In addition to persistent, ongoing effort, continued success requires humility. If you grow arrogant after a few accomplishments, you're not likely to have many more. With each success you gain more confidence, and that's great. When you've done it before, you know that you can do it again. Yet even as your confidence level grows higher and higher, do not make the mistake of discarding your humility. For humility keeps you reasonable, respectful, thankful, thoughtful and realistic, and those are all qualities essential for continued success. Thinking that you're entitled to something just because you want it is a reliable recipe for failure and disappointment. Humility reminds you that in order to receive value, you must create value in equal measure. While it is certainly possible to accomplish things without humility, those accomplishments will be empty and short-lived. Those people who enjoy meaningful success and fulfillment year after year and decade after decade are those people who know the value of humility. Choose to be strong enough and smart enough to live with genuine humility. The rewards for doing so will show up throughout your whole life. -- Ralph Marston