Every single person on this planet is worthy of success. It wasn’t meant for a selected few as many will think. You can have the success you want, but not until you overcome your fears.

Fear is dangerous. It is an anchor that will continue to drag down your ship from sailing. The more you allow it, the more time you spend in a spot. Tied down to that deadly anchor.

Fear can be an obstacle in so many area of life. Fear can be the anchor dragging you down in your careers, relationships, and in achieving your dreams. Until you learn to defeat your fear, it will continue to defeat you and if you are not careful, it will destroy you.

Here are my top 9 biggest fears that hold people back in life:

1. Change

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change - Charles Darwin

The fear of change or changing things is called Metathesiophobia. It is often linked with Tropophobia which is the fear of moving. The origin of the word Metathesiophobia comes from Greek 'meta' meaning change and phobos meaning fear.

In life there are no certainties, nor guarantees, but if there is one thing that is constant and is the same for all, it is that all things change.

We live in an ever-changing world, and it is happening more rapidly than ever before. Despite this fact however, there are many people who fear change, and so they resist it.

The fear of change is one of the most common fears that people face.

Fear of change can cause you to miss out on many good opportunities that come your way. You run the risk of being stagnant and staying stuck in a rut when you avoid change.

2. Loneliness

Autophobia, also called monophobia, isolophobia, or eremophobia, is the specific phobia of isolation; a morbid fear of being egotistical, or a dread of being alone or isolated.

The fear of loneliness can sometimes cause people to resist living alone or even to stay in bad relationships. Growing up as an African child, I've heard so many words such as, "I am still in this house (marriage) because of my children".

You see, in marriage, so many things can be scarier, especially in the dating realm, than the fear of being alone occupy a big space on the list. But if you, like many people, worry about winding up alone or not having a support system when you don't have a romantic partner, it can hold you back from finding real happiness.

This fear can force you to settle in for a relationship that doesn't truly satisfy you just because you're afraid to be on your own. At the end, most people testify that a relationship they settled for because of the fear of being alone turned out to be even worse than being alone in the first place — you just might not realize it yet.

And while it's smart to ward off loneliness, it's important to surround yourself with healthy people and healthy social interactions. 

3. Failure

Many of us are afraid of failing, at least some of the time. But fear of failure (also called "atychiphobia") is when we allow that fear to stop us doing the things that can move us forward to achieve our goals

Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you decided not to try it at all? At some point in your life, you have been in that position?

Don't even answer, we both know you've been in that situation at some point in your life. Well, I can't speak for you, but I can speak for myself. And, yes, the fear of failure stopped me more than once.

One of the most common fears on earth is the fear of failure. It's embarrassing to fail. And it may reinforce your beliefs that you don't measure up.

You also might avoid doing anything where success isn't guaranteed. Ultimately, you'll miss out on all the life lessons and opportunities that might help you find success.

It's almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure.

But, the wonderful thing about failure is that it's entirely up to us to decide how to look at it. We can choose to see failure as "the end of the world," or as proof of just how inadequate we are. Or, we can look at failure as the incredible learning experience that it often is.

Every time we fail at something, we can choose to look for the lesson we're meant to learn. These lessons are very important; they're how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again. Failures stop us only if we let them. 

4. Rejection

Feeling rejected hurts. It undermines your confidence and makes you doubt your worth. And whether you’ve experienced it a lot or it has only happened once or twice in your life, it can easily lead to a deep anxiety about future rejection.

Many people avoid things like meeting new people or trying to enter into a new relationship because of the fear of rejection. Even individuals who are already married sometimes avoid asking their long-time spouse for something, imagining that the person will say no.

Whether you fear to ask that attractive person out on a date or to ask your boss for a raise, the fear of rejection could keep you stuck. And while rejection stings, it doesn't hurt as much as a missed opportunity.

5. Uncertainty

People often avoid trying something different for fear of uncertainty. After all, there's no guarantee that doing something new will make life better.

But staying the same is one surefire way to stay stagnant. Whether you're afraid to accept a new job or afraid to move to a new city, don't let the fear of uncertainty hold you back. 

6. Something Bad Happening

It is an unfortunate and inevitable fact that bad things will happen in life. And sometimes, the fear of doom prevents people from enjoying life.

You can't prevent bad things from happening all the time. But don't let that fear stop you from living a rich, full life that's also full of good things.

7. Getting Hurt

Hopefully, your parents or a trusted adult taught you to look both ways before you cross the street so that you won't get hurt. But quite often, our fears of getting hurt cause us to become emotionally overprotective of ourselves.

Your fear of uncomfortable feelings and emotional wounds might prevent you from making deep, meaningful connections. Or it might stop you from being vulnerable at work. But without emotional risk, there aren't any rewards. 

8. Being Judged

It's normal to want to be liked. But the fear of being judged can prevent you from being your true self.

The truth is, some people will judge you harshly no matter what. But trusting that you're mentally strong enough to live according to your values is key to living your best life.

9. Not Being Good Enough

Another fear that is common to everyone is the fear of "Not Being Good Enough". If you feel like you don't measure up, you might become an underachiever. Or you might become a perfectionist in an effort to try and prove your worth.

The fear of inadequacy can be deep-rooted. And while it's hard to face it, you'll never succeed until you feel worthy of your success.

It's important to realize that in everything we do, there's always a chance that we'll fail. Facing that chance, and embracing it, is not only courageous – it also gives us a fuller, more rewarding life.

Following his enormous victory for racial equality, and becoming the first black president of South Africa as well as the first official elected there in multiracial polling.

Nelson Mandela's (believed) inauguration speech became a point of worldwide pride, and people started quoting it.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world ... As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."