardrobe. Neither of these changes will bring fear until an unknown is attached. If you do not know how skilled your hairdresser is, not knowing whether they will mess your hair up or not may make you nervous and indeed fearful.

If you want to conquer the fear of success, or any other fear you need to eliminate the perceived unknowns, or to make them as small as possible. Small unknowns, small fear. Big unknowns, big fear.