Why Success Can Feel Like a Threat
F-Bomb #3: Promotion Panic
Why Success Can Feel Like a Threat
You finally got what you were working so hard for
The title. The raise. The seat at the table. People say congratulations and give you high fives and hugs!
So… why do you feel anxious instead of elated?
Fear of failure gets all the attention.
But fear of success? That’s one of fear’s sneakier disguises.
“What if I can’t keep up?”
“What if I’m not actually ready?”
“What if they realize I don’t belong here?”
Even though we associate promotions and big wins with joy, our nervous systems can interpret them as danger.
That heart-racing, sleep-disrupting, stomach-dropping feeling?
That’s fear.
Just dressed up in a business suit.
Growth Feels Like Discomfort
If you're a parent, think about your kids right now.
Maybe they’re about to start a new grade. Maybe they’re growing out of a phase and everything feels wobbly. There are more tears, more clinginess, more resistance.
Why?
Because growth is destabilizing. It takes energy. It feels unfamiliar.
And it’s the same for us.
When we level up in our careers or lives, we step into new terrain.
Promotion. Success. Visibility.
It all takes internal recalibration.
That jittery feeling? It’s not a red flag.
It’s growing pains.
Sometimes we have to shed the comfort of mastery and move into the discomfort of learning again.
It’s not weakness. It’s biology.
It’s the cost of expansion.
It’s The Fear - After the Finish Line
There’s a phenomenon called post-achievement letdown.
Athletes know it. Artists know it. Executives know it.
You’ve been sprinting toward the goal, and the second you cross the finish line, fear creeps in:
Now what?
This is anticipatory fear.
Your brain starts scanning for new threats, new expectations, new ways you might fail now that you’re “on the radar.”
You’re not broken.
You’re growing.
Fear shows up at every next level. Not to stop you, but to remind you:
This is new. You’re not supposed to know it all yet.
Rewire Your Response to Fear
In those “I’m not ready” moments, try this:
• Remember: Fear is information, not instruction.
• Take inventory of what you do know and who you can lean on.
• Normalize it: Everyone feels this. Even the people you admire most.
Fear doesn’t mean stop.
It means pay attention.
You’re standing on the edge of something meaningful.
So what’s your next level? And what fear is tagging along with it?
Let’s stop seeing fear as a stop sign.
Let’s start seeing it as a signal:
You’re stepping into more. So, step in, eyes open and heart steady.
Let fear shape you. Let it sharpen you. Just don’t let it shrink you.
You got this!
Next up: If success sparks fear, just wait until you start comparing yours to everyone else’s. F-Bomb #4 - The Fear of Not Enough (and Too Much) Why we’re all exhausted from pretending we’ve got it together.