How to Keep Your Feet on the Ground After Success

Their stories are all too common: after years of hard work chasing the “Dream Life,” these high achievers finally reach the peak of success they earned. And you guessed it, they let success go to their heads. What happened to staying humble?

The reality is that money does not change you. It simply reveals who you really are. That is why it matters to work on your values, vision, and mission on the ground every day without obsessing over what will happen when you finally make it. It is hard. It means asking yourself deep, uncomfortable questions. It means judging yourself so you can change habits and ways of thinking that feel like part of who you are.

The simple truth is that not everyone handles success the same way. Here are 13 ways to stay humble after you have achieved success:

Reevaluate yourself often.
Look inside at your strengths and weaknesses as a human being. Examine what you dislike and how you can improve it. Keep your head on your shoulders and stop floating in the clouds.
Carry an overwhelming sense of your need to grow.
Realize that what you have achieved so far is nothing compared to what the world can still give you. If you made it this far, you can go much further. That can make your current win feel smaller, and that is fine. It does not make it less important. It helps you keep your feet on the ground, stay cool-headed, and focus on something bigger that will make you even more successful.
Have enough self-awareness not to let a bad situation own your emotions.
Do not let anyone belittle your achievements, but do not respond with arrogance or anger when it happens either. Understand that you do what you do for yourself and your family. What others think does not matter, and their words cannot make you smaller. The same applies when you face something hard to overcome. You made it this far; you can keep beating bigger challenges.
Be compassionate and forgive.
Many people I have known before and after success never realized that once they reach that level, others see them as role models, even mentors. Those people put themselves in a place where they can make mistakes, step off the path, and maybe impact your business or your life if they work with you or are close family. Understand they are stepping outside their comfort zone because they want to follow you on the path to success. Instead of getting angry and writing them off, forgive them and guide them.
Look for the best in others.
It is true that many people can act badly, but it is false to assume it is their nature. Being cold, harsh, or malicious is usually a survival or defense mechanism against hard situations. As I explained in Start Taking Responsibility for Your Life: “Build a new habit of looking for the intentions behind people’s behavior. Very often, once we understand where someone is coming from, we drop the judgment.” Understanding people matters. In fact, without it you cannot reach the success you want. So keep doing it once you already have it.
Respect other human beings first, then yourself.
People often say that if you do not love yourself, how can you love anyone else? That is true, but my take is a little different. It is important to think of yourself for basic needs; you cannot survive giving everything to the world and keeping nothing.
But here we are talking about a successful person. I have turned down potential clients ready to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars to coach them because I disliked how they spoke to the waiter serving us at a restaurant in Mexico City. They asked what the problem was. I told them something simple:
“If you do not know how to respect a waiter, how are you going to respect yourself? Your family? Your business? I cannot help someone who does not understand the basic value of respect for others.”
For me: if you cannot respect a stranger, you lack the vital foundations of a human being who deserves respect. And without those foundations, you are disrespecting yourself.
Aim to win people, not arguments.
Arguments are surface-level. Winning them has two outcomes:
a- You feel better about yourself for being right (or not, sometimes you “win” because the other side gives up)
b- You made someone feel bad who might have a way of thinking (maybe wrong in that moment) that is valuable to you and your business. It is important to study how people think, especially in an argument. It can help you grow a lot and analyze other issues better so you make better decisions.
When you win people, you gain trust, respect, and a human resource with a different way of analyzing situations, extra contacts beyond yours, new ideas that can help you grow, and someone who can help you when you need it. It is important to give to the world. The world is full of people. Expect to give ten times more than you receive. But when you do receive, it will be far more than you could have hoped for.
Define yourself by creativity, not by competition.
A creative mind is extremely important. It defines who you are, what your company is, and what your services or products are. Living in constant competition traps you in a vicious cycle of always watching the neighbor to see what they are doing and how you can do it too. Apple did not become famous by copying something that already existed. They became famous because their products stood out from the market. They do not chase the competition; they innovate. If you have reached your peak and your creativity starts to fade, read this article to revitalize it.
Do not follow what the crowd is doing or thinking.
Having opinions, thoughts, ideas, and a voice is what makes an individual an individual, a unique person with an identity. Do not live through trends, what is trending on Twitter, in stores, on the radio, or on TV. Do what you want to do, talk about what you want to talk about, and surround yourself with people who also have minds of their own. You will discover that your success can grow even bigger thanks to conversations that are far deeper and more productive than those with people who simply live to follow others. That will help you keep your feet on the ground and get to work on a new project or challenge that takes you to a level you had not aimed for before.
Find and draw inspiration from things that offer value and benefit other people.
In my case, I have always had a soft spot for the environment, children, and hunger. I have built companies with the sole goal of dedicating parts of the profits to causes that can help as many people as possible. From a program that hires only men and women at an age when work is hard to find (50+ years old) to causes that motivate them to work hard every day.
Be conscious that your life is essentially richer when you help contribute.
Being part of a movement that helps so many people brought me down from the clouds and made me realize that if I am happy after years of sacrifice, everyone has the right to the same thing, and this world that has been so generous with me for all the work I have done deserves something back. To ease a little of the pain of those I can help.
Dedicating time to your loved ones, like family, should always be your number one priority.
As I always explain at events, on the blog, or in interviews, my priority is my family. If someone tries to reach me on the weekend, good luck. Because if I work so hard without enjoying them, then what is the point?
Be grateful every day for everything you are achieving in life and for those who helped you get there.
That goes without saying. If you cannot be grateful for your achievements, your money, your family, your partner, your career, and so on, you cannot live fully happy, and your head is probably still in the clouds.

IF YOU STOP GROWING YOU DIE.
— Damien Soitout

You can define how much you need to achieve to feel successful, hit that mark, and start to “change” (or not). But in reality you will never truly succeed until you understand that the world does not revolve around you, and you are not the center of it. When you start putting other people’s needs ahead of your own, and you do it from the heart, not from your agenda, that is when you can consider yourself successful.