When you think about living a life of humility, what does that mean to you? Are you afraid that by being humble you’ll appear to lack self-esteem or seem spineless?
Humility is often correlated with someone who doesn’t know their worth or is afraid to admit their strengths. Usually, when someone is portrayed in movies or on TV as being humble, they are standing with their head down, eyes on the ground, shuffling their feet and appear to be very uncomfortable with their accomplishments.
The truth is, you can be humble and strong at the same time. You can know your worth without having to shout it out to the world. In fact, living a life of humility has many benefits because you feel less of a need to prove yourself. You spend more time lifting others up, which ultimately lifts you up in return.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less.” – Rick Warren
To enjoy all that being humble has to offer, just follow these twelve simple guidelines:
1. Embrace your strengths, but admit your weaknesses
Know who you are and who you are not. Be smart enough to realize that, while you’re good at some things, you’re not perfect. Thinking like this will keep you grounded.
2. Accept compliments
…but don’t let them go to your head. When someone praises you for something you said or did, take their compliment to heart because they meant it. However, don’t let it bolster your ego so much that you can’t get your head out the door.
3. Keep it real
Be honest with others. Don’t try to put up a mysterious front or act like you’re someone else. Just be you.
4. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves
Just because you do great things doesn’t mean that you have to shout it from the rooftop. In fact, the more you speak of how wonderful you are, the less wonderful you actually become.
5. Ask other people their opinions
Find out what someone else thinks about things. Let them know that you value what they have to say by spending less time giving them your take on things and more time learning theirs.
6. Give others the benefit of the doubt
Be open minded and don’t rush to judgment. Things are rarely as they seem, so give faith and trust until and unless you decide you can’t.
7. Appreciate other people’s strengths
Give them credit when credit is due. Acknowledge when someone else is good at something by giving them positive, encouraging feedback.
8. Embrace individuality
When you’re humble, you’re not trying to be like everyone else. You’re comfortable in your own skin, which inspires others to be comfortable in theirs.
9. Know when to speak and when to listen
And, if you handle this one appropriately, you’re going to be listening far more than speaking. You already know what you have to say, so why not spend your time learning what others have to say?
10. Continue to learn as much as possible
Never have the attitude that you know everything there is to know. Want to improve your learning ability? Meditate. It switches your brainwave patterns from Beta to Alpha, giving you an increased ability to process, memorize and recollect large amounts of information.
11. Admit when you don’t know the answer
Don’t try to fake your level of knowledge or skill by making up an answer when you don’t know one. Admit if you don’t know something.
12. Focus on giving, not receiving
When you’re truly humble, you realize that life isn’t about you. It’s about everyone else. It’s about making them feel good, appreciated and honored to be with you.
Humility is a virtue that many idolize but few practice. It doesn’t matter what others think about you, what matters is what you think. And, when you know you’re strong, talented and blessed, you don’t need to run around and tell everyone about it. It speaks for itself.
Let it speak. The world will hear it loud and clear.
Source: Operation Meditation;
