Suffering from success? What happens when you are not able to handle success the right way. You must have heard this famous quote that you should not allow success to go to your head and failure to your heart. If you qualify, these can have a disastrous impact on life. Success and failure are like a two-sided sword. It has to be handled properly or you will hurt yourself. Here are some strategies for handling success the right way.
Success is more difficult to handle than failure. You tend to give up very soon. In failure there is motivation to get to success. But once you succeed, the most difficult part is to stay self-motivated and stress-free. This reminds me of the 'Suffering from Success' song by DJ Khaled.
There are a few things to keep in mind when dealing with success
1. Have gratitude
Gratitude is a powerful emotion of thankfulness toward someone or something for what they have done to assist you. It works two-way - The people who succeed are the ones who have gratitude and having gratitude helps you to hold your success.
It is not possible to achieve without any help from people who are there always. Being grateful helps to recognize that. It also helps us to avoid getting ego. Be grateful to God and the people that have helped you reach success.
People who live their lives with gratitude are always aware of what they have to be grateful for. They seek out more success because they love the results of their triumphs. Thankful people can put failure into perspective when things don't go as planned.
2. Stop feeding your ego
A person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance is defined as ego. Your ego has been shaped since the moment you were born, and it begins with circumstances beyond your control. Ego is the false image of yourself that you have based on who you think you are. This belief stems from what you were told as a child and how others behaved to you.
A few things thing you can do to avoid ego are:
- Don't judge yourself and others based on societal rules.
- Stop comparing yourself to others.
- Don't expect any validation from others.
- Do what is right and not what you feel is right.
- Stay grounded and be humble.
Letting go of your ego takes guts and necessitates stepping outside of your comfort zone, being open to the unknown, and allowing what is meant to happen.
3. Remember - Success is temporary
Everything in this world is temporary.
In fact, I would say, failure lasts longer as it is always easy to fail rather than maintain success. I motivate people to expect success, and make decisions with confidence but never brag about your success. Success speaks for itself. You should rather concentrate your efforts on maintaining success.
Success is a process rather than a destination. Success is like a game. Once you achieve success, don't just be satisfied with accolades and do nothing to achieve further success. You risk losing your success to failure as soon as you shift your attention away from the game.
4. Remember that humans don't have feathers to fly.
Humans were not given feathers to fly. In my view, even when you have achieved success, it is important to stay grounded.
Remember your roots, the time when you started your journey towards success, your hardships, your failures.
You may have achieved success, but there may be many people in your life who assisted you along the road. Never be afraid to share the credit and help others climb the success ladder alongside you.
There's a distinction to be made between excitement and bragging about your success. We know you're excited about your newly achieved success but keep in mind that others must have given up their basic necessities to help – be considerate.
You can be a mentor and help others with your experiences.
Have you seen any person who is very successful and helping others? Or who has given up all the things to see you become successful? Comment what you feel for them.
5. Nobody is perfect. So keep learning.
Never stop learning and evolving. Recognize your limitations and accept when you don't have all the answers.
Before you say anything, find out what others have to say and ask for their feedback. It demonstrates that you value their input as well as their opinions.
Don't allow your ego to make decisions when you are successful. Make a point of quickly apologizing for your errors. Making excuses and shifting blame will never teach you anything or impress anyone. And a dash of humility will gently remind you that you are only human.
6. Be a competition to your own self.
We may also compete with ourselves if we want to, which I feel is significantly more successful in a learning situation, especially in the long term. By doing so you are creating a new basis for comparing yourself at your current level of success to future anticipated levels of success or goals.
While this may appear easy, it permits us to improve more quickly since we are not discouraged by the notion that others are better in position than us.
We must understand that there will always be those who are in better position than us. If we accept this, we may allow ourselves to be proud of others' accomplishments and use them as motivation for our own.
Compete with yourself daily to become a better learner. It is a sure-shot way to maintain your success.
7. Redefine Success - What does Success mean to you?
Success can be defined in different ways, but it is something that everyone strives to achieve. However, handling success can be challenging.
One's definition of success changes depending on the phase of life. What you consider Success today might not be the Success you would be seeking tomorrow.
Ever-changing priorities and circumstances make it quite important to redefine success and set new goals while maintaining a healthy balance between your personal and professional life.
Set realistic expectations for yourself, and be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances. Unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment and burnout.
Ask yourself - What is the true meaning of your success today? Consider your future objectives while you find out the answer for long-term success.
8. Don't be complacent, keep pushing yourself to achieve more.
Life is a journey and so is success. Success can only be truly measured in the long term. Whenever you accomplish a goal, establish a new one. Progress never ends, thus continuing to create new objectives can help you advance. Ask yourself, what is your purpose in life?
The answer is not simple and it might take a lot of adjustments to your achievements or success. And to make these adjustments you should set new goals.
Stay focused on your long-term goals, and avoid getting distracted by short-term successes or setbacks. Keep your eyes on the prize, and be willing to make sacrifices to achieve your goals.
You might be very successful in one arena of life while being a complete failure in another. This means that you can't call yourself to be successful until you make adjustments to succeed in all aspects and phases of life.
A common misconception is that being rich and accumulating a lot of wealth is a success. If that were true, most wealthiest people whom we call successful today would not have given away money in charity. Bill Gates had already pledged to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charity as part of the Giving Pledge. Isn't it worth giving a thought?
The time and circumstances continuously demand that you set new objectives and redefine success. And "ultimate success" would be when you have found and achieved your purpose in life.
9. Maintain a growth mindset and focus on the good things in your life.
The growth mindset has a lot to do with framing success and developing purpose. A growth mindset helps in embracing challenges and seeing them as opportunities for success.
A growth mindset can help you to be brave with trying new ways to reach your goals. It could be the best motivating factor in itself.
With the growth mindset, you start to emphasize progress over perfection which keeps you moving ahead and achieving milestones.
When you maintain a growth mindset, it helps you stay motivated and positive by focusing on the good things in your life. It also reinforces belief in your abilities and embraces changes which is very important to handle long-term success.
10. Introspect how well your personal and professional lives are balanced.
The journey of success entails making sacrifices. Sacrifices in personal life like not giving enough time to loved ones who have also sacrificed all the things to see you become successful or not pursuing things that make you happy can lead to immense regret at certain points in life.
Success can be stressful and exhausting, and it's important to practice self-care to maintain your physical, emotional, and mental health. Make time for exercise, meditation, and other activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.
As I said earlier, you might be successful in one area of life while your entire personal life may be out of balance right now. What's the use of achieving success in your professional life, if you don't also achieve success in your personal life?
It is very important to introspect and resolve to lead a full, successful life instead of simply a life of material success. Understanding your purpose in life will help you in introspecting this balance and managing the overall success.
11. Keep your success to yourself or share it only with those who genuinely care about you.
When we achieve something, we like to brag about it in conversations and even on social media. You never know the intentions of the people. Some people will definitely be unhappy with your success especially if they hate you or they are your competitors.
Not all people have good intentions and most such people know that they can't take your spot and hence will try to pull you down, criticize, or just degrade you.
Celebrating success with people who don't care or react negatively to your success or other successful people who are not honest can emotionally drain you of motivation and happiness.
A goal-oriented person should not share their plans or brag about their success with anyone except those who have helped them succeed.
Success is a personal journey, and sharing it with others may not be helpful.
12. Keep in mind that not everyone will be happy with your success.
As said earlier, not everyone will be happy when they learn about your success. Dealing with such people can be challenging. However, it is important to keep a check on them to protect your success from their negative actions and reactions.
It could be helpful to talk to such people and understand their perspectives. It would give you some idea of why they behave negatively. Sometimes it may even be possible to gain their support by communicating and understanding their perspectives.
If they continue to be unsupportive, set boundaries and limit your interactions with them. Remember that their lack of support is not a reflection of your worth or your goals. You should maintain a positive attitude and focus on your goals, even if others are not supportive.
Build a support network of mentors, colleagues, and friends who can provide guidance, encouragement, and accountability. Surround yourself with people who share your values and goals, and who can help you navigate the challenges of success.
13. Never forget what your failures taught you.
Failure is an inevitable part of success, and it's essential to learn from your failures rather than dwelling on them. Use failure as an opportunity to grow and improve, and be willing to take calculated risks to achieve your goals.
Reflect on your past failures to stay humble and motivated. Failures are the best lessons, never to be forgotten, we get in life and it is important to learn from them.
Remembering your failures helps you avoid repeating the mistakes you made in the past. It can also help you appreciate the importance of time, money, and efforts that are required to handle success the right way.
14. Celebrate each success, no matter how minor, to inspire you for further triumph.
Celebrate your success, but do so in a way that is respectful and considerate of others. Avoid bragging or boasting, and instead focus on the efforts and contributions that you made.
Celebrating success feels good and can motivate you to achieve more bringing in positivity and a boost in morale inspiring you to achieve more.
Celebrating success is an essential aspect of personal and professional growth. It is a powerful way to acknowledge our achievements, boost our confidence, and reinforce positive behaviors. Remember to celebrate success with people who helped you achieve it.
Celebrating success is important because it promotes positivity, boost feel good factor, acknowledges accomplishments, increases motivation, reinforces success, and builds achievement.
15. Share your knowledge or let others benefit from your expertise.
Sharing your knowledge and expertise with others can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, both personally and professionally.
Not only can it help others learn and grow, but it can also help you build your reputation as an expert in your field, increase your visibility and credibility, and open up new opportunities for collaboration and career advancement.
Another way to share your knowledge and expertise with others is to mentor or coach them. This can involve providing guidance and support to individuals who are just starting out in your field, or helping more experienced professionals to improve their skills and achieve their goals.
16. Stay humble, but also be brave to not allow others to pull you down.
Staying humble while being brave can be a challenging task, but it is essential for personal growth and long-term success.
Remember where you came from, your values, and your experiences. Being humble helps in avoiding unnecessary conflicts and maintaining long-term success.
However, there will be some haters and competitors who will try to pull you down. It is important to know how to deal with them and be brave enough to not allow them to distract or pull you down so that you can enjoy long-term success.
17. Plan for the not-so-great days.
All successful individuals experience ups and downs, and most of the time that isn't easy. However, changing your mindset to be pleased with where you are today is a rather straightforward process.
There are several ways to enjoy life. Unfortunately, some of these methods include developing lifestyle choices or habits that simply serve to fuel the previously noted downward cycle. Success brings prominence, which leaves many successful people lonely and vulnerable.
Success has the tendency to move towards failure quite easily. You might have many examples of such destructive behavior in life. So be wise, and find inexpensive and simple ways to enjoy life with loved ones who struggled with you to see you succeed.
As we know success is temporary, consider saving your success for not-so-great days of life. Do not be misled by believing that your success is permanent. Have a plan beforehand.
Final thoughts
It's time to congratulate yourself for making it this far and achieving success. We lose the taste of achievement when we keep working without seeing any results, or even after we reach a certain milestone. Rewarding oneself gives us a sense of accomplishment
There is a scientific reason for this. Our bodies produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel full and joyful. This deceives our bodies into wanting more dopamine. As a result, it increases our energy levels and motivates us to accomplish more and achieve more. That is why it is critical to acknowledge and celebrate even the tiniest achievements.
We all know what "success" entails. "Success" for Millennials is achieving what our parents did: graduating from college, getting the "perfect" job, meeting the "right" person, buying a house, and starting a family. That isn't to imply that folks who do so nowadays aren't successful; they certainly are. Those who are successful, on the other hand, are those who followed it because it made them happy, rather than because they felt it should.
Similarly, when you let go of other people's expectations and pursue whatever makes you happy, you define your success not by how you feel, how you fulfill yourself, or how you choose to live your life, but by what makes you happy.
Thank you for reading it till this point. Share it with your loved ones. I would also love to see your views in the comments.
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