We all wish for success… but sometimes we forget that it comes at a price.

Take Harper Lee, for example. She published the classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 when she was just 34 years old. Considering that many successful authors don’t get started until their 40s, she was practically a baby by most standards of literary success.

But the success of To Kill a Mockingbird overwhelmed her and Harper Lee never wrote another novel again. Success had come too quickly, and it was too huge, for her to handle. She once said, “When you’re at the top, there’s only one way to go.” She spent the rest of her life making sure that she would never risk putting out another work that would stain her reputation or cause her even more emotional distress.

That’s not to say every writer would respond that way to great fame, fortune, and success. Harper Lee had her own demons and no one but her will ever know exactly what was going on inside her head. But her life acts as a stark warning to all of us who dream of having that #1 bestseller, being on all the talk shows, or getting all the attention we ever wanted.

Be careful what you wish for because as Harper Lee has warned us, success can be both a blessing AND a curse.

Daily Question: Does the thought of great writing success scare you? Why or why not?