GROWING THROUGH FEAR: REWIRING THE MIND FOR SUCCESS

I never imagined I’d reach a point where I was afraid to paint, at least in the traditional way. Over the years, I moved fully into digital art, leaving my canvas behind. The image beside is an acrylic piece I created years ago with my siblings, Vanessa Oloo and Wayne Oloo. Yet now, the simple act of picking up a brush by myself feels intimidating. I’ve been away from canvas for so long that I sometimes fear my talent has slipped away, or that if I try again, I’ll fail… as though the creativity that once came naturally might not show up for me anymore.

And isn’t that exactly how success often feels? Every time we attempt something bold, starting a new project, launching a business, posting a video, or stepping into any kind of change, fear whispers louder than confidence. It pulls us back toward self-doubt, toward what feels familiar, toward doing nothing, or even toward procrastination disguised as “not being ready yet.”

1. Your Brain’s Job Isn’t to Make You Successful, It’s to Keep You Safe

I've learned that the brain doesn’t know the difference between danger and discomfort; it just knows change, and change feels unsafe.

Every time you try something new, your brain sounds the alarm: “We’ve never done this before! Abort mission!” That’s why growth often feels like anxiety. It’s not that you’re doing something wrong… It’s that your brain hasn’t yet learned that this new path isn’t dangerous.

You will be surprised to know that many of us fear success more than failure. Success represents change, a new version of you, and your nervous system doesn’t recognize that version yet, so it resists.

2. Do The Hard Things; It Strengthens You.

There’s a small but mighty part of your brain called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, think of it as your willpower muscle. It grows stronger every time you do the hard things you don’t want to do.

Waking up early, saying no to distractions, finishing that project, these moments are tiny workouts for your brain. Studies even show that people who regularly do uncomfortable things live longer and build more trust within themselves.

Procrastination and perfectionism often come down to one thing: lack of self-trust. You don’t follow through because, deep down, you don’t yet believe your word. The only way to rebuild that trust is through consistent action, doing the hard things, even when you don’t feel like it.

Motivation won’t save you. It’s like an outfit, cute, but temporary. Discipline is built through repetition under resistance.

3. Dopamine: It’s Not the Reward, it’s the Chase

Here’s a fun fact that changed how I look at productivity: dopamine isn’t the reward; it’s the pursuit.

We don’t get dopamine when we achieve something; we get it while we’re chasing it. That’s why it feels easier to scroll endlessly on social media than to work on your business. Turns out that your brain is chasing micro-rewards instead of long-term payoffs.

Quick wins feel good for a moment, but they fade fast. Real fulfillment, the kind that lasts, comes from staying in the pursuit even when it’s hard. The slower you build it, the stronger it lasts.

4. Trauma and the Illusion of Chaos

If peace feels boring and chaos feels normal, you’re not broken; your brain has just been overprotecting you.

When you’ve gone through trauma, your nervous system gets wired for survival. You might start mistaking stress for motivation, or confusion for passion. Until you retrain your brain to feel safe in calmness, you’ll keep calling dysfunction “drive.”

Healing is learning that peace isn’t dull, it’s safe, and safety is the soil where creativity, confidence, and growth bloom.

5. You Are Not Stuck, Your Brain Can Rewire

There’s this myth that people can’t change after a certain age. But neuroscience has proven otherwise. It’s called neuroplasticity, your brain’s ability to rewire itself at any time.

Every new thought, habit, and action literally reshapes your brain. That means you are never too old, never too far gone, and never too late to start again. You just haven’t repeated the right things long enough yet.

Change doesn’t happen because you understand something new. It happens because you feel something new deeply enough to make a different choice.

6. Emotion is the Teacher

The brain learns through emotion, not information. You can read a hundred self-help books, but until something moves you, you won’t act.

That’s why storytelling is so powerful. Stories make you feel, and feelings create change. Whether in business, relationships, or healing, connection always beats logic.

7. Rest Is Reprogramming

Here’s the one most of us forget: rest is not laziness.
Rest is neurological wealth.

When you rest, your brain merges memories, solidifies learning, and connects your ideas. Without it, your creativity, focus, and emotional stability suffer.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause, because your brain does some of its best rewiring in stillness.

Final Thoughts: Rewire, Don’t Replace

After going down the rabbit hole of understanding how the brain handles fear, change, success, and survival, one truth keeps revealing itself:

You don’t need a new life, you need new wiring.

When you retrain your mind through discipline, emotion, rest, and consistent action, the life you want begins to align naturally. Success stops feeling like danger, and growth stops feeling like a threat. Because fear and success aren’t opposites… they’re twins.
Fear shows up the moment you begin rising, not to stop you, but to signal that you’re stepping into unfamiliar territory where your next level lives.

So if fear appears when you try to grow, return, start, or change, it simply means your brain is doing its job.
But so are you.

Every time you choose courage over comfort, your brain rewires a little more.
Every step you take forward, even the hesitant ones, teaches your mind that this new version of you is safe, that you are allowed to expand.

So, I need to keep reminding myself that my brush never stopped belonging to me.
And that the creativity I worry I’ve lost has simply been waiting… patiently… for me to reach for it again.