In my work I help people stay in action and get more done, so I’ve spent a lot of time seeking to understand why people don’t do what they say they want to do.

People don’t like to admit it but I believe the number one thing holding them back is fear.

Most people just assume that the fear could be one of failure but my experience tells me it could be fear of success as well.

In my studies, I’ve found in many cases the problem is not that people don’t know what to do.  Rather, it’s that they just don’t do it.

They sit back passively and wait for something to happen.

And the only thing that happens is they get more frustrated with themselves.

From what I’ve seen, people often have a clear overall idea of what they are supposed to do, but they often lack the step by step plan of how to go from Point A to Point B.  Or they may even have a plan, but haven’t figured out the steps in sufficient detail to know how to execute them… Perfectly…

In other words, people build up incredible expectations of themselves as if they are afraid to fail – when in fact they are setting themselves up for “failure.”

But I’ll go you one further.  I think people are secretly afraid of success.

What do you think?

Take a moment and put your thoughts in the comments below.

-pl