As the New Year is upon us, there is no doubt that we are making resolutions, establishing goals, and setting expectations.  One of the most crippling inhibitors to our achievements will be the self-induced anxiety known as fear of success.  Before we make and break our resolutions this year, let’s take a few moments to find strategies to disarm this landmine that lays in wait to blow up our achievements.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow called this fear the Jonah Complex.  The name comes from the biblical prophet Jonah who was called by God to do great things for the people of a city named Nineveh.  Jonah, believing that the problems of Nineveh were too great for him to resolve, sought to escape God by boat.  God thwarted his efforts by sending a storm of such divine intensity that Jonah’s shipmates decided to toss him overboard.  He was immediately swallowed by a great fish and was trapped in its belly for three days.  After he was vomited up by the fish, Jonah learned his lesson and went to Nineveh to achieve his destined greatness.

Maslow describes this as “fear of one’s own greatness”, “evasion of one’s destiny”, or “running away from one’s own best talents”. We are afraid of achieving the greatest possibilities, under the greatest courage, in our most perfect moments.

This thought came to mind as I discussed with my girlfriends our goals for the New Year.  Each of us articulated lofty goals for family, business, and waistlines.  But, each of us harbored a debilitating fear that seemed prepared to sabotage our best efforts.

In his book, Extreme Fear, Jeff Wise talks about debilitating performance anxieties that manifest itself in performing artists as stage fright and in athletes as choking.  Stage fright has haunted performers and ended or paused careers.  Even the greatest performers have not been immune from this – Barbara Streisand, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Carly Simon are but a few.  It causes actors to become paralyzed and forget their lines on stage and causes musicians to forget their lyrics and fail to execute musical technique during performance.  Choking is “the sudden and dramatic loss of athletic skill under pressure”.  We have seen notable examples in Olympic ice skating, baseball, and golf.

Two things that Jonah and those afflicted with these performance anxieties have in common.  First, they had plenty of time to think about and dread their personal performance.  In choking, it is quite common in sports for athletes have plenty of time to think.  For example, a golfer spends considerable time pondering his golf swing and a pitcher has plenty of time to contemplate the spin and trajectory of his ball.  Secondly, they were highly gifted and more than capable of achieving their goals. Jonah understood the challenges in Nineveh and had three days to prepare for his destiny.  In the case of performing artists, they are usually troubled with stage anxiety at the peak of their careers.

So, what can me and my girlfriends learn from all of this?

Have faith that you will get through this.

Performing artists and athletes both overcome this by focusing less on their performance and more to the physical execution of their task.  Actors look for physical cues to take their mind off of the debilitating emotions.  Golfers will repeat words like “smooth” to help them focus less on outcome and more on the technique that they have mastered for years.

Just do it girls.  We know how to do this and we didn’t live this long in ignorance of all of this. 

Have fun with it.

Wise reminds us that no one has anxiety when they’re doing something that is fun.  So, have fun and enjoy your sport, your music, or your craft.

This isn’t just drudgery, this is our calling.  Whistle while you work.  Be creative, work your magic. This is our year of happiness.

Use your fear to help overcome this.

General George Patton said that “courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”  Overcoming fear with bravery can be used to execute the activities needed to achieve your goals.

We wouldn’t need faith or courage if we didn’t have fear.  Whew! Fear is just the beginning of our path to achievement.

Now that we have some clues about how to overcome our own performance anxieties, how can we not aspire to be great? What are your greatest possibilities? We can achieve and maintain weight loss.  We can achieve and maintain business success.  We can achieve and maintain harmonious family relationships. We are good enough, we deserve it, and who cares who is watching.   And we will do this first by having faith that it can be done, enjoying the moment, and welcoming fear as the bell ringer of success.

Here’s to fun, fear, and faith in 2014