I was secretly cocky back in the day.
I honestly thought I already knew a lot. So I relied heavily on my own knowledge… or what I thought was knowledge.
Maybe we can partly blame movies and TV shows for that. 😅
Growing up, I watched a lot of them… and of course, every story has a hero or heroine, right? Everything revolves around them.
That’s where I got it wrong.
In movies, timelines are compressed. Stories that would take years in real life are squeezed into a couple of hours. Problems get solved fast. Success comes quickly. Everything feels… easy.
So I grew up thinking life worked the same way—fast, smooth, and a little too convenient.
Especially when it came to success and business.
Reality, of course, had other plans.
Don’t get me wrong. If there are smarter or faster ways to do things, we should take them. But back then, I was too impatient. And too confident in what little I actually knew.
From the outside, people saw talent and confidence.
Looking back? I might’ve been faking it a bit… okay, maybe a lot. 😅 I grew up thinking I always have to appear perfect… like the protagonists in movies. So, I tried my best not to make mistakes. I forgot I am human… and that it’s okay to make mistakes sometimes.
Still, I’m grateful.
When I started working and seeing more of the real world, I slowly realized how much I didn’t know. (And wow… I have a long list of “what was I thinking?” moments. 😆)
But honestly, I needed that.
Without going through that “breaking” process, I doubt I would’ve learned anything meaningful. I’d probably still be that same cocky guy.
And that’s a scary thought. Haha.
Now I see it differently.
A “humbling experience” isn’t such a bad thing after all. Sometimes, it’s exactly what we need to grow.
How about you?
Have you ever gone through something that humbled you… and taught you something important too?
