Don't be complacent, keep growing

Complacency is a dangerous adversary, it's not in-your-face and yet very destructive. History is replete with instances of powerful companies becoming insolvent and successful dynamic individuals biting the dust simply because they were complacent in their success. Successful entities have to make a conscious effort to view their success in perspective. It's important never to forget the struggle that led to that success. Create new frontiers - there is no end to improvement and expansion.

When a person begins his/her career, then he is filled with a desire to make a mark, to grow through the ranks, accumulate wealth and gain recognition. Once all these goals have been achieved, it often happens that the person runs out of steam in terms of motivation and new goals. New goals can transcend personal desires and encompass the family, organisation and society as a whole. For an organisation, constant innovation is the only attribute that allows it to stay ahead of the competition. Being over cautious is as detrimental as being reckless. Remember the adages, 'He who hesitates is lost' and 'Look before you leap'.

They may seem contradictory but the secret is treading the middle ground. Complacency always leads to recklessness; a person is so confident of things falling into place and going off well that he/she does not evaluate and react appropriately to different situations. It's important to believe in yourself and supplement that with judicious thought and action. A useful tool to overcome complacency is to consider each situation from a desperate viewpoint. Think of how you would assess and respond to the situation if you had inadequate resources and were desperate to overcome the situation in your favour. There is no room for complacency in such a hypothetical situation and you will find yourself shrugging off complacency and acting with the urgency required.