If you have to pick 5 qualities of any truly great person, humility would be one of them. This quality is always captivating in a strong person and is almost always a prominent feature of those who are highly successful.
Humility comes from the Latin word Humus which means earth. In Greek, the word means on the ground. Humility then, means to have your feet planted on the ground.
Likewise, to become a greater person, your feet have to be planted firmly on the ground. No waffling, no pretending, and no camouflage. You know who you are, what you have and what you know and that is what you accept and that is what you live.
Lack of humility creates fatigue. Try holding yourself in the air for even a minute and you will see what I mean. You grow weary. The camouflages we construct day by day have to be meticulously maintained and so you become a pretty busy person trying to justify your various acts of self promotion.
Without humility, and as you try to achieve outstanding goals, fulfill your potential and do the myriad of things that life in today’s society asks of you, you will yield to the ever present temptation to try and impress others.
It seems as if we all have a native urge embedded within us that makes us want to appear better than we are in some way, and so we pretend to have more than we have, to have accomplished more than we have, to be better than we are. A dated yet relevant idea harkens back to the French philosophe Rousseau who spoke about amour proper which he described as a self-love that depends upon the opinion of others. A simple and plausible reason as to why we behave akin to peacocks when in the presence of others.
A great person learns to dispel this need to be seen as more valuable, or more productive, more noble or brilliant than he or she truly is.
In confronting the issue of humility you have to decide that you are enough, you can win big with what you have and still have 90% of yourself left over, 90% of your capacity untouched.
So trying to appear to be more than you are is totally unnecessary and doing so burns an enormous amount of precious refined energy which could be used in achieving your goals.
So whenever you are tempted to magnify yourself to show the world you are greater than you really are, or to put yourself in the best light possible and beyond, just to impress others and create the impression that you are higher, richer, brighter and better – save your energy.
In those moments of self doubt, take a look inwards and catch a glimpse of the grandeur that is within you and keep your feet firmly grounded, right where you are. You are unique and truly amazing as you are. There nothing to gain in trying to convey the wrong impression of your worth.
Self aggrandizement is odious and serves no useful purpose.