The Evolutionary Fear of Success
Confidence and Failure Can Be Linked to the Human Genetic Code
May 28, 2009
Successful people still have trouble with confidence. Even if they begin school with hope about future goals and accomplishments, unforeseen set-backs can hamper their dreams and even lead to a life of unfulfilling jobs and relationships.
For a reason they cannot identify, they think they just aren’t good enough or that they can’t handle the pressure of success. Being successful is simply not as easy as they thought it would be.
Failure's Connection to Evolution and Genetics
Global defeat can actually be linked to evolutionary survival tactics, according to Nando Pelusi, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist based in New York City.
It has fostered in the human psyche a win-at-all-costs outlook that, in prehistoric times, was useful because options were fewer and expending energy only on successful outings increased the chances for survival.
At times, even, helplessness is in a gene’s best interest. The gene doesn’t care about emotion. A person who is alive and miserable, but able to pass on the gene is better than a dead person who can no longer advance the genetic code.
Ambition in the 21st Century
In today’s society, however, the all-or-nothing attitude can foster a feeling of helplessness and fear, often of the things most desired, which keeps people down and relegates them to lives of untapped potential and longing.
A frustrating situation or setback can thus activate a biological tendency to submit. It’s simply easier to give up than to deal with difficult situations.
Rather than give up on the entire ambition, people can instead pick and choose their battles, allow room for imperfection and the occasional loss, and maintain determination to mobilize the positive aspects of ambition.
5 Tips to Jump-Start Ambition from Dr. Pelusi
- Make a list. When a goal seems out of reach, write out a goal statement, describing it objectively, and then list out its advantages and disadvantages.
- Don’t globalize. When people generalize one failure to their entire existence, they are taking the event too seriously and setting up a feeling of helplessness.
- Know the tendencies. Evolutionary history sometimes favored an all-or-nothing defeat strategy. Accept its presence and then ignore it.
- Seize the challenge. Frustration can fuel the accomplishment of a challenge. Using it as a motivator instead of an inhibitor turns the event from a negative into a positive.
- Take the long view. A disappointing outcome is just one phase of a larger goal. The negative feelings will pass.
Source:
Nando Pelusi, Ph.D. “The Ups and Downs of Ambition” in Psychology Today magazine. U.S.A.: Sussex Publishers, Inc., May/June 2008.
