Guarding against Complacency

From our Motiv8ing Ideas Archive

"I will not allow yesterday's success
to lull me into today's complacency,
for this is the foundation of failure."

Og Mandino

Sometimes we can unconsciously slip into complacency and start taking things for granted...and sometimes it's about important 'things', such as our relationships, our health, our jobs, our customers, our skills.
And, as Og Mandino cautions in his quote above, complacency does not lead to success.

For example, if we're complacent about our skills, we're not likely to work hard at developing existing and new skills, and pretty soon our skills are out-of-date and out-of-demand.
If we're complacent about a relationship, we're unlikely to invest time in nurturing it, and pretty soon the person could be no longer around.

So, at the start of this New Year 2004, let's resolve to guard against slipping into any form of complacency.
The important things in life need our ongoing personal attention ...they need working at.

Here are a few questions that can help us guard against complacency:

• What skills do I need to be developing that will ensure I can function successfully in 2004 and beyond?
• What aspects of my job do I need to improve/change to help ensure that I add lots of value to my employer in 2004 and beyond?
• What customers do I need to stay in contact with, to gain feedback from, to listen to more, in 2004 and beyond, so that they remain really satisfied customers?
• Which friends or family members do I need to spend more time with, to talk with more, to listen to more, to support and encourage more, in 2004 and beyond, so that our relationship stays really good?