The Truth About Humility

I’ve got a friend who’s a writer. He’s published multiple books. Solid work. Knows his craft.

One day he tells me about a comment someone left online after reading one of his novellas. The guy wrote something like, “Man, I was drunk when I read this and it was still horrific. This guy is a terrible writer.”

My friend was laughing when he told me.

He said, “That doesn’t bother me at all. Objectively, I know I’m a good writer.”

And he was right.

What’s funny is that a lot of people would hear that and think, Wow, that guy’s not very humble. But that’s because most people have no idea what humility actually is.

Humility has nothing to do with self-deprecation.It has nothing to do with pretending you’re worse than you are.And it definitely has nothing to do with lying about your abilities so other people feel comfortable.

Humility is simply accurate self-assessment.

It’s being able to say, “Yeah, I’m really good at this,” while also saying, “I’m not perfect, I can improve, and there are people I can learn from.”

So if you say to me, “Alex, you’re an incredibly accomplished entrepreneur in the medical space,” I’m not going to respond with, “Oh no, I’m really not that good.”

No. Fuck no. I’m amazing.

And I also have a long way to go.

That’s why I still learn from other people. That’s why I seek mentors. That’s why I invest time and money into getting better. I’ve never believed I’ve arrived at some level where no one can teach me anything.

That’s humility.

Not pretending you’re small. Not minimizing your strengths. Just being honest about who you are, what you’re good at, and where you still need to grow.

That’s the posture that actually makes improvement possible.