Insights from Sam Canning: Fear and Success

The concept I am going to try and convey here is the relationship between fear and success. It was within deep introspection that I received insight to a place that I assumed did not exist—or if it did, it was small and insignificant and obviously quite comfortable under the shade of ignorance. Fear! Oh hello, Fear.

Sitting with this nondescript fear was a fascinating moment. It gave me the space to stare at it, pick away at it, and chase it all the way back to where, I suspect, it came from. Some childhood thing—where most fears originate. I was obviously sensing the significance of the moment as I didn’t want to let it go. I stayed in this place and began digging through the trenches, hunting the next fear. There it was! The process continued. Stare at it, acknowledge it, chase it back.

Before I knew it, I had unlocked Pandora's Box—a vault of all kinds of fears and neuroses, ignored or suppressed for decades. Fear of not having a comfortable bed or getting enough sleep. Fear of getting beaten up or not fitting in. Fear of vulnerability or being seen. Fear of not sounding smart or not having the right answers. Fear of big waves and deep water. Fear of the grass getting too long, fear of wasting time, fear of missing my kid’s childhood, fear of not holding enough bitcoin, fear of in-store customer counts, fear of EMFs, fear of polyunsaturated fatty acids, fear of glyphosate, fear of authoritarianism, fear of losing control, fear, fear, fear—on and on and on.

So, this was all very interesting, but this was just the tip of the iceberg. It was from a place of being able to acknowledge these fears that I was soon able to identify the litany of defences or personality traits my ego-self designed to ensure that none of these fears ever saw the light of day. I had caught a glimpse of what sacrifices the ego is willing to make to protect itself. In a desperate bid to create solutions for its fears, the fears themselves became suppressed. And you know what happens to 'problems' when we ignore them.

So now I find myself at 43 with Pandora's Box bursting at the seams with fears that yesterday, I didn't know existed. What a treasure trove of inner work to sink my teeth into, for on the other side, lies the biggest treat of all; the unshackling of love, heart centredness and presence.

So I'm really vibing this place I have arrived—where I am not ashamed or embarrassed to reveal this spectrum of fear that resides in me, because I now know that by shining the light of love into these darker places, these irrational fears can melt away, and the grip of the ego-self can soften, making way for the true Self to step forward and be.

So... my curiosity: How much do our fears contribute to our successes?

Sam Canning