Go way on back to 476BC and Sun Tzou. He perceptively saw that once we become settled or complacent in our strengths, we tend to stop searching for how to be better, how to reach our audience and how to keep making a difference. Our strengths would turn on us, as we become blinded by them.
That 'blindness' - it's a big issue. Bigger than we imagine. Because while we assume that we are still strong, others perceive us as no longer paying attention or going the extra mile. And at the end of the day in a business sense, it's what the customer thinks, that far outweighs and outranks what you think. I think relationships are the same way for what it's worth. We have to keep trying or be perceived to keep trying in our relationships to highlight we still value them.
All too often there is some new age 'schmo' (like me - I get that) telling us to be comfortable in our own skin. Sure, that works. If you only ever ant to be around your own skin. If however you wish to be around others, then you're going to have to keep trying to make it clear why the relationship with you makes sense. Those closer to you need more subtle, long term reinforcement, but they still need something.
You may indeed be the smartest, or the skinniest, or the most pretty/handsome or congenial, but others aren't sticking around you because of that. They're around you for how you make them feel. Resting on your laurels, in whatever sense it takes....is a pathway to loneliness for a business or an individual.
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