Success Is A Lousy Teacher. It Seduces Smart People Into Thinking They Can’t Lose

When you begin to have success, don't automatically think you can no longer fail. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, warns of this all the time.

A lot of times you see someone as successful as Bill Gates and it is easy to think that he must do everything right. He never makes mistakes, does he? Wrong.

And he is the first to admit that he has to avoid letting his success make him feel invincible. In fact, one of his most famous quotes is: “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”

What Bill Gates Wants You To Learn From This

Bill Gates wasn't successful right out of the gate (no pun intended). He was a Harvard dropout and his first business, Traf-O-Data was a complete failure.

He had to learn a few lessons before becoming the billionaire he is today. Luckily, he is always willing to share his wisdom with the world.

Gates wants you to be humble when you are successful and learn as much as you can from your failures. Just because you make a lot of money on something, doesn't mean that will happen on all your future ventures.

You still have to put in the work. You still have to be careful with your decisions. Nothing in life is guaranteed. You could easily throw all your success down the drain if you get too arrogant or overconfident in yourself.

The best way to get results is to act. The best way to learn is to fail. Success is not the end of the line, it is just one step along the never-ending journey.

Don't think for one second you have reached enlightenment in business because you had one ounce of success.

Related: Failure Is A Detour, Not A Dead-End Street – Zig Ziglar

Some Ways To Avoid Overconfidence From Success

Knowing how to handle success is just as important as knowing how to handle failure. Whether you succeed or fail, you should learn from the results.

But, to avoid letting success get to your head, here are a few strategies you can apply:

• Get truthful feedback. Surround yourself with trusted advisers that aren't afraid to be frank with you. Don't just build a team of “Yes-Men”. Have people that will tell you when you're wrong and give you honest advice.
• Always be learning. Successful people like Bill Gates all have something in common, they read daily. If you aren't constantly learning and becoming wiser, you will lose your edge and make worse decisions.
• Remove emotion from your decisions. Warren Buffett once said, “If you cannot control your emotions, you cannot control your money.” You have to learn to stay cool and collected. You will continue to see success if you make logical decisions instead of emotional ones.
• Be grateful. Sometimes you have to take a step back and just remember how far you've come. Remember what got you this far. Thank people that helped you be successful in the first place. If you do these things you will be more humble and less arrogant.
• Block out a time of thinking each day. Another thing many of the most successful people in the world do is just take time to think. Stop overloading your mind with tasks. Stop moving through the day so quickly. Stop and just think a while so you always have your head on straight.

Conclusion

You always hear people saying you must learn from your mistakes, but not very many people tell you what to do when you're successful.

Bill Gates said, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.” Considering the guy who said this was the richest man in the world for many years, you might want to listen to him.

Learn from your mistakes, be humble when you are successful and never take anything for granted. Otherwise, you may not be successful for very long.

What does this famous quote from Bill Gates mean to YOU?