Boast

We've all been in a situation like that - growing old and looking back with some pride in how worse we've had been.

It is, without question, one of my favorite ways to talk to my juniors: "When I was your age ..." In so many ways, life is better now than it was then.

To tell others how we drew blood from each and every patient in a medical ward without phlebotomists' assistance can feel like we've been hundred times tougher than the newer generation of doctors. Think of the ooh and aah - it says way more about our accomplishment than any feather in our caps.

And once in a while, it's okay - even helpful - to let people admire our toughness. But if we brag endlessly about our past experience and suffering, that only ups our chances of eliciting hatred, but not admiration. This is an important lesson I recently learned from reading Marshall Goldsmith's book Mojo.

So please remind me next time I flaunt my brilliance in the face of adversity: how poor we were, how tough we were, and blah blah blah.