By In a world where everyone craves the attention of others, humility is a trait that seems archaic. Everyone wants the most likes on Instagram or the most attention on TikTok for doing some of the most egregious things. Some people have lost themselves; pretending to be people they are not for people they will never meet. The trait of humility works hand in hand with the traits of patience and persistence. After all, it takes humility to fail over and over again and still get up and try again. Ego is the enemy of yourself. Even in the GrecoRoman Era the philosophers of that considered that pride went before a fall. The act of being prideful actually closes off the mind to the possibily of new knowledge.
You are never too big to fail
Former Theranos CEO and Silicon Valley darling Elizabeth Holmes is under trial for fraud. If you were following her meteoric rise you would know that you are never too big to fail.
She told herself a story and her ego fed that story until she probably believed it herself. She thought that she had created a revolutionary technology that could do blood testing on a scale that was never before imagined. The aim of this technology was to use about one-tenth of the blood that existing machines use to get results. Obviously, this was not only ambitious but would also revolutionize the medical industry.
Long story short her claims were ill-founded at best and straight-up lies at worst. The machines could not do what she claimed but her ego would not let her admit the truth. The technology did not work.
Because of this, the lie has snowballed and now she is in hot water. At the time of writing this, she is to face trial in a court of law for fraud. All because of ego.
There are many lessons to learn here, there were many experts who tried to warn her but she didn’t listen.
There will come a time in your life when you believe that you know all. You may think that people can’t give you advice but always check yourself. Pride Goeth before a fall.
Put away pride for a minute and listen and you will find nuggets of wisdom that will guide you in your life. There are countless people throughout history whose egos got the best of them.
Ego is the enemy and inhibits your ability to learn
Two of the worst words in your vocabulary and we do it without realizing is saying the words “I know”. These two words close off your mind from learning anything new and they come from a place of ego.
When someone comes to you with an idea ask yourself do I know as much about this as I think I do? The answer is most likely not. keep an open mind and you will learn more, speak less and you will find that you become wiser.
Even if you know a little about what they are talking about, keeping an open mind will allow you the opportunity to reinforce what you already know. It may reinforce what you already know and give you more insight.
Everyone struggles with ego because humans as a species are inherently selfish. We are all tuned into our own personal radio station called WIIFM. What’s WIIFM you might ask? It stands for what’s in it for me, this is fundamental to every human being.
Think about it, when we are born as babies we have no care in the world but our own. We only care if we are hungry or cold. We become preoccupied with our own happiness. As we grow most of us learn empathy, we learn to consider other people and their situations.
Ego prohibits you from learning by closing off your mind. If you believe you are the smartest person in the room chances are you won’t listen to the counsel of anyone else. Also, chances are you are in the wrong room. Without letting go of your ego you will feel that there is no real reason to grow because you are already at the top.
Ego is the enemy and is dangerous without control
Imagine a pilot that had an ego without the experience of getting on a plane and flying into a storm despite a warning from his copilot? Thinking that you know better is one of the most dangerous things in life.
Humility is a great character trait because it keeps the mind open to learning. It allows you to develop competence through failure.
I always found it funny that the persons who are the billionaires movers and shakers of the world, seem to have a level of humility in their demeanor. If Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, or Warren Buffet walk into a room they are usually not extravagantly dressed and seem to focus on things outside themselves.
Jeff Bezos in particular speaks about the need to be customer-focused and built his company Amazon around this principle.
I see many people who don’t have half the wealth of the persons listed above wearing gold chains and diamond rings displayed for the world to see. In short, they like their ego fed.
Ego is prideful and likes to be looked at. When your ego takes over you find yourself doing something for the attention. Instead of actually doing something to the best of your ability.
Too much ego leads to overconfidence
Everyone has heard of the tale of the tortoise and the hare at some point in their lives. The hare was a boastful creature always teasing the tortoise about how slow he was and would run circles around him. One day they had a race. The tortoise started off slow but they hare sped off and was so far ahead that he decided to take a nap close to the finish line.
The tortoise was slow, steady, and consistent. While the hare slept he strolled right past him and just as he was about to cross the line the hare woke up.
And by the time he realized he had lost the tortoise had already crossed the finish line. Remember the saying pride goeth before a fall. Ego is the enemy of happiness.
Be aware of being overly confident unless you can back up your talk with actual competence and even then it is always wise to inject some humility.
No matter how good you think you are there is always someone better. Always see yourself as a work in progress. In this way, you leave yourself open for change and growth.
You could be amazing at something but there is always something you can learn from being humble.
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