Fear of winning...

Not a fear but I've developed a "complex" for lack of a better term of not dominating just because I can. Growing up in a small city and in a private school I was stronger, more athletic, taller, smarter etc than a lot of my "peers" and I'm a natural leader which I learned because followers follow me. Not sure why, maybe because I've seen how it affects some people but I avoid triumph.

Not exactly what you're talking about but I feel its an obligation of more capable people to be humble (no irony) and empathetic...
 
It's called the Jonah Complex.
 
Well, the way around that is to not care either way. To have fun while doing it. Jeff Glover put it best:
 
I’ve known people that freak out when things are going well. They tend to sel sabotage themselves.

Definitely. This applies to me physically as I had quit smoking for 9 years and recently started again. For the time I was not smoking I was all about "Quitting cigarettes was one of the best things I ever did." and "I'd never go back to that disgusting habit."

Fast forward about 3 months ago, and i've picked it back up even worse and have developed a healthy smokers cough in that relatively short span of time. I was boxing and competing in that 9 years I was clean, so that was the best shape I'd ever been in.. no weed, no cigarettes, moderate alcohol consumption, and attempted to abstain from caffeine. My body was pristine lol. Now i'm in the absolute worse shape i've been in as of yet.

How or why I started again, I can't even tell you. But there was definitely an element of self sabotage in there. I feel like it's been a theme my entire life. Human nature is complex, it's hard if not impossible to explain why we do the things we do to ourselves.

IMO, fear of failure and fear of winning all boil down to the fear of the unknown or fear of change. I deal with this a lot in business. You'd be amazed how many people do not want a promotion or to take on more responsibility. A lot of people just want to find a comfortable spot and cruise along.

I feel this way in a lot of my jobs. And I know it's a bad look for one to be complacent but you're right, it's definitely a fear of the unknown for me. It gives me a creeping feeling of anxiety knowing more eyes will be on me. I hate change but every time i'm faced with it, I always come out feeling better. Now I try to challenge myself everyday, but there is always the little devil on your shoulder that tells you to just kick back and do the bare minimum. Like I mentioned in my above post, human nature is complex, and one of the human conditions is that more often that not, most people with take the path of least resistance if presented with the choice.

How would you recommend one approach or deal with these feelings of complacency? It definitely holds a lot of people back from reaching their full potential. I know it has worked against me throughout times in my life for sure.
 
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I think the term for that is complacency. Or perhaps it could be cherophobia
 
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