The easiest way to be deceived is by your own accomplishments.
The best way to lose this deceit is through suffering.
Suffering strips away the illusion omnipotence.
I’ve met many people on a rapid upward trajectory with a very high likelihood of achieving success in business. They have confidence, swagger, and an unshakable belief in their own genius. Their eyes show little sign of suffering. They are not yet acquainted with sorrow.
I’ve also met many people who have achieved massive success in business. People who have built billion dollar empires from nothing. Most of them are humble. Even though they are proud of what they’ve done, they deflect credit for their accomplishments and have a genuine, “I don’t know exactly how I did it” demeanor. Their eyes reveal a deep familiarity with suffering.
If you’re a motivated, driven person, it’s easy to get high on your own bullshit. This isn’t all bad. As an impetus for taking action, belief bordering on delusion is an asset.
But when you begin to retroactively ascribe your own genius to all your success, removing the myriad variables you can’t predict or understand, you set yourself up for problems. Not only that, you will lack a deeper understanding of your own and your fellow humans condition.
If you’ve been through a multitude of sorrows, you are unable to maintain such surety of your own brilliance. You understand the extent to which “All is meaningless under the sun”, and you humbly seek to do your best, listen, observe, and learn.
I don’t know if there’s any way to achieve this proper form of humility and wisdom except through suffering. I also know suffering alone does not guarantee it. Sometimes suffering is so great people don’t bring anything back with them.
But I know that when I look into the eyes of someone acquainted with suffering, there is a strength, humility, and mercy. There is a power they possess without trying.