Competition made me better

I was always a below avg folks. Getting around 50-60% marks in exams . But fortunately my closest friend in the school was a topper. That somewhat pushed me to do hard-work.

Same thing happened in college. My college buddy turned out to be a topper. That again pushed me to worked hard. Graduated with good grades. We both went to join TCS. Was complacent for initial 2 years. My friend switched to Deloitte within 3 years and it again forced me go onto my toes and start working hard.

Now I am pretty stable , got decent hikes in these years.

Moral of the story - Surround yourself with decent folks , somehow they bring you the best from you