It feels grand when people tell you how good you are at the things you do. On several occasions, a few people have even told me they thought I was “one of the best in the world” at some of the things I do. –Very kind words, but maybe slightly overstated.
However, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, you’re probably never going to know for sure.
I appreciate the well-intentioned kindness in any glowing remark I may receive, but those comments in the past have also been some of the most harmful things to happen to me as well.
Let me explain:
The moment you stop getting better, you start getting worse. This moment almost always occurs the moment you think you’re good enough or you’ve done enough. i.e. the moment you spend time thinking about what you’ve accomplished and not solely what lies ahead.
We need to forget our accomplishments (let other people get excited about them) and focus only on what is to come and the work we’re doing at the moment.
After all, to achieve those great things, you had no great past accomplishments to distract you and “puff you up”, you had a drive, hunger, and focus to achieve a great goal.
Forget the accomplishments, learn from the failures, and focus on the work at hand.