Most of us – not only those that struggle with anxiety, but most of us that are out there in the world trying to achieve our goals – struggle with fears that hold us back. We have negative self talk, or we worry about issues that may come up and get in our way.
Sometimes, those fears and worries hold us back and prevent us from achieving these goals and dreams. Other times, we are able to overcome them. We push ourselves through the worries and concerns and we are able to succeed at the goals we set out for ourselves.
What Success Means About Your Fears
While we are often told to look at failures as learning opportunities, successes are often learning opportunities too. Successes serve as reminders that our fears are not something that needs to hold us back. They’re an opportunity to remember that the worries you had and the fears that you felt along the way ended up not coming to reality.
Let’s look at this in a different context:
There’s a treatment for phobias called exposure therapy, where a person that has a fear – for example, a fear of spiders – is placed into situations where they are forced to confront these fears. They may have to think about spiders, or look at photos of spiders, or even be in the room with a spider.
During this time, this person has fear. But, over time, when nothing happens to them, the person starts to experience less fear. The therapist then explains to the person that all those fears ended up not coming true, and shows them that fear (in this case, of spiders) shouldn’t be something that holds them back.
Success can be seen the same way. When we succeed, it shows us that the fears we had along the journey were “for nothing.” We were able to overcome them, and still able to successfully achieve our goals. By reflecting on this after successes, we can not only bathe in the feeling of success for longer, but also hopefully have less anxiety and fewer fears the next time we try to achieve goals.
Therapy for Business, Financial, and Personal Success
Though we typically see therapy as something used to treat mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, the principles of therapy are such that they can bring out the best in you in all aspects of your life. Learn more about therapy and how it can help you achieve your goals by contacting Flourish Psychology, today.