The fear of success seems like a silly one on its face, but as we delve deeper into it you may very well find yourself to be an unknowing victim of it.  I didn’t realize how big a part it plays in my own life until TJ Baker, a fellow writer, brought it up. TJ is currently working on her first novel and writes a monthly personal journal blog.  TJ, like myself and many other writers, is an introvert and is not comfortable with the prospect of being famous.

While researching this topic, I discovered a veritable rabbit hole of fears and phobias.  There isn’t a perfect match, but the fear of success lies close to the core of the matter.  Get ready to lift some rocks in your psyche and brace yourself for the creepy crawlies we might find.

The Fear of Success and The Jonah Complex

The fear of success and the fear of greatness (the Jonah Complex) are closely related to one another.  We will need to begin by clearly defining both and studying their relationship to each other to gain a measure of context.

What is the Jonah Complex?

The Jonah Complex is the fear of being great.  For those unfamiliar with the biblical tale of Jonah and the Whale, I’ll briefly summarize it.  In the Old Testament, Jonah refused God’s to become a prophet and fled on a boat instead. When God raised a great storm the sailors threw him overboard to save their ship, because Jonah’s disobedience angered God.

Jonah was swallowed by “a great fish” (presumably a whale) where he lived and prayed for protection for three days before being vomited onto dry land.  Jonah finally got the memo at this point and became a prophet. When someone’s version of sending you to the corner is feeding you to a whale for three days, you know they mean business.

Abraham Maslow (commonly known for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) posited that challenges or major commitments in life (such as publishing a book) can trigger symptoms of the Jonah Complex.  Fun fact: While Abraham Maslow is often cited as the one who coined the name, it actually came from his friend, professor Frank Manuel.

What is the Fear of Success?

The fear of success is similar but revolves around the need for familiarity and safety.  Those that fear success are less concerned with running away from a major commitment or change and more concerned with keeping things familiar and safe.

We fear success will push us into unpleasant circumstances so we sabotage ourselves to protect ourselves from future discomfort.  This fear can make us turn down job promotions, not take advantage of opportunities, or even purposely fail at activities that may lead to great things.

Fear of Success Causes

The fear of success can come from many different sources and may be caused by more than one.  In many cases, a fear of success can be traced back to a specific event in your past that planted the seed in your mind.  If nothing specific comes to mind, consider other sources of the fear of success and see if it illuminates anything. Just remember, no matter what you find there is still hope.

Fear of Judgement

The fear of success can stem from a natural fear of being judged.  You cannot be judged as an author if nobody reads your book.  The greater the success of a book, the higher the possibility that someone will pass judgment  on your work and thus you. This can be very intimidating and enough to keep someone back from pulling the trigger on publication.

There is also an aspect of this fear that is a very recent development.  The internet has brought forth a golden age of information sharing and empowered people all over the world to learn anything they desire in record-breaking time.  The sad dark side is that it has also given a voice to internet trolls who, for whatever reason, spend their time and energy trying to rip apart anyone who seeks to create.  Every well-known internet personality can tell a detailed story about a troll that cut deep.

Setting High Expectations

The fear of success also feeds upon the expectations of our audience.  If we write one story that people love, they will expect our next one to be good too.  That adds a measure of pressure to our writing and those two elements don’t mix well. One sure-fire way to hit the wall of writer’s block is to add pressure into the mix and then try to fight through it.  As we saw with the fear of public speaking feeding on itself, being afraid of high expectations will cause pressure, which hurts your writing, which feeds your fear.

Fear of Being Exposed

Sometimes our fear of success can come from just being known by so many other people.  In middle school, I had to take a choir class and part of the class consisted of a stage performance in front of a packed auditorium.  I was taken aback by the fact that I couldn’t see the audience due to the bright lights. As void merchants, we face a similar situation in that many people know us, but we don’t know them.  Being in such a titled relationship with so many can become overwhelming.

How to Overcome Fear of Success

Hopefully, I have not whipped you into a full-blown panic attack yet.  If you are feeling a little on edge, take a moment to breathe and let things settle a bit.  When you’re ready, read on for some advice on getting the better of your fears.

Adjust Your Perspective

Fear of success, like any fear, often shrivels in the face of reality.  By evaluating the reality behind our fears we can deflate them back to their tiny harmless selves.

Judgment:

Are you afraid that your book will be so successful that your audience will rip your plot and characters to shreds with endless criticism and judgement?  The reality is if your book is successful you will also have a hundred people that loved your work for everyone that knit-picked.

Expectations:

Are you afraid of setting the mark too high to ever be able to meet again?  The reality is you’re good, but you’re not that good.  Thinking this way is like a chef over seasoning a delicate dish because if they did their best people would keep eating until they exploded.  Also, keep in mind that everyone has an off piece of work from time to time and nobody really cares. Every actor has a bad film, every author a bad book, and every singer a bad song.  I’d bet $20 that Gordon Ramsey overcooked chicken at some point and he’s still Gordon friggin’ Ramsey.

Trolls:

We all fear the dreaded internet troll with its uncanny ability to ambush us with the words that cut to the core of who we are.  The reality is that people who hurt, hurt other people. Hurt people hurt people. That vicious little imp in the comments section isn’t lashing out because of you or what you created, it’s about them.  The other reason they may be lashing out and saying hateful things is that they’re making money from it. Seriously, there is such a thing as a paid troll and the very concept is disgusting.  They push buttons to get a response. Ignore them.

Use a Pen Name

One tool authors have been using for centuries is the pen name.  If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it is when a writer makes up a name to list as the author on their books to protect their identity or help with marketing.  If Stephen King, a well-known horror writer, decided to publish a book about horse breeding, his usual audience may be confused and rather disappointed at the lack of demonic dogs or freaky clowns.  The solution to this is to write it under a different name, one that people will then associate with horse breeding.

You have probably come across many pen names without realizing it.  One of the most infamous was used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, its Mark Twain’s real name.  Want to really have your mind blown? George Orwell, Stan Lee, and JK Rowling are all pen names as well. If you don’t want the exposure right now, use a different name.

Set Boundaries

When writing a book, it is vitally important that you strictly abide by the 12 tenets of publication as even the slightest infraction could result in excessive fines and prison time.  If that freaks you out, don’t worry because it’s total crap that I just made up. You’re the author, you set the rules for your own work.

If putting your picture in the back flap of your novel makes you uncomfortable, then don’t.  Many authors do, but that does not mean you have to. Many authors also list where they live in their jacket biography.  If telling your readers where you live makes you nervous, then don’t do it. It is also worth noting here to NEVER list your address in your bio.  Your fans are capable of doing crazy things in the name of love, they don’t need your address.

Know You are Not Alone!

If you still feel a tingle of fear when thinking of publishing your work, that is normal.  That fear never really goes away and it shouldn’t. Publishing a book is a major decision no matter how many times you have done it before.  I’m confident if we sat down with the top five authors on the New York Times best sellers list today, they would all say they were at least a little nervous making that final leap.

Knowing you’re not alone is advice you will probably hear quite a bit, but I would like to add something to the conversation:  You don’t want the fear to go away. In manageable doses, fear is fun. It’s why skydiving is a thing. It’s why amusement parks spent ridiculous amounts of money building terrifying rides.  A measure of fear makes us feel alive while providing excitement and passion.

Do your best to polish your work then make the jump before you can think about it.  You may second guess yourself on the way down, but it will be one hell of a ride!

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This week’s book report:

Words Written (Week 12): 1,251 out of 2,200 (Much like Jimmy Buffet, it’s my own damn fault.)
Words Left: 25,784
Last Three Words Written: onto her back.  (That sounds dirtier than it is, lol.)

That concludes my first set of 12 week goals. I got 97% of it done, so for the next 12 weeks my weekly word count goal is going up to 2,500 per week to pick up the slack. I came up short, but I’m quite proud of how close it was.