Is fear holding you back from achieving your professional success?

FATEMA YASMIN

Break the barrier of fear, come out of your Comfort zone, and grow professionally by adopting a few wiles regularly.

Many of us hold dreams to achieve success in various sectors of our professional life but fail to achieve them due to not having enough courage to challenge our fear and accept all sorts of discomforts. Researchers’ diagnosis revealed that fear of success exists in both men and women.

Fear of success is similar to the fear of failure as they hold you back from achieving your dreams and goals. But unfortunately, many people are not aware of this, unconsciously they have been holding themselves back from achieving something great. Moreover, many of us hold the belief that success will bring loneliness, new enemies, being isolated from our family, longer working hours, and refraining from making progress. Instead of this, they hold a realistic look at what benefits will happen if they succeed and how they will contribute to their personal as well as social life.

Only by conquering fears and starting a journey beyond their comfort zone, we can achieve professional success by making them adaptable, resilient, and innovative in their professional work field. It is visible in our surroundings that only successful people can survive by defeating their challenges by coming out of their comfort zone as Moth coming out of its cocoon to survive. They reach new heights in their career by facing difficulties head-on and conquering the world’s tallest peak amidst the harshest weather, unaided by any guides.

According to psychologists, the comfort zone is a set of behaviors an individual feels familiar with and experiences low levels of stress and anxiety to get a sense of security. People are often attracted by their comfort zone because it provides a stable and known environment, where the challenges and uncertainties of the outside world are minimal.

To achieve success everyone must clearly state goals, and break them into manageable tasks. Because specific goals are always challenging and require an action plan and serious effort. Leaving the comfort zone is crucial for professional success, if you can break yourself free from invisible barriers only then you can achieve success. According to psychologists facing fears can increase confidence and self-esteem which is associated with a release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone that we can get when we reach our goal. But unfortunately, many of us do not want to face their fears or try something uncomfortable.

Susan Jeffers In her bestselling book, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway “advised people to try something “small or bold, outside their comfort zone each day. We cannot live life without the ability to experience fear. Different things discouraging to different people at a range of variety. It could be going abroad for studies or a job, going to marry, or giving a presentation at the workplace, etc.

As Dr. Margie Warrell explained to Forbes our temptation for comfort becomes the main obstacle to growth. Our fixed mindset convinces us not to achieve the necessary skills to accomplish our goals. This makes us less motivated to look for opportunities to grow and learn new expertise.

Being human being our behavior is habitual. The more we repeat certain behaviors, the more we get trapped in fixed patterns. This vicious cyclic pattern of living engulfs our dreams to do prospects in life.

So, we should leave our comfort zone gradually expand it, and find our optimal level of good stress. Trying to jump too far outside our comfort zone can be harmful too for our mental state. So, we need to identify our certain points of good stress to attain our goal. Psychologist Kross said that when we are afraid of something, we have a mental representation that tells us it is dangerous. Even though if we go through that situation, and learn ‘This wasn’t as bad as I thought it was’, that, typically, will update that mental portrayal of the situation. Due to fear of failure, many people hesitate to participate in activities that can lead them to attain their goals. But they need to adopt the technique called exposure and habituation to build up to what they want to do. Kross suggests we get exposure to our fear responses and face the actual danger. When we confront those situations, we quickly learn it’s not so bad.

Kross recommended another technique to handle fear which is to coach yourself through a situation. Instead of advising others we should advise ourselves through self-talk by mentioning our name and advised us what to do to face the fear. Actively seek out opportunities that take us out of our comfort zone. This could be volunteering for a new project at work, learning a new skill, or networking with professionals outside our immediate circle.

You should embrace a mindset of continuous learning to stay relevant and adaptable in your field to grow professionally and build a professional network to open doors to new opportunities to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and industries to broaden your knowledge. The ability to adapt to change is crucial for professional success.

We need to choose a fear, that is currently holding us back and confront it. Initially, we can start with something small. For example, if we tend to avoid taking on leadership roles due to a fear of responsibility, challenge ourselves by volunteering for a project that requires leadership. The more we expand beyond our comfort bubble, we can develop mental strength, enabling us to overcome challenges in our personal and professional lives more confidently.

Many people in our society hold their dreams but cannot fulfill those because of being captivated by their comfort zone due to lack of motivation and regret later on for being struck by old habits and fear. That is why they should ask themselves what keeps them stuck in their comfort zone and note down all the positive and negative aspects of their current situation and how they can overcome those to feel better. Writing can help them gain insight into their emotions.

We should set SMART goals for personal growth, like earning a master’s degree in two years. Overthinking and excessive planning can lead to procrastination, so it is important to take action now. Visualize success, focus on achievements, and celebrate every success, big or small. Meditation helps engage new neural pathways in the brain which improve self-observational skills and mental flexibility.

People often have negative thoughts hindering their goals. So we need to train our brains to be positive by reframing negative thoughts; and replacing them with new, challenging ones. By intentionally seeking discomfort, setting achievable goals, and maintaining a mindset of continuous learning, we can push ourselves toward a more fulfilling and successful professional life. As we know every magic happens outside the comfort zone.

The writer is a Senior HR Manager at Uttara Crescent Hospital

Former Lecturer at South East University