Why You’re More Afraid of Success Than Failure

Have you ever gotten so close to reaching a big goal—only to find yourself hesitating or even pulling back? Well, you’re not alone. I want you to know that fear of success is one of the biggest, yet least talked about, challenges we face especially as impact-driven women. And I say that after helping countless women navigate their dreams, because sometimes ‘What if I actually make it?’ can feel even scarier than ‘What if I fail?’”  

In today’s video, we’re going to break down what this fear of success really looks like, where it comes from, and how you can move past it to reach your full potential—without letting self-doubt hold you back. So if you’ve ever felt like your own success might be the biggest obstacle standing in your way, keep watching.

I’ve realized this in my own life. For example, I’ve shared before on my main channel, Beloved Women, that in 2020–2021, I had a lot of health challenges. Specifically, I had a slipped disc in my cervical spine, and it was the most painful experience of my life. I remember being in bed and not being able to move without excruciating pain, literally walking to the bathroom from my bedroom and then back to bed, crying in tears every day because that’s how much pain I was in. Even standing up in the shower was excruciating. But over time, things slowly got better.

I remember being able to go outside—during summertime—and just feeling the sun on my skin after so long, then walking to the mailbox at the edge of my driveway, coming back inside, and sitting back down. That was all I could do in that season. Slowly, I got stronger. The Lord healed me. I progressed: I was able to walk down my street and then come back, then around my corner and come back home. Eventually, I remember the first time I wanted to walk around our full block. I wasn’t sure if I could make it, so the first few times I asked Donald to come with me: “Can you come with me? Because if I get stuck, you might have to carry me home.” I made it, but I remember when I went around the whole block by myself, I told Donald, “You’re on call—if something happens, I’m going to call you, and you’ll have to pick me up.”

Just slowly getting stronger and overcoming that physical challenge that really debilitated me for a while, I had this fear of getting hurt again. Fast-forward to now—I walk two miles a day and don’t even think about it. But during that season, I was terrified. I remember when I ran my first mile after that. I hadn’t run a mile in years. Toward the last hundred meters, I thought maybe I should stop, maybe I was pushing myself too hard. Or that I’d make it to the mile and I’d fall apart. I was afraid success was going to kill me. But I remember God saying, “Christina, you’re stronger. You’re not going to break apart. You’re stronger because of everything you went through.” And I made it. It was such a lesson to not fear success.

Let’s talk about some reasons why we really fear success—what are we afraid of, so we can start to overcome it?

1. Success requires change.
If you want to double your revenue, double your leads—do anything great—you have to be different, because you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Something has to change, and often, it’s you. Maybe you have to be more disciplined. Maybe you have to get more educated on a certain topic. Maybe you have to set better boundaries. Whatever it is, your goal will require you to change to reach that level of success. That can terrify us because we don’t want to lose the essence of who we are. But it’s not that you lose yourself; it’s just that you’re growing and getting better. If you don’t grow and get better, your business won’t either.

When it comes to success in your business, you have to become the person who would experience that success—whatever that looks like. What habits do they have? What books do they read? Who do they hang out with? You have to become that if you want that level of success. It’s hard, because that means there are certain habits, things, and people you might not be able to participate with or do anymore. There’s a certain letting go—or sometimes just a drifting away—that happens as you experience success, and it’s scary. It’s scary and hurtful, but it’s temporary. As you elevate to the next level, things level out and you’ll find your people, you’ll get used to those habits, and then there’ll be another level you’re called to. You’ll have to readjust and pivot and do all the things all over again. It’s a journey. This is business; this is entrepreneurship. It’s what we do, and it’s what we’re called to do and it’s nothing to be afraid of. 

2. We’re afraid we won’t be able to maintain success.
We end up self-sabotaging our success when fear that we can’t maintain the goals we aiming for . We think, “I can’t handle that much” or “If we get this many clients, I’ll be overwhelmed.” This is fear in the form of anxiety, because we’re trying to anticipate problems that we haven’t even reached yet. Aim for it, go for it—don’t worry about the problems before they arise, as much as it’s out of your control. Some things you can prepare for, but many things you can’t. You have to wait until you get to that level of growth before you can address the specific problems that come with it.

For instance, I’m trying to grow my stationery business, Beloved Boutique, and I’m thinking, “If we sell thousands of planners, I’ll need a manufacturer, etc.” I’m doing my research, but I don’t need to stress about it to the point of paralysis, because we haven’t sold thousands upon thousands of planners yet. Let me focus on selling my next batch of 250 or 500 planners, and then I’ll worry about what’s next. As you move forward, the journey itself will strengthen you so you can maintain the success you’ll have along the way. 

3. We don’t think we deserve success.
Sometimes, we don’t truly believe we deserve a level of success. Maybe we’re listening to lies from others, or maybe we have a sense of unworthiness. For women of faith, this can be especially challenging. We might think, “All my righteousness is as filthy rags. Anything good I do, I don’t deserve anything.” But everything we can do is because God strengthens us, and He wants us to succeed for His glory and our good. Would you want your own kids to fail? Of course not! God is our heavenly Father. This isn’t a “prosperity gospel” message—I’m not saying if you’re successful by worldly standards, God loves you more, and if you’re not, then you’re not praying hard enough. I’m just saying our good Father wants to give us good things. Sometimes God just gives us what we want, and that’s okay.

Some of you will start six-figure or million-dollar businesses, and that’s God’s plan for you. Don’t turn that away, because He wants to use it—not just to bless you, but all those impacted by your business and by your legacy. It’s not about “I deserve this because I’m better than someone else.” It’s about receiving success as a gift from God. God told Joshua, “You will be successful if you follow My word and do not depart from it,” and the same promise applies to us. If we do what God tells us to do, we will experience success. It might not be a million-dollar business, but we’ll have peace, joy, and love—and if we do really well in business, money often follows naturally. We shouldn’t feel bad about that.

4. We fear the spotlight and visibility success brings.
When you excel at something, when you are successful, people watch you. That can be scary, because it brings visibility, and with that comes criticism. The biggest way to overcome this fear is to focus on obeying God. It’s not about what other people think. If you can go to bed at night knowing you did what God called you to do, you can sleep peacefully. It’s not about proving anybody right or wrong; it’s about obeying the Father. If you keep that in mind, you’ll have peace.

Imposter syndrome, people-pleasing, all of those fears come from looking outward or inward, instead of upward. Keep your mind on God. He may let you shine, but it’s for His glory. The Bible says we shouldn’t hide our light; it’s meant to shine so people see our good works and give glory to God. People might idolize you they may criticize you, and you’ll have to battle that, but in your heart, you’ll know it’s all for God’s glory.

5. We’re afraid success means more work or time.
If you don’t set your business up properly, it might. But as you learn and grow, you figure out what causes overwhelm and stress, and discover best practices to eliminate those things while still getting results. It’s called leverage—how can you get more results with less work and less effort? Success does not have to mean more work. If you set up your business the right way, it should mean less work for you. A lot of people think they have to work more to earn more, and that gets them into a trap because we all have limits on our time and energy.

Success to me isn’t just about earning more money by working more hours. It’s about finding the best way to work to get the results I want. It really takes evaluating the inputs you’re putting in versus what’s coming out, and setting up your business so you do less but achieve more.

6. Sometimes we confuse excitement with fear.

I have to give my daughter credit for this one. I was launching something big—my 2025 planners for Beloved Women’s 10-year anniversary—and I felt both excited and nervous. My daughter said, “You’re ‘nerv-sided’!” Yes—nervous and excited at the same time. Sometimes you can feel in the air that something is going to click, that it’s going to be successful, and your body can interpret that excitement as anxiety. I know for me, I can feel excited, but my body thinks I’m stressed out. Sometimes we just need to take deep breaths, be grateful for the success coming our way, and receive it with God’s grace and thankfulness. 

I hope this was helpful for you on your entrepreneurial journey. Girl, success is on the way, and it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s going to glorify God as you build your kingdom business, and I am cheering you on.