When you have some success, it can make you feel as if you are destined to have more. In that way, early success can sometimes be a curse because it “tricks” us into believing that success is inevitable, instead of something that you have to work hard for every single day. Even though success is the ultimate end goal, we have to keep practicing and working for it even when we’ve achieved it. It is important to keep learning and to stay motivated so that you can continue to grow and get better.
Success Can Trick Us Into Believing We’re Infallible
One of the reasons that success is so dangerous is that it can trick us into believing that we are infallible. And in turn, that can make us more likely to make mistakes. When we believe that early success automatically equals later success, we are less likely to put in the kind of work that will allow us to stay at the top. Instead of resting easy after achieving success, we need to figure out how to stay energized and motivated. We’ll talk a little more about that later on in this piece.
We Always Have More To Learn
A great way to stay focused even after having some success is to stay curious. When you stay curious and recognize that you still have more to learn, then you’ll be less likely to ease up when you have some early success. Instead, you’ll start thinking about new ways that you can innovate, develop, and get better. There is always more you can learn and there are always new things you can improve at.
How You Can Stay Motivated To Keep Improving
At the end of the day, internal motivation has to come from you. You aren’t going to be able to get inspiration from external figures forever. You have to remain motivated and focused of your own accord. Everyone draws their internal motivation from different sources. Some want to prove others wrong. Some want to prove themselves right. Some want to reach their goals, and when they do, they set new ones. Whatever your motivation may be, it is important to stay focused and motivated to improve over time.
Having some success is great. And it can feel tremendous when you have it early on. But it is important to remember that success now does not indicate success in the future. You have to keep working hard for it. There are plenty of stories of individuals who stopped working hard and lost their competitive advantage. There are also plenty of stories of individuals who had early success but stopped learning and innovating and fell behind the rest of the group. The key to sustained success is to keep learning and growing over time.