Success brings with it a sense of achievement and satisfaction at having done your work well. It leads to happiness, confidence in your abilities and a justified feeling of pride. But you should be careful that success does not go to your head.
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The main reason for the downfall of many successful people has been their lack of humility and their over-confidence. The pride brought about by success makes many people blind to the suggestions and advice of others. They develop closed minds and cannot accept the fact that they need help from other people it has often happened that popular boy selected to be the school prefect or head-boy becomes haughty. He looks down on others who were his friends such a short while ago. He begins to behave in a domineering manner even towards those who had helped him to become a perfect. His pride and over-confidence result in his becoming un-popular at school; he loses the respect of others and soon becomes unworthy of holding his appointment.
It is often very difficult to remain modest after achieving success, especially when other people praise you. In order to remain modest you should accept the praise gracefully but you should never allow it to got to your head. If others tell you that you are the best cricketer in the university, do not readily believe what they may say. Tell yourself that there may be others who are better at batting, bowling or fielding. Try to reason with yourself that it is impossible for one person to be the best in every aspect of cricket, that with a little more practice many others could become better than you and that you have been fortunate to be successful. In this way will be able to stay modest. Remember to listen to others, to take their help and to accept the fact that you may be wrong.
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Mother Teresa is a shining example of one whom success has not changed. From the age of eighteen she worked in Calcutta to improve the plight of poor people. She collected abandoned babies from the gutters and tired to nurse them back to health.
She built children’s’ homes, havens for the handicapped and the old, and homes for the lepers. This courageous nun’s outstanding work was eventually recognized and she received the coveted Noble Prize for Peace in 1979. Her first words after receiving the prize were, “Personally, I am unworthy.” What great humility and spite of the tremendous adulation she received! She accepted the prize I the ‘name of the poor’ and continued her works as before.
You will achieve success after success if you keep in mind the importance of humility. Do not be over-confident. Approach each new venture with zeal and a desire to adapt your techniques to new problems.