Because we can never have enough #LifeLessons, here is another one of my stories about the dangers of extreme self-confidence.
One of the biggest reasons why we fail in life is because there comes a point in success when you feel over-confident. Your life may be wonderful, yes. But that doesn’t mean you are invulnerable, quite the contrary.
Looking back at what happened to me, I have realized that the biggest reason why I failed so hard was because I stopped learning. Well, that and the fact that I became so cocky that I didn’t have respect anymore.
You can be the best driver in the whole world. But when you go out there, you must remain respectful to the street lights, other drivers, and pedestrians. Otherwise, your ability is of no use, no matter how great it is.
But if you think you are almighty and that nothing can happen to you, then it will probably be the moment when something actually happens, like getting in a car crash.
When you become cocky, you have no fear of what may happen. It’s the same with everything in life. Nobody is perfect. We are all making mistakes and trying to learn from them in order to live a nice life in this world. So we should start cutting the crap and realizing how can we work with what we’ve learnt so far.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Self-confidence is good but having respect is more important.” quote=”Self-confidence is good but having respect is more important.”]
I mean, being good at something doesn’t give anybody the right to do whatever the hell they want, does it?
When you are too cocky, you stop respecting and things can go really wrong. At least, that was my situation. Being too confident, I didn’t bother learning more about the things I was doing or looking for help with people who know better.
I thought I could do everything by myself! I know it sounds silly, but it’s an actual attitude that can ruin many good things if you’re not careful.
I remember when I was working on a construction project and instead of going to a few lawyers to check that everything was correct I just thought: “Yeah, I sure can understand contracts, whatever!” And then it was when I made bad decisions.
“If only…”
The chances of making a better contract and better decisions in general would have been higher if I had done anything differently. Of course, no-one knows what would have happened, but for sure the outcome would at least have not been as devastating as it was.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Fear is good sometimes; it means you’re not stupid.” quote=”Fear is good sometimes; it means you’re not stupid.”]
It keeps you on your toes, always cautious. There is no need to live always in fear, though. But just a tiny portion of it –especially in hard situations– doesn’t hurt anyone.
Learn new stuff!
We never know everything there is to know about anything! Remember to be humble and curious.
I am very careful about this now because there are times when everything is perfect and it’s easy to fall in that mood again –thinking you can do anything. I know now how to stop myself in those moments and remember what happened and don’t stop doing the things that help me.
Like a little prayer…
I have a list of good questions that I ask myself every morning and before going to bed. These are empowering questions to give my mind something to think about when I go to sleep or during the day.
These questions helped me a lot when I was coming out from depression.
Now that my life is nice and stress free, I could easily stop doing those things, but I know better! It’s a good habit, you know? The whole thing helps with my energy, my creativity, and motivation in my life.
We all have stories to tell about lessons learned.
Would you care to share some of your #LifeLessons?