Rest on your laurels origin

Every language has its share of idioms and English is certainly no exception.

Log In. My Account. In ancient Greece, the laurel was a plant that was sacred to the god Apollo. Laurel wreaths were awarded to the winning athletes in the Pythian games, held in honor of the god Apollo every four years. Later, laurel wreaths were awarded to signify other victories and honors, in Greece and Rome. The Belfast Telegraph.

Rest on your laurels origin

Having won a campaign, a Roman general could spend the rest of their careers savouring their past successes, basking in the memories of former glories. Past achievements and successes are something to celebrate and learn from; however, they can prevent progress according to John Kotter in his seminal work on Change Initiatives Leading Change HBS Press He refers to it as the biggest mistake companies make and the first of a series of hurdles, that must be overcome to implement a successful change initiative:. Inertia means lack of real movement, a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. This may mean maintaining existing standards, market share or even turnover. Kotter points out that the company presence profile and assets like cars, property and history can lull us into a false sense of security, feeling that the company and our future within it are unshakeable. This very set of assets makes it more difficult to generate a sense of urgency that will compel people to get on-board and support our change initiatives. Another great writer Jim Collins Good to Great — Collins highlights the problem with his key phrase:. They may be pushing harder, innovating more effectively and looking further over the horizon. You know where this story is going. Shaun has worked across a wide range of industries including financial services, automotive, hospitality, utilities, retailers, UK local government and the NHS. He has designed and delivered a broad range of training programmes to help organisations, teams, and individuals improve performance including leading change and innovation, communicating more effectively and improving decision making and personal effectiveness.

English—Spanish Spanish—English. Sign up now or Log in.

Add to word list Add to word list. Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels. Satisfied and complacent. The company can't just sit back and rest on its laurels — we have to move on to something new. Translations of rest on your laurels in Chinese Traditional.

It was during this time wreaths made up of the laurel leaves were worn as symbol of victory and status. If a laurel is a single accomplishment, then laurels would be many accomplishments. Resting on a single laurel means we are content with one accomplishment for the duration of our lives. To many, this would be our education and then our day job. If we lose our jobs, we lose our income. That brings us to the other purpose of this site; to help you obtain multiple streams of income. These are clovers not laurels, but the do look quite nice to rest on as well! What can this site provide?

Rest on your laurels origin

In Ancient Greece, victorious athletes were presented with laurel wreaths to wear. They were, and still are, signs of great accomplishment, unless you start resting on them Winning competitors in the Ancient Greek Phythian Games, a forerunner of the Olympics founded roughly in the 6th century BC, were given wreaths made of the aromatic laurel leaves as a symbol of their triumph. It was believed that the god Apollo declared the laurel plant sacred after his true love — the nymph Daphne — was turned into one. That is why Apollo was depicted wearing a crown of laurel. The Romans borrowed the idea and began presenting laurel wreaths to victorious military commanders.

Sexflex

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. French grammar. Italian grammar. Mandarin Chinese characters. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. He refers to it as the biggest mistake companies make and the first of a series of hurdles, that must be overcome to implement a successful change initiative:. February 27, The Huffington Post. Sign up now or Log in. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. He refers to it as the biggest mistake companies make and the first of a series of hurdles, that must be overcome to implement a successful change initiative: Overcome the inertia caused by complacency. Italian English to Italian. Spanish to English.

Add to word list Add to word list. Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels.

Mandarin Chinese images. Get the latest news and gain access to exclusive updates and offers Sign me up. More like this. Korean to English. English—Spanish Spanish—English. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Search for:. By night, I'm still a writer and editor. Diana M. British and American pronunciations with audio. Anger is part of the mourning process. Figuratively and literally, we should give ourselves a break now and then when we need one. Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. Though he was rejected, Apollo decided to don a crown of laurel leaves in her honor.