50 Ways to Be More Humble and to Act Humbly
Book Reviews, Success January 31st, 2011
Lists I’ve found are a great way to explore a topic, generate some interest in a subject and provide enough variety that it is not only quick to read, but quick to relate to many aspects. All this while hopefully adding some value to what is read in new ideas, unheard suggestions or simply by giving reminders of what might be known dead inside you already. I certainly find that in reading lists from other people.
This was my most difficult list I’ve made and while I was hoping to make a list of 100 ways to be more humble, I really struggled coming up with unique ideas that didn’t have too much overlap and were not just a large list of different words or minor actions to be more humble. I hope you will find some value in this list, it has certainly given me a lot to think about, a lot to still learn in being humble and an eye opener to realize how far from this I actually am. While I hope many of these are true in my life, I know they are a continuous struggle and I’m sure others can relate or add even more ideas to the list, which I would love to see in your comments!
Please have a look at my short series from 2 years ago on being humble in the article pages here or from the free PDF download in my resources area, called, Being Humble.
Artwork by Adam Stone
- Use the response “It’s My Pleasure” when someone thanks you for doing something.
- Use the response “I’d be honored” when someone asks you to help them or do something with them.
- Listen more than you talk
- Count to 3 before adding to a conversation to ensure the other person is done
- Be willing to follow another person in conversation even if you don’t get to talk about your idea
- Always offer to improve someone else’s idea and give them credit
- Give credit for other’s ideas that you are carrying through on
- Ask others for the opinion of others
- Ask others to join conversations and contribute
- It’s OK to be wrong and so admit it
- Admit when you don’t understand or know something
- Appreciate others who learn something quickly and say so
- Be quick to apologize when you do something wrong
- Study moral principles
- Use moral principles to guide you
- You are God’s creation, not your own
- Recognize your talents as gifts, not your own ability
- Know how your skills have only be developed by the help of others
- Share your own knowledge to pass on what you have learned
- Pass on thanks when you receive it to those who helped you achieve what was thanked
- Value other people’s time as much as your own
- Never equate time spent with people to a dollar value
- Don’t boast about your achievements, let others recognize them instead
- Keep your goals to yourself
- Help other people with their goals
- Realize the potential in others
- Know that timing is everything and everyone excels at different times in life
- Being the 1st follower is often the best way to lead
- Since winning isn’t everything, you don’t have to win
- Recognize that you have faults
- Remember you are a sinner (in other words, you are no better or worse than anyone else)
- Ignore first impressions of people
- Give others the benefit of the doubt
- Provide positive and encouraging feedback instead of criticism
- Make a choice to act more humbly
- Practice at least one humble act each day
- Be grateful for successes without boasting about them
- Know how to accept praise with a simple thank you, don’t elaborate on it or talk more about it
- Recognize the individualism of others and yourself, there is no need to conform
- Share your core values and live them accordingly regardless of the circumstances
- Prioritize things in your life and rate your actions on whether to followed that priority or not
- Rate other people as first, be less significant
- Forgive those who wrong you and move on without revenge or lashing back
- Serve others and not yourself first
- Seek wisdom, which is knowledge of what is true coupled with just judgment of action
- Recognize and know that you know little and there is always more to learn
- Avoid explosive reactions, and subside any aggression
- Accept new ideas and change, not being stuck on what you knew before
- Teach all that you can for the benefit of others
- Learn from and model the life of the most humble teachers in history (Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Buddha, etc)
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January 31st, 2011 at 11:22 AM
This is something interesting, And i believe that this must be kept in mind when we talk to our seniors and especially our boss. I think you don’t really have to be humble Acting can even work.
January 31st, 2011 at 5:58 PM
Piyush,
While acting humbly instead of truly learning to be more humble may work for some short term, it is really completely against the whole concept of humility since it is only beneficial for some selfish short term reason, which humility is certainly NOT. Let alone being authentic to oneself. There is a point of acting a specific way though to make it a habit through repetition and that I would suggest is a valuable technique, but you are still not humble until you can truly be humble, authentic and act it naturally without thinking it first.
February 1st, 2011 at 3:11 AM
being humble in todays world i think is quit difficult. but one can always try. so looking at your post i got to know many things. thanks for that and i’l try to be more humble.
February 1st, 2011 at 2:10 PM
You make some really good points here. If only I could send this to my old boss. I think we all have this challenge in life. To be humble and appreciate the small thing that go into being who you are and what you are capable of. My favorite on the list is #3 listen more than you talk. I always say God gave you two ears to listen twice as much as you talk.
February 1st, 2011 at 2:11 PM
Great list. I think being truly humble is a rare quality to find in most people. I love the counting to three to make sure not to interrupt someone in a conversation. Thanks for sharing Mike.
– Robert
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:42 AM
nice positive thought there Mike. 50 points noted
February 4th, 2011 at 1:56 AM
that’s a very important topic, we bloggers always talk about success and achievements but we rarely write about humbleness , thank you Mike 🙂
February 5th, 2011 at 9:24 AM
This is outstanding.I am going to share this one with everybody.
February 5th, 2011 at 4:08 PM
Hi Mike.
I got humbled very quickly about a week or two ago, and you treat the world quite differently when you are humble, and people also treat you differently in return.
Keeping goals to ourselves sure is a valid point here. I would often talk a bit much before, but now I don’t overdo it at all.
Forgiving those who wrong you sure is good so you don’t lose too much time for nothing.
It’s also easy to stay humble when you know you have erred many times due to not staying humble.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:26 PM
Thanks so much everyone for the great comments!
@buy textbooks – Listening is definitely an important one to control your communication.
@farouk – for sure, most people are off looking more for achievements than they are for being humble in them. recognition is something of little value to a truly humble person and would rather recognize others instead.
@bunny – great to hear form you again! Its been a long time hope everything is going well with you and your hubby. Thanks for the feedback.
@Armen – I must say I’ve learned most of my humility if not all of it from doing the opposite first and realize how negative of an impact I made in that behavior. Humility once you search for it and practice it is so much more rewarding as you get to realize the contribution and worth of others, more than the self. This is what we are created for and it comes back to the need to serve others all all levels. Only humility truly allows that realization to happen.
February 6th, 2011 at 9:34 PM
For me, expressing gratitude is a great way to keep yourself on the ground. Not only does it help us live in all humility, it’s a usually just two words or a few more, but lights up somebody else’s life. Thankfulness has a way to humbling us ‘cuz of the realization that we can’t do everything and need others to do some for us.
And to show just what I mean, THANK YOU very much Mike… for this space, for taking time to illuminate minds and souls, for being good with words and for always getting a new idea across to me, in particular. 🙂 Keep up the great work.
February 7th, 2011 at 6:14 PM
Always see yourself as a servant to others even if they work for you. ( just don’t let them take advantage of you)
Staying humble is very important and I do agree that gratitude does help very much.
Thanks for the great list.
February 7th, 2011 at 6:45 PM
@Arina – well thank you very much, it is always nice to have some agreement on ideas but even better to see demonstration of it, that’s great!!!
@Debbie – great point about service and the risk therein. Learning to recognize when taken advantage of or risk of it happening is important to keep a positive outlook and see the real benefits to others in service. In mind, it is the joy of life to be able to recognize and put service in action, thanks for highlighting this!!!
February 8th, 2011 at 8:56 AM
Even you are boss, work like an worker. Be as calm as you can. Plus the advices you have given here to be humble, will make me more focused towards my work and deeds. Thanks a ton.
February 12th, 2011 at 12:42 PM
Humility as a boss is something I definetly have had to find all over again.
February 15th, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Humility can be a hard thing to grasp but the soon it is done the better.
February 15th, 2011 at 2:27 PM
Humbleness is important to keeping the ego in check. We all need a strong ego, but if it gets out of control we lose the ability to see life in an honest way.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:09 AM
@Shah – good point about being a boss. If you are seen as an equal and working with people, you can avoid the ego or authority problem in your day to day work, a great tip for staying humble.
@David – haha, I hear you. I have learned much of my humility from the same position. Usually from being wrong, making a bad decision or in some other way showing a flaw or vulnerability that would have never occurred without being the boss. Plus people look more for that when it comes to their boss.
@textbooks – absolutely, the pain to learn it and realize how to be humble is well worth it in the long run.
@Karl – totally agree about keeping the ego in check, I’m not sure what you mean by we all need a strong ego though. I would certainly argue against that point, since I don’t associate anything positive with a strong ego. I assume you mean strong character or personality or something more than an ego, which is inflating oneself to look better than others?
February 19th, 2011 at 6:31 AM
Humble People do not think less of themselves
Humble people think of themselves less often
The easiest way to stop thinking of yourself is to –
Put Others First !
February 19th, 2011 at 11:16 PM
How To Stay Young From the Inside Out – Stand Out From The Crowd…
……
February 21st, 2011 at 5:52 AM
I learn this very hard way to became calm. I never shared my way of earnings to others. In the end I learnt a tough lesson that no one also showing what they are doing. I am where, where i was ten years back. Being human and sharing knowledge is like gaining new knowledge from others.
March 5th, 2011 at 8:33 PM
Awesome Article. During my recent return to Twitter I noticed the people genuinely display these qualities are still the most popular on Twitter 2 years later.
Judy
@Newsjunkie
March 11th, 2011 at 10:37 AM
It’s sad that showing humility in this day and age is considered a sign of weakness by so many people.
Ignoring first impressions of others is a great tip.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:40 AM
i feel 16 and 31 do not need to be in there. not everyone is christian. other than that its nice 🙂 ahimsa would be a good addition.
March 25th, 2011 at 4:02 PM
” Accept new ideas and change, not being stuck on what you knew before” This is very important. I always enjoy learning new things and embracing change. It’s the only way to grow.
March 26th, 2011 at 1:42 PM
This article is tremendous. I would also like to add three further suggestions to your list; 1.Rejoice and celebrate with someone else who receive a blessing. 2. Edify and think of the next person more highly than yourself. 3. Learn to serve others from your heart.
March 28th, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Wow! These 50 ways to be more Humble, will really change who am I and what am I going to change. I appreciate your ideas and precious thoughts! How humble words you have shared with us here. There’s no need to buy all the things just to attain the value of being humble! Thank you so much for the wonderful tips! God speed to all!
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:28 PM
Hi Mike,
When I saw this title my first reaction was something like a combatorial “Oh yes? We’ll see about that!”
and I set about reading with an intention of finding issue. But as I read through your 50 points I increasingly realised that, not only was this excellent and that you are right, but also that my reaction had been immediate, arrogant and belligerent – the very opposite of what you are promoting. At the conclusion of the final statement all I could think to add was “…or Gandhi…I am indeed enlightened, humbled and grateful.”
How long did this gem take you?
April 3rd, 2011 at 10:35 PM
Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments! It’s a topic I dearly enjoy and one that has been learned the hard way for the most part as well, unfortunately.
I appreciate everyone’s added suggestions, some excellent items to add in the comments here which I always love to see.
@Paul, thanks for the story of your ‘thinking’ while reading this. I’ve done the same on many articles I’ve read thinking one thing going into it and changing by the end. Its humbling isn’t it?? Anyway, this took quite a while to compile actually, when I first started it I decided to do the list myself based on daily experience and try to add one thing each day. That didn’t last many days before I ran out of lines to add so it required quite a lot of added thinking over about a month (or more) to slowly build the list, little by little. It was a tough for that is for sure. I would have to disagree with anyone who thinks it is easy to be humble, it certainly isn’t for me!
April 6th, 2011 at 2:30 PM
Hey Mike, just stumbled upon this article. First reaction was “Ahh just another generic live life article.” but was pleasantly surprised. Seems like you put a lot of work into thinking these out.
The only thing I don’t agree with is sharing your goals with others. Sometimes telling people is the best way to put some pressure on yourself and really get motivated. Also #23 and #37 are more or less the same.
Anyway, great post and remember people, take these in chunks. It’s better to start small and accomplish them in steps than try to do everything at once.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:14 PM
Thanks Nick for your thoughts, and yes, I definitely did put a lot of work into this list, thanks for recognizing that!
As for the items you mentioned, sharing your goals will help motivate but it doesn’t keep you humble, its makes you accountable. Very different things. If you are humble, you will do your goals without sharing them and let your actions speak for themselves, without needing to mention or highlight them yourself.
As for #23 and 37, yes both relate to not boasting, one however is to specifically look to let others recognize you and the other is about appreciating your successes but doing it internally. There is some, but not a lot of difference between those. Anyway, thanks so much for pointing out these comments, I hope my explanation helped to at least put my perspective on each and the differences.
April 7th, 2011 at 1:33 AM
Hi Mike,
Great work & discribed very withoutmaking it complicated. the only one query in my mind if everybbody kee thier goal upto them how can we be useful to other to meet thier goals.
April 7th, 2011 at 3:53 PM
Hi Jayesh, great point. Humility can go farther than just keeping your goals to yourself, but more about not boasting about your goals or playing up your own achievements. Sharing goals for a team or something that others are involved in is not what I mean to hide, as that is required for good leadership. A humble leader will make goals something others can engage in though, instead of having them as their own personal goals. Hiding your own personal goals and being humble still requires self-motivation and dedication to achieve them, especially when they are not shared with others.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:28 AM
I do not agree with 16 or 31.
I am NOT God’s creation. I am NOT a sinner.
April 8th, 2011 at 5:12 PM
Thanks Alex for your perspective. We’ll have to agree to disagree then. Obviously that is one of the things about blogging, different perspectives and foundations will always have some people who see things differently. Take what you can from the list, if something doesn’t suit you, then replace with your own belief or foundation that helps you be more humble.
April 18th, 2011 at 5:24 AM
Wow! This is truly a great list. Thank you for sharing and opening my eyes to taking time out to look at myself. I am going to share this article with everyone I know! Thanks Again!
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:03 PM
This Easter weekend I’ve realized that I am much too proud and conceited. This is not vanity where I am concerned with how others view me but that I value myself too much. I’ve believed in God all my life, but the last few years have been a rough road for my beliefs and me. I feel that I need a change, like a self-reformation regarding my pompousness.
I am a seventeen years old this October and I used to be a very depressed and negative girl a few years back. I just didn’t fit in with the crowd for some reason; perhaps it was my larger size. Whatever the reason, my classmates weren’t fond of me and neither was I toward them. I had a poor self-image with the thoughts that I didn’t succeed in anything I did.
However, I decided to advance myself in my artistic, writing, and academic talents. My thoughts grew more positive along with useful knowledge of how the world and people worked. As I did this, I became more friendly with my peers. This leads up to now where I am very confident and approachable with my classmates (no more than aquaintances though). I am still plump and not so attractive but I see those qualities as insignificant conpared to my wisdom and great ambitions.
I have noteworthy drawing abilities, a great academic record, talented writing skills, and a lot of down-to-earth imagination.
Unfortunately, I find myself looking down upon others and seeing them as inferior to me. I also have the pretentious tendency to enjoy arguing with people and proving them wrong. Winning is important to me and I usually do not engage in things where it is likely that I will end up being the loser. I value logic and reason over emotion, which has lead me to be reluctant in showing every day compassion towards friends or family, such as hugging and saying ‘I love you.’ Along with this I’ve realized that I no longer value friendship or intimacy very much at all. This seems quite pointless to me since I have a do-it-myself attitude regarding problems in my life. I seldom even miss friends or family when they go away…
You see, I think that my relationship with God dwindled due to my vehement belief in handling my own life and not leaving it up to fate to decide where I go. I have great ambitions for my life and I refuse to give them up, but I still want to maintain a healthy relationship with God. I believe that God is a part of my life through inspiration but I think I’ve raising myself to such a level where I’ve actually convinced myself that I do not need God’s inspiration. This possibility terrifies me and I know that I need to humble myself in order to allow God back into my life.
The thing is is that I don’t want to believe that my destiny is not in my hands. When I think of all the sadistic things that people have done in the world, I know that that is not God’s doing and God’s plan for those people. From that, I can assume that everyone’s path is their own decisions and what happens to them.
I realized that this problem is severe due to the program I watched early Maunday Thursday of the Seven Deadly Sins and how Pride was the chief sin. I saw that I had similar characteristics as the narcissists that program spoke of. I bear my soul to you because I now know that I require humility to regain my faith and become a better person. I’m striving to change my attitude, my thinking, and, well, my whole life altogether. I want to learn how to pray and feel God is there listening instead of thinking that it is a waste of time. I hope that you might be able to help me.
I apologize for the extensive length of this comment. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Cyraus
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:23 PM
Cyraus, Thanks so much for sharing extensively like you have. I’m sure many have had similar struggles with humility and pride, I know I’ve had my share of struggles in my life here as well. I certainly can’t say how or what to do specifically, pride and humility are something you must understand and from my experience, the fact that you recognize it for yourself is definitely the first step.
Humility is something to be tested and surfaced for me by finally recognizing the impact on others and how much more satisfaction I get by building others up and enabling them, instead of the opposite ego mind does.
Anyway, your thoughts will continue to leave questions, others will help reveal it, life will challenge you, humility comes slowly. VERY SLOWLY. Give it time, give it patience and trust your faith and prayers that humility can be learned and realized. Practice what you can to be humble, but your thoughts, mind, heart and spirit are what ultimately have to change to be more humble. And that takes a LOT of time. Take care
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Having a humble spirit shows such character!
May 3rd, 2011 at 11:59 PM
This is a wonderful article. I appreciate it. Thanks for this. I hope there will some tips also to recognize between humility and low self-esteem or difference between pride and high or healthy self-esteem. Some people thought they’re humble but they just have low self-esteem.
May 8th, 2011 at 12:15 PM
I see myself inmost of these. But i disagre with 16 & 31
May 15th, 2011 at 1:33 PM
I hate these kinds of things. We are who we are, ok? We don’t need articles telling us how we become a better person. Life is full of opportunities to make mistakes, and learn from them. I wish people would stop listening to this bull. Saying things like “It’s my pleasure” doesn’t make you more humble. It makes you sound humble. It doesn’t change you and why would you want to change anyway? Everyone is beautiful exactly the way you are. I don’t mean to make a speech or anything but I use stumbleupon.com a lot and it constantly takes me to these things. I’m sick of people trying to change.
May 15th, 2011 at 9:03 PM
Thanks Beverly, Michiko and JR!!
@Stephanie, I have to say I’m not surprised by your reaction if you are someone who prefers to learn everything on your own, by trial and error making mistakes that others have already made and could help you. If you don’t want to learn from others to save some pain and heartache, that is up to you, but tens of thousands of other people enjoy this page itself, let along the other articles available like this to help people better themselves before they hurt those around them by trial and error.
Being humble takes practice, it doesn’t happen quickly, and it certainly will not happen if you don’t first decide to start ‘acting’ and ‘sounding’ humble and seeing the benefits of it. That my friend, is sometimes what it takes to actually become different. Practice does make perfect and while I agree everyone is a beautiful person, I can only agree that is true the sense of a person’s being, not their actions. Humility is something that saves people from selfish actions that are far from beautiful. If you haven’t experienced those yet, I’m afraid you will and you won’t like them. Perhaps those ugly behaviors might draw you towards humility some day.
June 1st, 2011 at 1:57 AM
Most of these ways are from Dale Carnegies book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
June 1st, 2011 at 6:47 AM
While I didn’t use this book directly to create the list, I have read the book and it is excellent. Its been a number of years since reading it however, so perhaps the book is even more influential than I first thought hey?? Thanks for pointing out the similarity to such a great book. It was actually the very first book I ever reviewed and posted here on this blog. Was from over 6 years ago and you can see my review of it here.
June 13th, 2011 at 5:42 PM
lucky to read the 50 ways to be more humble. I learned a lot from reading this. It takes a lot of guts to follow this ways. One way to be humble is…always put your feet on the ground….and look back.
June 28th, 2011 at 1:15 PM
Mike –
What a great list. I have been reading “Humility: True Greatness” by CJ Mahaney lately, so I stumbled across your list when looking for more resources. Your list is very practical, concrete, down-to-earth, and gives some great ideas. I wish I could memorize it and pull it off every day, but that old pride constantly sneaks out and the more I strive for humility, the more I see how much I have to learn!
Do you mind if I post your list on my blog as well as long as I credit you and link back to your page? I think my friends would like to see it too!
Thanks for putting it together, Mike! You’re an inspiration to me!
Dan
June 28th, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Dan, I totally know what you mean with how humility starts to reveal the layers of pride we truly have, and are often unaware of. I have to say, I sure haven’t gotten to the core yet and the layers just keep on peeling. I presume that will go on forever, no matter how much I learn or seek around humility… I’d be happy for you to repost the list on your blog, as I always like to help spread the word and while my site gets a lot of traffic for some of my humility topics, there is always more people to reach and new tactics. Please do include my reference to the original article and I’d love you to also find and link to my free resources, where I have a series on being humble with more detail on the subject available as a PDF download from my site (and that please do not copy, just link to it)…
Thanks for asking, that is always appreciated, so I am glad to help.
July 3rd, 2011 at 1:31 PM
While I do agree that humility is a precious thing that anyone can benefit from, isn’t being humble with the goal of being a better person sort of counter-intuitive? Humility, to my understanding, has no goal, implicit or otherwise. This roundabout way of becoming humble seems to say, “I’m such a good person. Look at me, I’m humble!” except that you’re humble, so you don’t actually say it. It all seems a bit contrived.
July 4th, 2011 at 10:28 PM
Being humble while bettering yourself is not contrived, the humble part is to protect the relationship you build along the way by not comparing yourself to others and constantly highlighting your own accomplishments. Relationships are much harder without humility while one of the people are truly becoming better people. Some don’t want to feel left behind or insignificant in comparison and without humility, its easy to damage a relationship when ego-centric comments highlight those points.
July 7th, 2011 at 9:54 PM
I like this! with the exception of #31. I have been saved by the power & blood of Jesus. He has saved me from my sins & keeps me from it daily. I have no desire to sin & He knows that. He tells me what to do, what to say, & vice versa. I obey because I love HIM. So it is not hard being a true Christian. We are sinners if we sin. We are Christians if we are saved from sin. I John 3:4-10, Genesis 20:1-6, St. John 14:15
July 7th, 2011 at 10:46 PM
Thanks Denise, your comment surprises me quite a lot however. I’m saved from sin as well but it doesn’t make ME any less of a sinner or not. It also doesn’t remove the desire to sin, as that exists in every person, saved or not. I’m not sure what you mean by saying a “true’ Christian as that might be a whole debate in itself. I personally don’t care for the titles as everyone has their own ideas of what a Christian really is. For me, it means to follow Christ. Simple. That however, is something VERY hard to do, so being a Christian in that sense to me is certainly a continuous challenge, it is always hard to do. Learning to be humble and recognizing we have those desires to sin and that we do in fact sin (saved or not) is what humility is about.
July 16th, 2011 at 12:13 AM
Thank you for sharing the knowledge. It’s really help me to improve myself.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:00 PM
This is a great list! I could use this to improve my personal life as well as my profession in the hospitality world. Cheers!
August 1st, 2011 at 2:16 AM
Id really have trouble with my life today,because sometimes i feel insecure to other people around me,But i overcome this by being humble to them,always feel good and happy in an unwanted situation.But finally i understand God make humble himself.God Bless Us.
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:21 AM
#3 and #4 are the main reasons I am perceived as a quiet and boring person. I would like to be more aggressive instead. Sure, you could argue that I’m doing right and the others are doing wrong, but it’s easier to change yourself than the rest of the world.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:34 AM
should be called how to get walked on and taken advantage of in the real world. also morality is a fine example of how slavery works.
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:35 PM
@jethro humility and being taken advantage of really have no correlation at all in life. A humble person can still be an assertive one when needed, without having to make themselves look better than others. Put others first, the rewards are in what contribution you make to others, not about what they make to you. I have no idea what you mean about your comment of slavery, as this makes no sense even if you meant to right humility is an example of slavery. This my friend is just an biased comment with no foundation and again, nothing to do with what being humble is actually about.
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:39 PM
@Jeremy Aggressive is definitely not the right word for a trait to be desired if you ask me. Assertive, sure, and that can exist regardless of your listening skills. Even if you listen first with a humble attitude, it doesn’t mean you don’t share your own point or opinion, you just don’t do it at the expense or detriment to others. Put them first, add to their ideas and contribute to others, instead of building yourself up. That is being humble, and you can still do this with personality and energy. Seeking to not be a quite person is an another thing unto itself. I hope you understand what I mean….
August 24th, 2011 at 8:41 PM
Mike (don’t mean to make you blush)…but you’re a gem. No…I think the better phrase is “an Old Soul”…as Wayne Dyer describes the term). This is a wonderful list, genuine, heart-felt and quite complete. Ever thought of conjuring up a “Random Acts of Humility” protocol? I think it would fly. Your list, for me, soo resonates with Coelho’s Warrior of the Light epic.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:31 AM
Bringing religion into something like this is not humble, but everything else is good stuff
You are God’s creation, not your own
would probably sound more humble as
Remember that a man doesn’t not make himself and that it takes a village to raise a child
Remember you are a sinner (in other words, you are no better or worse than anyone else)
would probably sound more humble as
You are no better or worse than anyone else
“Sin” is a currently held belief of a dominant subcultures perspective that’s subject to change and is not universal, to say “you are a sinner” and to think of others as such is an insult to people outside those beliefs (not humble)
August 29th, 2011 at 5:49 PM
Thanks Adam, obviously each of our own beliefs affects how we look at the world and share our ideas. This is the result here, as these things ARE my ideas of being humble, a unique perspective. There is always room to learn from others to be more humble, which you and many others have pointed out, thank you for doing it in a helpful way!
October 15th, 2011 at 11:55 PM
Sorry, but 16 and 31 are completely unnecessary. I live my life in a responsible and reasonable manner. I am happy, healthy, and have strong morals. I do not come from God, I come from a loving family that raised me well.
I also come from a past involving decisions I have made, and I am a sum of these memories and actions. I do not need to atone or feel bad for this- it is merely who I am. Anyone who doesn’t live in such a fashion is far from humble, in my opinion.
I am not alone in this opinion, as many of the stumbleupon readers have had many similar reactions on the review page.
October 28th, 2011 at 7:22 AM
Totally agree with this post. Its great and very informative. Today, I heard someone say to another they needed to make themselves a humble pie and eat it up, hence the reason to google this, I was curious how one would approach that and react to that.
November 30th, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Dear Mike, Trust everything’s fine @ your end. Thank you so much for reminding all of us that we all are humans and we should be humble towards not even with each and others but with everything we are in contact with, Everything has been created by God. Once again Thank you so much for your 50 Flawless Quotes. Peace. Ali
December 17th, 2011 at 5:49 PM
This is a really good list! “It’s my pleasure” makes me think of Chick-fil-A.
January 15th, 2012 at 10:43 PM
I heard someone say to another they needed to make themselves a humble pie and eat it up, hence the reason to google this, I was curious how one would approach that and react to that.
January 16th, 2012 at 7:21 AM
Let alone being authentic to oneself.
You will find a reason for behaving a certain method though making it a behavior through repeating and that I would suggest can be a useful method, however are still not humble before you can really be humble, genuine and act it naturally without considering it first.
January 16th, 2012 at 9:24 PM
@Ronald – Well, the reference to eating humble pie goes way back to having to make meat pies that were using animal loins or what is normally discarded organs or meats (known as umble). That phrase referred to having to lower yourself to eat something undesirable or to eat it in some form of shame or humiliation that you couldn’t afford good meat. The whole idea of that phrase now is more that a person discovers or gets surprisingly proven that they were wrong so the reference is to then show that humiliation by eating a humble pie.
As to a response, its really more for the person it is said to since usually that person just suffered being proven wrong on something. I can’t say there is a ‘right’ response or not, as the phrase is a bit rude when used towards another person, but I think acceptable to say on yourself.
January 16th, 2012 at 9:26 PM
@Nuoma, learning anything requires you to first fake it and do it consciously so that it becomes a habit and something then more unconscious and natural, you are right. If you practice something enough, no matter hard hard it is to do, it gets easier and more natural, humility is the same and unfortunately, it is not something our human nature fits well with, so you have to force it to make it a habit. It may not be true humility when you start, but it does grow on you and become natural eventually.
March 2nd, 2012 at 9:12 AM
Thank you 🙂
March 16th, 2012 at 1:54 PM
Thanks, i’m very grateful for this post. It realy helped me, mainly it has restructure my life to a new one. it also helped me on how to live with people in amony. Thanks once again, i pray may God increase you in wisdom.
March 19th, 2012 at 4:20 PM
Thank’s alot.i learn enough from this words of yours.and i can say that,that which you know you cant do in open place’dont try to do it secretly and dont do what others do so that you will not make the same mistake they made.always be zealous to be humble and God will help you,’cus He said,test and see that the Lord is Good.thanks ones more,keep it up.
April 25th, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Thankyou Mr. Mike for posting this article. It’s very inspiring and the whole world could use a hug with some virtues.
April 29th, 2012 at 5:04 AM
Would take issue with Point 16.
You are your own creation
April 30th, 2012 at 7:30 PM
Thanks Jim for your comment, we each have our own opinions on these, which is a great part of blogging, I respect yours on the matter, so thanks for adding your comment.
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:45 AM
Id really have trouble with my life today,because sometimes i feel insecure to other people around me,But i overcome this by being humble to them,always feel good and happy in an unwanted situation.But finally i understand God make humble himself.God Bless Us.
May 22nd, 2012 at 8:01 PM
Dear Mike, it is really a wonderful post. The series on humble/humility is truly a great learning source. Thanks for writing this and sharing with everyone on the web.
Yours Truly
Nidhi
July 21st, 2012 at 6:10 PM
A friend of mine had mentioned this site, and sent it to two friends of his, that he thought would benefit them..Little did my friend realize that i would come to this page and feel gratitude, honor, mercy,forgiveness,and strength in faith for the over all good of everyone..I dont feel compelled right now to send this off to others I may feel will benefit from this..My friend told me that i was one of the most humble people he’s ever known…I was thorougly humbled moreso, and explained that i was more grateful for life and everyone..one thing people dont understand is that the origen of the word sin was derived from being “ignorant”..which perpetuates continual error in ourselves. The more humble one becomes, the more cooperation one recieves..in this media infested world of contant negative, fear induced news, it is so refreshing and inspiring to stumble across a great site as this..thank you Mike….sorry I rambled on so long, as I rarely comment on line:)
August 15th, 2012 at 12:15 AM
I’m a humble person but the problem that I was facing is that most people take a humble person as a loser. And the respect is given to only proud people by the society. Thought I don’t care about that, but I’m just saying abou the general reaction of the people when you come in contact like in grocery stores, doctors office, car mechanic etc public places. But of course in your work place, in your home and the people who know you, humbleness works.
August 15th, 2012 at 12:55 AM
Humbleness is not all that easy to see for people, especially at the grocery store, doctors office or other public places. You can’t see that a person is humble without interacting more with them, learning more about them and seeing their humble actions or words in play. Don’t mistake humble as meek or reserved (which still don’t relate to being a loser) because they don’t relate. A humble person can be a very outgoing and fun personality, so I’m not sure why you would relate that to being a loser? Can you elaborate on that, I wouldn’t consider myself a loser by public reaction, and I know I’m very outgoing and spontaneous in public, especially with friends, that doesn’t show any signs of humility on its own.
August 24th, 2012 at 8:50 PM
well to day for i think the 5th time my boss has humiliated me in front of my coworker and i have always humbled myself although the pain hurts but i think now i have made my decision to move a long. I pray that she wont do it to some one else but thanks lord for the patience you have given me to tolerate this kind of situation. i will stay humble as i am and walk away.
September 28th, 2012 at 3:49 PM
a very good list. the only point i disagree with is no.33 because it is just too general. a lot of people should rather learn the opposite.
November 24th, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Always give others a benefit of doubt…great- Osteen says dont despice a fellow taking cigars , perhups he has great problems back home n they too need our love and prayer
January 1st, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Thank you very much,
what a good way to begin the new year!
January 22nd, 2013 at 3:02 AM
It is amazing that I will be 71 next Sunday, 27 Jan 2013, and now in recent retirement as a Fellow of my profession, that I am now a Lay Preacher and just finishing reading a book written in the 19th century (correct in the late 1800’s) I find myself lacking humility and pride seems to have dominated. Why so late in life for the “penny” to drop. Your article is great and has prompted me to check out my behavior and provide some personal guidelines. I use Mother Theresa a lot in my sermons so I guess the answer is looking me in the face. Thank you sincerely. Bob
February 15th, 2013 at 10:39 AM
I only saw 41 tips… Is there a second page that is not linked? Otherwise isn’t it going against being humble to say you came up with 50 ways and you only made 41?
February 16th, 2013 at 9:11 AM
Well, thanks for pointing this out but there are in fact 50. The page had a list error were there were two lists one of 9 items and then a second list of 41. If you looked at all, you could have easily seen this instead of pointing out the flaw so quickly. Another example of being more humble possibly? Its easy to pick on things where someone is wanting to be humble isn’t it. Its much harder to actually be humble and truthful. I’m sorry for the minor listing error, I’m not sure what caused that but its indeed a list of 50 ways.
April 5th, 2013 at 3:20 AM
Thanks Mike, I love your 50 ways to be more humble. I can easily adapt them to fit my belief system. The question I have is being humble and yet having what I think would be called “personal boundries”. I find it hard to stand up for myself and my “boundries”, not to be taken advantage of. I don’t know that that is being humble. I would like to hear your opinion, please. Thanks again!
April 13th, 2013 at 9:24 PM
Humility is about thinking of others before yourself and not boasting about yourself. It doesn’t mean you are a pushover or walked on by others or taken advantage of. You can still say no, you can still share your opinion, you can still make decisions, its just that you do it with others in mind BEFORE yourself, in other words what is good for others instead what is good for you. That doesn’t mean giving in or letting others take over. Hope that helps some.
May 3rd, 2013 at 2:53 AM
God resist the proud, but gives grace to teh humble.
June 28th, 2013 at 4:23 PM
I got a lesson in #32 last night when I found I was wrong about two people. One was more empathetic than I realized, and the second was less.
July 2nd, 2013 at 8:03 PM
Oh how tough lessons can be used to teach us. I’m sure every one of these I’ve learned the hard way, unfortunately for others, but I guess its taught me a thing or two now about staying more humble. Thanks for the comment, easy to relate to when we talk about making mistakes in the realm of being humble, isn’t it??
December 16th, 2013 at 8:38 AM
No matter how hard one tries, the act of putting oneself before others would give the person some feeling of self-inferiority, whether consciously or subconsciously. It may even lead to some loss of his self-esteem and can cause depression. Being humble is not easy, especially for one who has some pride in himself. I know being humble is not easy, but does a person like this need to undergo such pain and humiliation before he can see the results? Or is this just the result of over-thinking?
December 24th, 2013 at 8:49 AM
James, you are absolutely right, it is not easy at all to be truly humble and there is always some element of ego involved. I believe it is definitely worthwhile and the benefits of better easier friendships and appreciation quickly outweigh any concerns or negatives of loosing oneself in any way. Self esteem issues are much more established with ego based personality problems, than aware and humble people, so I think that is less of a concern than you’ve raised. Over thinking humility, I’d recommend to avoid, as humility is how you act, perceive others and feel, more so though than how you think. The right humble thinking comes as a result of the behaviors you exhibit to be humble.
February 24th, 2014 at 1:04 PM
being humble in todays world i think is quit difficult. but one can always try. so looking at your post i got to know many things. thanks for that and i’l try to be more humble.