--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we are succeeding - that is, when we…" description: "\"When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/steven-pressfield-696_advancing_when-we-are-succeeding-that-is-when-we-h_3215886.jpg" --- # When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to… ![“When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level - that's when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep…” quote by Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/steven-pressfield-696_advancing_when-we-are-succeeding-that-is-when-we-h_3215886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/steven-pressfield-696_advancing_when-we-are-succeeding-that-is-when-we-h_3215886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/steven-pressfield-696_advancing_when-we-are-succeeding-that-is-when-we-h_3215886.jpg) > “When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level - that's when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.” [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Panic signals you are on the brink of a major growth breakthrough, a threshold to a higher level of performance. **In simple terms:** Panic means you’re about to level up. Key Takeaway Embrace panic as a sign of imminent growth. Themes growth fear threshold performance Mood anxious excited Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - career advancement - skill mastery - public speaking - entrepreneurship Key Concepts self-doubt self-sabotage creative flow Questions to Reflect On - What threshold are you approaching? - How can you channel panic into focus? A Different Perspective Panic can also cause paralysis if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancing/) [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Crosses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crosses/) [Doorstep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doorstep/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Evolve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolve/) [Experience Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-panic-6026705/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Higher level](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher-level/) [Level Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/level-panic-6026707/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panic/) [Panic Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panic-means-6026704/) [Panic Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panic-strikes-6026706/) [Planes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes/) [Sabotage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sabotage/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-doubt/) [Self sabotage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sabotage/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Threshold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threshold/) ## Related quotes > [“He is prepared, each day, to confront his own self-sabotage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/he-is-prepared-each-day-to-confront-his-own-self-sabotage/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Art is a war - between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work. 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You want to savor it, to twist the blade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/that-of-dealing-death-of-loosing-another-man-s-soul-and-sending-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-is-experienced-as-fear-the-degree-of-fear-equates-to-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us... Ideas come. Insights accrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-sit-down-each-day-and-do-our-work-power-concentrates-around/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Anything that draws attention to ourselves through pain-free or artificial means is a manifestation of Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/anything-that-draws-attention-to-ourselves-through-pain-free-or/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. 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Resistance gets us to plunge into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-outwits-the-amateur-with-the-oldest-trick-in-the-book-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“I don't need to read nothing,' said the New Zealander. 'I was there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/i-don-t-need-to-read-nothing-said-the-new-zealander-i-was-there/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Explore all 404 Steven Pressfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## More Advancing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. 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Every next mission takes you farther out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-believe-that-the-manned-space-program-can-engage-the-public-by/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harington/five-qualities-there-are-wine-s-praise-advancing-strong-beautiful/) [John Harington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harington/) > [Ladies: Anne Hathaway is a feminist and she has amazing teeth. Let's save our bad attitudes for the ones who aren't advancing the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/ladies-anne-hathaway-is-a-feminist-and-she-has-amazing-teeth-let-s/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [Increasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization. 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