Stressed For Success

Fear of failure has long dominated our career conversations, but what if, in reality, it’s the dread of success that’s bringing your goal-chasing to a halt?

- Samera Kamaleddine & Elle McClure

AS INSTAGRAM LIKES to remind us, everything we want is on the other side of fear. But uncovering the source of your trepidation is a more powerful play – and one that could take you by surprise. Fear of epic fails and humiliation sit, as you’d expect, at the top of the list, but rising to the surface is the fear of triumph.

As psychologist Mary Hoang recently discovered, you might not even know you’re carrying this fear. What could be so scary about getting everything you’ve ever wanted? It was while setting new objectives for her business, The Indigo Project – a psychology practice in Sydney – that Hoang came to experience the effects first-hand: “I was self-sabotaging, which had manifested in procrastination.”