Success Breeds Success

I think it’s true to say that success breeds success but how?

It’s not because winning once makes you objectively better at what you do. But it can change how you see yourself.

When you feel capable and valued, things feel lighter. There's less at stake. The internal monologue shifts from "I hope I don't mess this up" to "This feels good."

And that shift can change everything.

I see this with people I work with. When they take time to reflect on their strengths, what they have achieved and what is important to them, something shifts. Not because they've developed new skills overnight. But because their self-image has updated. They know they are someone who delivers. Someone who's capable.

And with subsequent challenges, the stakes feel lower. The pressure eases. And that's often when their best work shows up and the world starts reflecting back how they feel about themself and they get the promotion, deliver the project, receive the recognition they've been working towards.

And when the self-image is solid, setbacks don't register as failure. They register as information.

"That approach didn't work. What's next?"

It's not blind optimism or toxic positivity. It's a fundamental belief that you're the kind of person who figures things out. And that belief changes how you interpret everything that happens.

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985. The company he founded. Potential public humiliation on a global stage. But he clearly didn't interpret that as career-ending failure. He took it as information and built NeXT and then Pixar. And when he returned to Apple, he created the most successful period in the company's history.

This is what separates people who keep going from people who don't. It's not just resilience or grit. It's self-image.

But when your self-image is shaky—when you're constantly questioning whether you're good enough—every setback can become evidence. Proof that you were right to doubt yourself. And that's when you can stop trying.

So success breeds success not because winning is magic. But because it reinforces a self-image that interprets challenges differently.

The question is: what does your self-image tell you when things don't go to plan?

Does it say "I'm not cut out for this"? Or does it say "That didn't work. What's next"?

And at the end of the day, you get to choose, what do you want your self image to say?

What do you deserve?

Success Breeds Success