You ever notice you’re unstoppable… right up until the moment it matters most?
You finally get the job.
You finally feel peace.
You finally start that thing you’ve been dreaming about.
And then?
You ghost yourself.
Like clockwork.
That ain’t laziness.
That’s self-sabotage.
And it’s way smarter than you think.
Your nervous system doesn’t want success.
It wants familiarity.
Even if what’s familiar is failure.
Growth feels like danger to a mind raised in chaos.
Calm feels like boredom to someone used to storms.
So the moment things start going well—
You get distracted.
You lose motivation.
You convince yourself it wasn’t the right time.
Nah.
Your mind isn’t broken.
It’s just running a program that says:
“Safety is staying small.”
Somewhere back there,
You learned that being seen meant being judged.
That being great meant being left.
That being bright meant being burned.
So you dim your own light just enough to survive.
You settle before anyone can reject you.
You ruin it before someone else gets the chance.
That’s not weak.
That’s learned.
That’s protective.
That’s survival strategy dressed as apathy.
But here’s the truth:
You’re not protecting your peace.
You’re protecting your pain.
One past failure
Plus one shot of shame
Plus three ghosted goals
Multiplied by one self-hating voice in your head
Equals one brilliant human
Playing small on purpose.
You don’t fear failure.
You fear the version of you that might emerge after success.
Because that version?
She doesn’t ask for permission.
He doesn’t play by inherited rules.
They don’t fit in the box you were told was “safe.”
What if sabotaging your success
Was your last defense against becoming unstoppable?
Because the real you—
That unghosted, unleashed, unwatered-down version—
They’re dangerous.
Not in a chaotic way.
In a clear way.
In a no-more-apologizing-for-existing kind of way.
So next time you start to back off when it’s working,
Don’t ask:
“Why am I doing this?”
Ask:
“Who am I afraid to become if I don’t stop?”
