Humility - Intellectual & Spiritual

What better way to start the new year, and the new decade than with some introspection. Quite often, we believe we are right and want to prove and even defend our righteousness.

To summarize, I would call 2019 - a year of protests! Across the world, you name it, some sort of protests were being waged.

While protesting is a basic human right, that should be prevalent in any democracy. I strongly believe that the right comes with some responsibility, and that includes protesting... non-violently.

I have to give it to Mahatma Gandhi for introducing to the world, the concept of non-violent protests, bloodless revolutions. You can protest if you like by waving your hands and fists, no problem - but the moment your fist hits my face, that's where your freedom ends.

When we can start to accept others, and learn to understand them - that's when we actually make progress in our lives. In your quest to develop yourself, and grow, you will need a mindset committed to long term learning, every single day.

Knowing what you don't know, is just as important as knowing what you do know.

Read that above statement again...

One of the things I learned from being a trader, is to question yourself...

Do you want to be "right", or want to be "rich"? The market has a way of humbling you like no other. And that is where humility can be learned very fast.

I now believe, that there is always a possibility that I could be wrong, and I try to figure out how to hedge my bets if I am. That has become a lesson learned.

To avoid intellectual superiority, you have to have a child-like curiosity, ready to learn something new every day. I think this is what Jesus Christ meant when he said you have to be like children.

If you're a person, who has proverbial teacup full. You cannot fill your cup with new learning. The tea overflows, nothing stays, and you cherish nothing. You learn nothing new.

Dale Carnegie's book - How To Win Friends, teaches an interesting concept  - when you start becoming more interested in a person, you naturally become a more interesting person.

If you're a spiritual person, then you'll know False Humility is the worst affliction, and at the same time Religious Superiority, the feeling of 'holier than thou' (because I've done all the right things) can cause a deterioration in an individuals thinking.

One of the books, I've added to my reading list for 2020 is... The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. I think it will be an interesting read for this year! Wishing you a prosperous and peaceful 2020!