So… you worked your butt off. Hustled through the grind. Maybe you skipped that extra dessert, didn’t blow your bonus on yet another wearable gadget, and slowly but surely saved for that dream handbag you’ve always wanted. Or perhaps you squirrelled away a little every month, refusing that nth impulse buy, and finally took off on the dream holiday you’ve had plastered on your Pinterest board since 2011. You’ve done the grind. You’ve played society’s Monopoly game of marks, degrees, expectations, and existential dread—and somehow made it to a point where you can afford to breathe a little and call yourself “successful.”
(Pausing here to say: what even is success? But that’s a whole other TED Talk. Back to today.)
Let me ask—why is it such a taboo to take credit for the good stuff you’ve worked for? Why do we fumble like awkward teenagers when someone says “Well done!”? Suddenly we start giving credit to the economy, to “luck,” to our friend’s chihuahua’s dentist’s cousin who gave us “guidance.”
Yes, society helped. Yes, your parents, teachers, friends, God, YouTube tutorials, and chai breaks all pitched in. But hey, you did the work. You woke up, stayed up, failed, figured it out, and pushed through when you had zero battery left—both on your phone and in your brain. You. Did. That.
Saying “I did it” isn’t arrogance. It’s acknowledgment. There’s a massive difference.
Arrogance is saying “Only I did it.”
Acknowledgment is saying “I did it—with help, with pain, with patience—and I’m proud of that.”
And you should be. You deserve your own damn standing ovation (internal monologue version, of course, unless you’re at a party and then—go full karaoke applause mode).
So here’s my humble plea: next time something goes right in your life, own it. Don’t shrink from it. Don’t play it down with that fake-humble shrug.
Say, “Yes, I worked for this. And I’m celebrating it.”
Because what you’ve achieved is yours. Unique, hard-earned, messy, glorious, and yours.
And while you’re clinking that imaginary champagne glass with yourself, know this—I’m right there with you, silently cheering from the corner, probably in my pajamas, doing a happy dance on your behalf.
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