If your success makes your friends feel small, check how you’re talking about it.

How news lands depends mostly on the framing, not the content. The same good result can be told as something that happened to you or as proof of a gap between you and whoever is listening, and people are quick at hearing which one is on offer. If your friends keep going quiet, check the telling before concluding they are jealous. Tone does nearly all of the work here.

The practical version: say it plainly, mention the luck and the help, then ask about them. Leave out the comparisons, even the flattering ones. Nobody needs you to downplay anything, they just need room left in the conversation.