The Importance of Humility and 3 Ways You Can Stay Humble

A lack of humility is at the core of nearly every failure we experience. Without humility we begin to overestimate our own abilities, and underestimate the abilities of others. In an ever-changing world where the ability to effectively interact with people is becoming increasingly important, we must maintain humility if we want to be successful.

Some people take humility and turn it into a negative trait where you constantly have negative self-talk and don’t give yourself credit for anything that you accomplish. This is not what you should be striving for, and this is not what I’m talking about when I say humility. Humility to me is trying to objectively see your role and position in whatever you are doing. You may be a leader with great ideas, but if you can see the whole picture you will know that a leader can’t do everything. A good leader needs to get everyone to work effectively towards the goal, and he knows that without everyone else he couldn’t do anything on his own.

I know for me, when I’m seeing a lot of success in whatever I’m doing it’s very easy for me to become arrogant, and think that I’m smarter than I really am or more capable than I really am. It’s at these times when I bite off more than I can chew, or damage a relationship with someone. As I have noticed this pattern popping up in my life I have begun to try and find ways that I can maintain humility through good times and bad.

After trying many things and spending a lot of time trying to implement them, I have come up with two mindset shifts and one action that have most helped me with my humility. Now I do recognize that some people struggle more with humility than others, but even if you consider yourself a humble person it is still human nature for us to get over confident when things are going good, even if its in just one area of your life.

Also, these things that I’m going to talk about aren’t about tearing yourself down, in fact, when I implement them successfully, they make me feel better and more at peace.

Thank God for everything you have.

Take some time everyday to thank God for everything you have. Whenever you have a big win, or anything is going really good, thank God for it. Got put you on this earth, he gave you your abilities, he put you in the position to have the successes that you’ve had, and you should be happy and proud about that.

Now here’s the hard part, when you are going through struggle, when things are going wrong and you don’t know why, pray that you learn from the experience. Pray that the time isn’t wasted and that you come out the other side stronger and better for having experienced it.

Difficult times are what grow us, and if you can be humble enough to look for the good things you can take away from bad situations, it will greatly serve you in the future.

Realize that everything you accomplish is dependent on other people in some way

No major feat has ever been accomplished by anyone completely on their own. Everyone has parents, caregivers, or mentors to thank for who they have become today. No one is completely self-made. We all had people that poured into us, and our lives, to help us grow and put us in a better position. Remember these people when you see success in your life and don’t allow yourself to think that you are the only reason for your success.

In addition, any major feat that you may accomplish was done as a part of a team. Do not underscore the importance of everyone else on the team, even if you were in a lead role, even if you did more work than anyone else, you still couldn’t have done it all on your own. Give teammates credit where it’s due, and be thankful that you have people to help you in your areas of weakness.

Find someone better than you and become their student

This is something that is vital to anyone who is looking to grow. If you want to get better you will have to learn from someone, and the only way you can learn is by having a humble mindset. I have found that whenever I find someone that is clearly better than me at something I value, it is very easy for me to remain humble in that area.

I tend to loose humility when I begin to think I’m the best, or even just better than most at something. However, when I find someone who is better than me and can consistently beat me or outsmart me it is a great reminder that there are plenty of people out there better than me, and that I still have a lot to learn.

If you are learning, and have an open mindset you are being humble. When you are grateful and giving recognition to others you are being humble. Give these things a try, spend some time each day thanking God for your blessings, be thankful for the people you have around you supporting you, and find people that you can learn from. Good luck.