Fear and Jealousy

In my journey to entrepreneurial success and the View from the Top that I enjoy today, I learned that there are two emotions which will distort your vision quickly and derail your success if you let them control your actions. These two emotions are fear and jealousy.

A 2012 article in Business Insider discusses four fears that people encounter and why these fears hold many people back from starting a business. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must learn to overcome fear.

There will always be risks in running your own business. If you own a large company with significant overhead costs and employee salaries to pay, you may fear that you will go into debt if your next product launch isn’t successful. If you’re a freelance writer looking to land high-paying clients, you may fear not getting enough work each month to pay your bills. These are the type of fears that hinder entrepreneurs from taking a chance on a new opportunity.

In his 1933 inaugural address, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Author Ryan Holiday shares the sentiment that President Roosevelt delivered in his speech. While discussing the danger of allowing fear and paranoia to halt our successes in his book Ego is the Enemy, he quotes the philosopher Seneca who said, “He who indulges empty fears earns himself real fears.”

Even Star Wars talks about fear when Jedi master Yoda warns Anakin Skywalker about being fearful, saying, “Fear is the path to the darkside. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.”

Essentially, fear has no place in our lives if we want to accomplish great things. The entrepreneur who allows fear to control his actions will never reach his true potential. I wrote a blog post awhile back about how the number one challenge to success is doubt, and how the majority of fears never even materialize.  

While fear may severely limit an entrepreneur’s success, there is another emotion that is even more dangerous to your prosperity. When jealousy is evoked, your mind becomes consumed with it. Have you ever heard the idiom “jealous rage?” Malcolm X said “Envy blinds men and makes it impossible for them to think clearly.” If you let your ego manifest itself when you want something you don’t have and see someone else get it, jealousy starts to rot your bones. To avoid flying off the handle into a furious frenzy of ego feeding, we need to let jealousy go. Learn to be objective when weighing a situation, and don’t let perilous emotions take control. Greed, lust, and covetousness will blind you if you let them. Your ego will tell you that you are entitled to certain things, and your emotions will fixate you on them.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” Once you let jealousy into your mindstate and play a role in your decision-making process, disaster draws near. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, put it this way: “The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.”

Put your goals into perspective. Practice patience and look forward to the finish line. Work toward your dreams with consistency. Be consistent every day in what you do. Don’t be afraid to make a big decision, but don’t make a decision that’s driven by jealousy either.

Perhaps the best way to overcome fear and jealousy and live the life you always imagined is to join a mastermind group. These groups consist of men who are striving for the utmost levels of success in business and significance in character. When you have a weekly forum dedicated to helping one another achieve significance and success, the possibilities are limitless. If you want to learn more about the power of mastermind groups and how to stifle fear and jealousy, grab a copy of my book View From the Top, in which I expand upon my personal experience with mastermind groups. (You also get some free resources with your pre-order, including a digital edition of the Mastermind Blueprint.)

Remember, don’t live a life of fear and jealousy. Practice patience and consistency, and live on purpose!