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The fear of success is more common than some might realize. Just the thought of 'What it would be like to...' is enough to set some people off.

One might start talking about how he could never be successful. Well if he keeps saying things like that he'll end up proving himself right.

Or if one's a dreamer she'll keep dreaming about what she wants to achieve. But will she ever take action? I doubt it.

Not until she gets over her fears.

And there are those people who don't even realize that the fear of being successful is the key to what's holding them back. It's like they're in a holding pattern. They make progress towards their goals and then something always happens to stop their momentum.

So they keep going through this cycle of ups and downs knowing that their dreams are attainable but not realizing that even though it seems like outside forces are holding them back it's really themselves.

If they were to take a closer look at their situation they would notice that those stops could have been prevented if they would have been paying more attention. They would have noticed that they were sabotaging their own success because they weren't ready for it yet.

You know you have the potential to do anything you want but either you don't take action, you say it will never happen or you sabotage yourself somewhere along the way.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Because we're afraid of the unknowns that success can bring. That success could be anything, large or small.

It could be losing those extra pounds - you could be afraid of the extra attention that could bring.

Or getting a big promotion - you could be afraid of the extra responsibility.

Or getting your novel published - you could be afraid of being in the public view for the first time.

We're afraid that people are going to treat us differently if we succeed. We're afraid of stepping out of our comfort zone and into something new. We dream about success all of the time yet we're too afraid of what might happen if those dreams were to come true.

So how does one get over this big fear?

You have to face it head on. One way to do this is to take baby steps - small actions that get you closer to your goals. By taking it one piece at a time you're gradually adjusting yourself to what might happen when you reach your goals.

Daily action towards your goals can help you beat your fears. So with a step by step approach you can reach success.