You are aware of your largeness, but are you aware of your limited-ness?

Humility for its own sake is good, but it is even better when you realise the tangible and intangible savings it gives you. 

Imagine an arrogant manager who has made a wrong decision. He’s facing a lot of conflict due to it. The conflict is costing him time and energy. It is costing him money too because of the opportunity cost of time spent in conflict vs time spent in working. And there is added stress and unpleasantness which he needs to cope with.

If he had accepted his error, listened to the suggestions of his colleagues, and graciously changed the decision, the results would be very different.

Humility is a discount code that saves you time and money. It also gives you speed and effectiveness while reducing stress and conflict. You achieve results faster and with lesser costs.

What stops us from being humble? Our biggest enemy – the ego. For many of us the line between self-esteem and arrogance is blurred. How to fight arrogance?

Arrogance means you are well aware of your largeness, and how important you are. This is the good part – we need to believe that we matter, and we can make an impact in the world. But we are missing out on being aware of our limited-ness too. 

It is true that if we were to die, the world would still carry on. We need to understand that we are a mere mortal, prone to making errors. It’s not that we are a perfect superhuman who can make no mistake. This simultaneous belief in our largeness as well as limited-ness cuts down arrogance to its right size, and transforms it into self-esteem. 

  • Have you got into difficult situations due to your arrogance, which could have been averted if you were humble?
  • What did you gain and what did you lose (tangible and intangible)? 
  • What will you do next time a similar situation arises

Follow me on Linkedin for insightful content on self-development, leadership, anything and everything that makes us and our lives better. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gulshanwalia/