Stop teaching students that they are the best and the brightest.

No one can manage you if you don't give them permission to do so. But if you are interested in accomplishing as much as you are capable of, then I believe there are good reasons to grant that permission.

Stop teaching students that they are the best and the brightest.

If your clients aren't actively telling their friends about you, maybe your work isn't as great as you think it is.

Focus on being the best you can at what you want to do.

Don't get stampeded by what people around you value. The task is to figure out what YOU value - and value highly enough to throw yourself into with unqualified passion.

What is important is what inspires persistence and determination- in other words what you care about.