James Cook in his book titled “The Startup Entrepreneur” explained that certain successful entrepreneurs get very uneasy whenever things seemed to be going (in their opinion) “too smoothly”. They are rarely comfortable with “good times” and when such times come upon them, they take pains to stay on the alert for things t

In a number of cases, these individuals learn to be this way due to bitter and painful past experiences in which they had suffered devastating setbacks because they got carried away with their successes to the point that avoidable failure was visited upon them.

If anyone should know what this feels likes, it’s ME! The positive side to all this however is that every time, in the process of recovering from EACH setback, I have learnt many useful lessons.

It was Fran Tarketon who said “A true entrepreneur never stays down”.

In previous writings I have used the example of some celebrities who achieve local fame and success, but immediately lose their focus, sense of moderation and humility.

They begin acting out unhealthy fantasies through poor attempts at flaunting what they think suggests wealth – e.g. buy/drive flashy cars, eat/dress expensively, and even become loudmouthed. Often times this leads to their success being short-lived, as they eventually get into one trouble or the other – be it through financial indiscipline, bad relationships, etc.

TOM Associates have a series of educational tapes, which they routinely produce to meet the personal development needs of people who attend their training programmes. In one of such tapes on “Wealth Building”, highly successful/wealthy people were described as having – among other qualities – the “habit” of “living well below their means”, believing that they do not need to show they have wealth.

Also, the tape explains that a person earning high income, who spends all that he earns as quickly as it comes, will not be wealthy. In other words, wealth comes thorough the careful accumulation and growth (via investment) of that which has been earned.

I went into elaborate detail in my Ten Week e-mail course explaining the importance of understanding the issue of “Money Management and Wealth Creation”. I quoted very successful people who have shared their knowledge in this area.

Now, with this understanding of how to manage the inflow of income resulting from your initial successes, you may also want to ask yourself, what next? Many people have short-term visions for themselves/their businesses. It is however much better to try thinking ahead, and envision where you would like to be in the distant future in your business. This way, even when you achieve your small victories/short-term goals, you will be able to stay focused on maintaining your performance to achieve the longer-term goals.

It is the absence of long-term planning that often makes many people wrongly conclude that they have arrived, when they suddenly achieve a small success.

You should have determined at the start why you are doing what you are doing, and how far you want to go with it. Then plan carefully what you need to make it happen, who can help you get there, what problems could crop up etc.

When you work this way, you will be much less likely to fall into the common trap of getting carried away with your successes. Examples of how people get carried away include: An actor or actress/entertainer especially preferred for key roles due to his/her good looks/smartness suddenly starts “putting on a lot of weight”.

A check reveals that he/she now eats indiscriminately and/or does no exercises. The result over time – his/her performance drops. For a while, the fame from previous achievements might help to raise “heads”/open doors, but after a while, he/she would become obsolete.

My observations and experiences prove that as humans we are prone to errors and mistakes. What is crucial is that we learn from them. The message I therefore wish to share in this article is that you constantly strive to AVOID getting so preoccupied with your successes that you forget to CONTINUE doing the things that made you successful in the first place.

Failure, as Jim Rohn once wrote, does not happen suddenly – it is very OFTEN the result of a long series of poor decisions and wrong choices/actions you take over time.

Keep this in mind and act based on your understanding of it, and you will NOT have to endure avoidable setbacks in any endeavour you embark upon!

Asked which of his works he would select as his masterpiece, architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the age of 83 replied, “My next one.