The Fear of Success is a Myth. We’re Simply Afraid of Becoming Someone New. 🇮🇹💻

We often hear the thesis that people are afraid of success. While it sounds intriguing, I believe this terminology doesn’t fully capture what’s happening in our heads. In reality, we aren't afraid of the moment we collect the trophy 🏆. We are afraid of what happens "in between." We fear that we won’t measure up to the bar we’ve set for ourselves, that our incompetence will be exposed, and that we will ultimately fail in front of everyone. This paralysis has a name—it is the fear of losing our safe, familiar "self" in favor of someone we have yet to become. 👤

I know this from personal experience because, until recently, I was a hostage to my own anxieties. Three months ago, I made a decision that might have looked like pure madness from the outside, but for me, it was the only right path. I gave up a stable, predictable life in the UK 🇬🇧 and—following my heart—moved to Italy 🇮🇹 to be close to the person I love. ❤️

The End of the Safe Harbor and Hitting the Wall 🧱

In the UK, the rules of the game were simple. A traditional income, factory work, a familiar daily rhythm. It was my comfort zone—perhaps not very exciting, but as safe as an old, worn-out shoe. Moving to Italy shattered that order overnight. Suddenly, I found myself in a country where I didn't know the language, in a culture governed by a completely different dynamic, and in a situation that forced me to abandon everything I knew about earning money. 💸

I was, in a way, forced to find an alternative. The factory was no longer an option. This was a critical moment—the moment when old defense mechanisms hit back with double strength. For years, I had quit various projects, telling myself: "it’s not for me," "I don't have the aptitude," or "I don't have the time." The truth, however, was different: I was terrified of other people’s opinions 🗣️. The thought of what friends would think, looking at my profile on social media as I tried something new, was paralyzing. I was limiting myself, becoming my own harshest censor and jailer at the same time. ⛓️

Life as an Algorithm: What Do IT and AI Teach Us? 🤖

Today, from the perspective of these intense months and entering the world of IT and Artificial Intelligence, I see this fear in a completely different light. I chose the technology path because I am fascinated by its logic. In programming or working with AI models, a mistake—the famous "bug" 🐛—is not a reason for shame. It’s not the end of the world or proof of a lack of talent. It is simply feedback. The system tells you: "Something isn't working here, try a different approach." 🛠️

So why do we treat mistakes in our private lives as life failures? As I gained experience in IT, I noticed that my fear of "stepping out of line" began to vanish. You gain self-confidence not because you suddenly become infallible, but because you begin to trust your ability to adapt. As they say: if you don’t stumble, you’ll never learn to walk 👶. Every stumble on a new career path is just another iteration in the process of creating a better version of yourself. ✨

Education Through Mistakes – The Only Way Forward 📚

Human beings learn throughout their lives, and the most effective method is trial and error. This is a natural educational process that we, as adults, try to erase from our biographies, wanting to look like professionals from day one. It’s a trap. Whether your goal is to work in an AI environment, learn Italian from scratch, or start your own business—you must accept the role of the student. 🎓

Looking back, I see that all those moments when I "froze in place" were a pure waste of energy. Fear of the unknown is natural—it’s an atavistic mechanism that was meant to protect our ancestors from predators in the dark 🦁. But in today’s world, the greatest predator is stagnation. 🛑

The Math of Success and the Result of the Equation 🧮

If you want to save time, I’ll tell you what I realized on Italian soil: don’t wait for the "right moment," because it is only an illusion behind which we hide our laziness and fear. The mathematics of life is relentless and cannot be cheated:

If you do nothing, the result of your equation will always be zero. 0️⃣ You can have the best ideas, but without action, they remain just noise in your head.

If you try, you introduce a variable into the equation. ➕ It might not work the first time, you might have to change direction, but the result will be something other than zero. And that is already progress. 📈

I’ve stopped worrying about opinions regarding my profile, my posts, or my language mistakes. The people who judge are usually the ones too afraid to take the first step themselves. Today, I know that the specific goal we choose isn't the most important thing. What matters is not letting the fear of success—or what it brings with it—steal our chance to live life on our own terms. 🔓

Italy taught me that the sun shines just as brightly over a factory floor as it does over a freelancer’s desk ☀️. The difference lies only in whether you have enough courage to step out of the shadow of your own fears and start acting before you feel "ready." Because the truth is, you will never be fully ready. And that is the most beautiful part of it all. 🌊