Strangely, humility is a ‘by-product’ of confidence and self-esteem – something I truly believe. Someone who has the confidence to hold their ground and be steadfast is able to remain humble, since success is not achieved in a day and one would have faced many problems and trounced a number of difficult situations to achieve heights and therefore understands the value of remaining humble.
Humility is about being thankful for whatever one has and appreciate the value of everything and everyone around you. Achieving success is never a lone journey – it is the joint efforts of a number of people who may have helped in small and big ways. A humble person is able to recognize this fact and acknowledge the importance of all those people and situations that helped them make it thus far. Humility brings about a sense of respect and appreciation for others before self.
Humble people readily acknowledge their shortcomings and accept their mistakes. They are ready to learn from others and will be happy to take on suggestions and implement them in their life and work. In direct contrast, are people with a false sense of pride – the arrogant ones – who refuse to believe that they could be wrong, are unwilling to acknowledge the contributions of others and don’t believe that there is anything ‘out there’ that can teach them. Humble people also make better leaders – their enthusiasm to learn from others, a flexible mind-set and the fact that they are completely secure in their strengths and shortcomings – makes it easier for them to guide and support people. They encourage the growth and success of those with whom they interact and do not feel threatened if another person has achieved something and receive praise for it.
In my opinion, humility is also closely connected with continuous learning. Humble people concede to the fact that it is only through consistently teaching themselves new things that they can be good and also grow in life. They would never boast about their ‘greatness’ but would rather let their work and accomplishments speak for them. Humble people also remain grounded in the knowledge that failure is a give and there would be times when, despite their best efforts, they would not succeed. This gives them the strength to persevere and move ahead with poise and self-assuredness. They refuse to let success or failure define who they are – they carve a niche for themselves and are known by their actions and their relationships with those around them. Mistakes and failures are, for them, opportunities to learn and get better!
Do you consider yourself to be a humble person?
There is a famous quote by C S Lewis – “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.” Humble people embody this statement to the fullest. They know that they are not infallible and will not make a big deal of any failure or error – big or small. Their focus remains on rectifying the error, ensuring it doesn’t happen again and then take confident strides forward armed with the experience and knowledge they gained from the failure.
For anyone who desires to become a better person through humility, it is advisable to keep an open mind, learn from everything and everyone, accept and learn from mistakes and truly believe that humility is a mind-set that needs continuous development.
(image courtesy:www.techpolicydaily.com)