I have worked hard for most of my life to overcome an intense fear of being judged by others.

In the past, that fear was not without a basis. For some reason, the adults in my life had it in their heads that I was incredibly gifted. (My IQ is above average, but that's it, and it doesn't make me any more special than anybody else.) Having this idea about me, they expected more. Any mistake at all was treated like total failure. I grew to demand nothing less of myself than perfection.

On top of this, any success I did have was discounted. Let's say I'm really good at X and Y, but not Z. What feedback would I get? "Nobody cares about X and Y. What really matters in life is Z. X and Y are for nerds. Z is what the cool people are doing--and you're not good at that, so you're not really all that smart after all. You're dumb in the areas that mean anything."

So yes, I had reason at first to fear rejection. I no longer do, because I've discovered that these people were lying. For some reason, they felt bad about themselves because they weren't good at X and Y, so they wanted me to feel bad about myself too.

None of that is happening anymore, but the leftover fear does remain.