Many leaders, creatives, and artists are not just afraid of failure.

They are afraid of success.

And there is a subconscious reason for that, according to Kabbalah.

According to Kabbalistic teachings, the deepest fear of success is not actually success itself.

It is separation from God.

In other words, the soul fears that power, wealth, influence, beauty, recognition, or achievement might inflate the ego to the point where it forgets its Source, where it forgets Hashem.

This idea appears throughout the teachings of the Arizal, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, and later Chassidic masters. They teach that every soul has both:

A profound longing to reveal its Divine mission, light, and essence... and -

A discernment that receiving "too much light" before it has enough humility and the proper vessel will lead to spiritual disconnection.

This feeling holds intelligence and is for good reason! Kabbalah teaches, and history and life show us, that accessing too much light without a vessel can lead the receiver to experience chaos instead of peace.

This is one reason why many people (unconsciously) sabotage themselves just as they approach expansion. On the surface, it looks like fear of or resistance to visibility, true intimacy, financial success, being in our bodies, true wealth, deeply resonant relationships, or leadership. At a deeper (often completely unconscious) level, the soul is asking:

"If I become successful, powerful, full of life in general... will I still remember Who the Source is?"

Kabbalah does not teach that success is dangerous.

It teaches that the danger is forgetting the true SOURCE of that success.

The concern is not wealth, health, pleasure, success, abundance, and Possibility itself.

The concern, in its infinite wisdom, is giving us an opportunity to make sure we remember the truth:

"I am not the Source, I am the Channel."

"We are the channel, not the Source."

Now let us take it one layer deeper:

Many teachers of Chassidus, Kabbalah, developmental psychology, and nervous system understanding explain (through each unique lens) that the ego often feels safer in limitation than in greatness. That we feel safer with what is familiar on the level of the body and mind.

The truth is, when you become more successful, you become more responsible.

More influence.
More people depending on you.
More light moving through you.
More to be present with.

That can feel terrifying because your soul knows that every gift carries greater responsibility.

To remember to embrace our feelings AND that we are not our feelings is the greatest gift we can give our selves, souls, and the world in order to keep growing and moving forward.

This is when we become true stewards of energy.

Kabbalists describe creation itself as God's desire to bestow infinite goodness upon us.

Infinite Goodness.

Can we even fathom what that means?

The human challenge is learning to receive that goodness without shame OR egoic ownership.

So one of the deep fears of success is:

"Can I receive infinitely without making it about me in either direction?"

Many people unconsciously answer "no," so they keep themselves small - not because they don't want abundance, but because they don't yet trust themselves to hold it.

The Tikkun (opportunity for soul growth) here is not becoming less successful. It's not shrinking or not standing in your full size.

It is becoming a clearer vessel.

Instead of saying:

"I made this happen." or "I am nothing."

The posture here is:

"I prepared the vessel. God provided the light. My role is to let it move through me faithfully. I am the channel, not the Source. The way I am seen doesn't matter to me. I am the steward of my energy - the energy Hashem entrusted me with. I commit to being a loyal steward."

In that framework, success stops being something we unconsciously resist and sabotage and becomes service, stewardship, and spreading light.

When you know in your bones, in your nervous system, in your heart and soul that you are not the Source - you are the channel. You can breathe deeper. You can be clear.

The more transparent the channel becomes, the more freely the light can flow.

The perk of truly knowing that success isn't measured by how much you accumulate, but by how fully you allow Divine abundance to move through your unique mission in the world, is success beyond your wildest dreams, and the possibility of sharing that with the world.

I am the Channel, not the Source.

You are the channel, not the Source.

We are the channels, not the Source.

Some of my work recently has been working with extraordinarily successful leaders who know external success and desire the deepest of success first and foremost - a soul-connected life, a life filled with spirit. This is a topic that comes up often.

In learning Kabbalah and teachings like the Mesilas Yesharim, teachers like the Arizal and the Ramchal teach about dvekut - cleaving to Hashem.

In Mesillas Yesharim, Chapter 1, Ramchal (Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto) writes:

"Man was created for one purpose alone: to delight in God and derive pleasure from the radiance of God's Presence, for this is the true delight and the greatest pleasure that can possibly exist."

He continues by saying that everything in this world is a means to that end - not an end in itself. From that perspective, and other similar perspectives, one of the deepest unconscious fears surrounding success is not success itself, but that power, wealth, or recognition might strengthen the illusion of independence and obscure our awareness of the true Source - Hashem.

I am so grateful to have learned these teachings when I was in elementary school. I was shaped in such formative years by some really challenging teachings and things - but this one is one I'm INFINITELY grateful for - every single day of my life, and one I cannot wait to pass along to my children in divine timing ♥️