Lessons in Humility: Why It's Best Not to Be Boastful

When success comes knocking on your door, how will you answer? Of course, anyone in your place will let it in. Opportunities - especially the golden ones - are hard to come by, so you will have to be realistic and accept success and own it like you owned the Crown Jewels.

Achievements are part of our identity. They define us and differentiates us from others who are sailing the turbulent seas of life looking for peace and serenity. More importantly, our achievements should point the way forward. They should motivate us and strengthen us into becoming the individuals we have always wanted ourselves to be.

To rest on our laurels and become complacently proud of our existing achievements do nothing but keep us from growing. To be boastful is like talking to your reflection in the mirror. You validate yourself thinking it would make you become a better person. In reality, you only become as good as the ego you’re caressing.

Humility should be the principle that a person of conviction should always uphold. This is not because we have to downplay our achievements, but because we need to realize that, as human beings, we are a work in progress.

Let’s reflect on why we being humble is so important:

1. We need to rebuild ourselves

To say that you have already figured everything out is simply denying the very fact that our lives go through an endless cycle of rebuilding ourselves. Nothing in this world is constant, except for change. This also means that nothing is permanently perfect. After all, perfection is fluid and our understanding of it changes.

Through humility, we are aware of our shortcomings and our imperfections to the extent that we use this awareness to create goals and define our lives.

2. We want to be among people

Being smarter, stronger, and faster than everyone else in the room does not make you any less of a human, with weaknesses and aspirations for the future. Indeed, it’s our weaknesses that binds us all into a common ensnarement. What affects one may affect everyone else at some point.

At the end of the day, we are all one and the same. Even if one us wins the lottery the next day or becomes the President of the greatest country in the world, one truth remains: all of us has a chance to become successful! After all, success is exclusive to no one, so be humble and acknowledge the potential that each and every person possesses.

3. We want to become better human beings - and not better than everyone else

Indeed, we can never really say we are better than everybody. It’s clear that our imperfections can impact our morale and our capacity to keep going. But it helps to know that everyone is suffering just as badly as you are.

Even then, we need to respect each other ’s willingness to make something out of our lives. It’s all a matter of seeing ourselves in others so we can become aware of the fact that everyone goes through difficult challenges.

Humility is not something you should strive for, but something that should be innate in all of us. It’s only a matter of keeping our egos in check and make sure that both our feet are planted on the ground.