Fear of Success
Why Young People Freeze at the Starting Line
Your child has the projects. The ideas are there. Maybe even a solid letter of recommendation. But something stops them from hitting “send” on that competition entry, internship application, or possibility.
They close the tab. They scroll.
They convince you and themselves they’ll come back to it later.
Spoiler: they don’t.
This isn’t just procrastination. For many young adults in creative education, it’s something deeper. A strange, quiet fear that success might actually be worse than failure.
I was thinking about this after our degree show.
So many of our students are genuinely really talented - but university is often not the training ground for wild ideas and innovation anymore. Mad isn’t it?!
You study, make work you care about, and still back away from the very thing you said you wanted.
Why?
Because success has consequences. Good ones, for sure. But also big unknowns. It means expectations. It means showing up. It means risking failure, criticism, and the terrifying possibility that maybe you’re not as good as everyone thought.
University doesn’t quite prepare them for it. In fact it adds to their risk aversion. It never lets you fail. It never allows mistakes to happen. Tutors tiptoe around students.
That’s where imposter syndrome sneaks in. The little voice that says your wins are a fluke. That people will find out you’re not “really” skilled. That you don’t belong. You can have years of training and still feel like a fraud the second someone praises your work.
So you start pulling back. Subtly, but steadily. You avoid applying to the opportunity that feels out of your league. You delay sending in the film, the zine, the application. You tweak and tweak and tweak until the deadline quietly passes. You call it perfectionism. But often, it’s just fear dressed up in productivity clothes.
“Because success has consequences. Good ones, for sure. But also big unknowns. It means expectations. It means showing up. It means risking failure, criticism, and the terrifying possibility that maybe you’re not as good as everyone thought.”
This is self sabotage, and it’s a defence mechanism. If you never try, you never fail. If you never put yourself out there, you don’t have to face the possibility of being “not enough.”
That safety has a cost. You end up stuck. Stalling your own progress. Watching others move forward while you stay put and wonder why.
Here’s the truth: nobody feels completely ready. Not even the people already doing the job you want.
Creative industries thrive on uncertainty, and that can mess with your head. But waiting to feel 100 percent confident before you act is like waiting for perfect weather every day before leaving the house. It’s not coming.
Success isn’t something that just happens to you. You have to choose it. You have to risk being seen. That means doing it, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Especially when it’s uncomfortable.
So if you’re a young creative sitting on an application or a personal project or an idea that scares you, that might be the sign you’re heading in the right direction. Fear of success is still fear. But like all fear, it gets quieter when you walk through it.
Not perfectly. Not painlessly. But step by step.
No pretending. No permission needed. Just go.
If you feel you have a creative child who just needs steering in the right direction - have a look at the ‘Creative Futures Kit’ here on HatchEd.
This week it’s looking at composition
By the end of the workshop they will have:
• Learned 5 tools to make any layout stronger
• Tried remixing ‘a mess’ into something stronger
• Created 3 different designs using the same content
• Practised looking critically at layout in the real world
Thanks as ever, for reading.
I’ll see you back here next week, with the second module in the kit, aimed at young people designing their own brand and the pitfalls to avoid. 😊
“The unique blend of passion, practical experience, and mentorship makes the HatchEd tutor an exceptional educator. I admire her commitment to empowering young minds to excel in the world. Without a shadow of a doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend HatchEd to anyone seeking not only an exceptional teacher but also a mentor who deeply cares about the success of their students. She's truly outstanding."
Rona Marin-Miller, Designer and Parent.