Post MBA exams you will be tested for WAT or Written Ability Test so it is advisable to read variety of topics. Today, you will read WAT topic: “You can't bask in past glory”
When an individual becomes successful in life, he feels he is on cloud nine. It is not wrong to enjoy your success and bask in the glory of your achievements, but it is important to come to terms with reality.
Success doesn’t last forever without hard work. So, once you are successful in life, it doesn’t mean that you can sit back and relax. The world we live in is dynamic. Things are changing every minute and yesterday’s news is considered stale today. So, to stay in the limelight, it is important to work hard so that your success doesn’t become history.
When it comes to competitions, every year there is a new winner. Ian Thorpe, a world renowned swimmer has managed to stay in the limelight because he doesn’t bask in past glory. Just because he had won swimming competitions in the past, he has not become complacent. He still works hard to compete with new swimmers.
In tennis, Serena Williams managed to stay in the limelight for more than a decade because she did not let success get to her head. Even though she was ranked number one in the world, she practiced day and night to stay ahead in the rat race.
When you bask in past glory, you become overconfident and you tend to overlook your weaknesses and your competitors’ strengths. This is the recipe for failure. To succeed in life, you need to constantly work on your weaknesses so that your competitors don’t get ahead of you.
In the smart phones arena, we have seen a decline in Nokia’s market share over the years. Although Nokia was ranked number one in the world in the past, it has lost its market share to Apple, Samsung and Blackberry. This is because although Nokia was a pioneer in the mobile phone industry, it had failed to develop its technology at the rate its competitors were developing.
There are so many examples around the world that show that one can’t bask in past glory. What’s past is history. To ensure that your past success accompanies you in the present and future, it is important to keep a lookout for competitors around you so that you can identify their strengths and weaknesses and move forward in life.