Home
>
Success
>
Success: What Are You Afraid Of?

Success: What Are You Afraid Of?

What are your fears? Fear of failure? Fear of success?

What have your fears cost you in terms of relationships, health, career, money, and lost opportunities?

Have they kept you from achieving success and financial freedom?

The dictionary says fear is the anticipation of danger, a belief that something negative or painful will happen as a result of some possible future action. It is nothing more than this. It is nothing less. 'Anticipation' means that the danger MAY exist in the future. It does not exist in the reality of NOW.

Fear is a normal experience. Scientists tell us that our brains evolved in such a way that one of their primary functions was to protect us and warn us of dangerous situations. That was useful when we had to keep an eye open for the neighborhood sabertooth tiger, but we're a little safer now.

The protection mechanism, however, still keeps busy by warning us against lesser dangers. My personal experience and yours, I imagine, suggests that the real 'pain' comes when you look back at opportunities lost, and what you missed out on because of fear-based choices you made at the time.

We can't eliminate fear but we can learn to overcome it. By that I mean we can learn to deal with it and not become disabled by it. Successful people experience fear. But they are able to deal with it in such a way that it doesn't disable them and keep them from taking the appropriate action.

The first step is awareness. If you look at your fear objectively it becomes less threatening. When you see it as something you can overcome, you can CHOOSE to overcome it!

Let's talk about the fear of success, or rather the beliefs some people have about success. If you ask people if they want more money and the resulting wealth and financial freedom, they invariably say "Yes". If you ask them what they are doing to get it, most aren't doing anything at all. Their main plan is to wait for their next raise, or an inheritance, or to win the lotto. That isn't much of a plan.

What's stopping them? What exactly are they afraid of? Let's look at three of the common fears (beliefs) that stop people from succeeding and illuminate them:

1."My friends won't like me if I make more money than they do." ? It's true that jealousy can be a factor. What someone thinks about you isn't as important as what you think about yourself. Stated another way, if they won't be happy for you when you succeed, are they really your friends? You have the choice to find people and relationships that are supportive of your goals and your successes. Do so.

2. "The rich are all greedy crooks. I don't want to be like them." - In fact, a lot of rich people are generous, decent, law abiding people. But what someone else does or doesn't do isn't the issue. We always have the free will to CHOOSE how WE are going to act. We can choose to pursue success, financial freedom and happiness ethically and with integrity. What will you choose?

3. "I'll have to pay more taxes." - Perhaps. There are a number of legitimate tax reduction strategies available to individuals. As for me, when I have used all the LEGAL advantages to which I am entitled, and I still have to pay more taxes, I know I have made a lot more money. Please! Give me more problems like that!

These are just three of the common beliefs (fears) that keep people from succeeding. Do any of them sound familiar? Are those fears justified? I don't believe so. Can you choose to overcome them? I believe you can.

Financial freedom, success and happiness await you when you do. What are you afraid of?

? Copyright by Paul Nadrowski, CPA. All rights reserved. Paul focuses on the psychology of wealth and success. He provides practical tools, strategies and systems for achieving a holistic balance of financial freedom and happiness with integrity. He is the editor and publisher of the Wealthzine Financial Freedom Ezine. Further information on achieving success and financial freedom is available at megabundance.com and he can be reached at megabundance.com

cleaning help near Lake Forest ...

In The News:

Uber teen accounts now feature live video streaming from the driver's camera, but encrypted recordings stay on Uber's servers for up to 14 days.

Router firewalls and software firewalls serve different roles in protecting your home Wi-Fi from unwanted traffic and suspicious connections.

A Chrome extension with 70,000 users and a 4.7-star rating began injecting fake update warnings after a threat actor acquired and weaponized it.

Amazon's Alexa+ rolls out free to Fire TV devices across the U.S., but hands-free microphones and stored voice data raise key privacy questions.

Meta's new teen accounts settlement sets a default two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook, plus night mode and school mode restrictions.

The CareCloud data breach exposed Social Security numbers, banking information and medical records belonging to more than 3.75 million people.

Waymo reveals its custom 5-nanometer chip and dual computing systems designed to take over instantly if the robotaxi's primary computer fails.

Identity theft now includes account takeover, phone hijacking and payment card exposure. Here's what to look for in identity theft protection services.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

The FBI and Justice Department seized domains tied to QScan and QTRouter, tools allegedly used by China-linked hackers to breach NASA and other agencies.

Uber Eats drone delivery launches later this year through a Zipline partnership, starting in Dallas and Houston with a goal of one million daily flights.

Medicare Open Enrollment scams start with data broker targeting months before October. Learn why August is the time to remove your personal info.

The World Humanoid Robot Games' crashes show how far the technology still needs to go to be useful, "Survivor" reality TV star and robotics scientist Christian Hubicki says.

X-Humanoid's TianGong Ultra ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds at Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games, beating last year's winner by more than half.

A tap-to-pay charity scam is turning small $15 or $20 donations into charges of nearly $5,000, with victims losing thousands before they notice.

Kurt Knutsson shares seven emergency preparedness lessons from surviving Hurricane Katrina inside a New Orleans hotel as conditions turned desperate.

A contractor stored credentials in a Google Doc set to "Anyone with the link," and Google Search autocomplete eventually surfaced the password string.

New Orleans 911 uses Carbyne AI to triage repeat auto crash calls, but strict limits keep human call-takers in control of all other emergencies.

A single card skimmer can generate $1 million in stolen funds, and Secret Service video shows criminals installing them in under two seconds.

ChatGPT, Meta AI and Google now use memory, connected apps and past chats to personalize ads and responses in ways most users overlook today.

MagicalAuth by Glide.id uses cryptographic SIM credentials to verify bank logins without sending SMS OTP codes that scammers can intercept or phish.

A humanoid robot named Lightning Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, edging Usain Bolt's record.

An AI agent using Claude AI canceled another person's gym booking after finding a security flaw in the reservation system's authorization checks.

Trump signed a memorandum allowing vetted private U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations against foreign criminal organizations under oversight.

Your Social Security number appeared in a breach, but exposure and identity theft are not the same. Here's how identity restoration actually works.