The Interplay of Ego, Humility, and Luck

How good do you think you are?

How sure are you of your competence?

Do you have the results to back it up?

Well, after all, it does not matter.

The better you think of yourself, the more it can stand in your way.

Of course, it is good to have confidence built up on competence, but the danger of that is that you can become arrogant or overvalue yourself.

I had this as well, that at some point I was placing myself next to people who were better than me.

I did this because I had the knowledge but had some really inconsistent results and thought I could talk along with the better, more skilled, and competent people, while in reality, I was not that far.

When you have this or create such a type of situation, you become disconnected with your peers, and the people who are better than you are less likely to help you out.

It is a hard lesson to learn and not a really workable position to be in.

So that is why I will break this down in this article, how you stay humble, and how you get further in the long term.

We will explore this through the topics:

• You're not as good as you think!

• The way luck works

• What being humble will bring

After this article, you will know how you can adjust your behavior in a certain way that your relations are more sustainable for the long term.

You're Not as Good as You Think!

This was a real wake-up call when one of my coaches told this to me.

I have some experience right now and okay results, but it was not phenomenal.

I started to get somewhat of a small ego, then he told me ruthlessly: you are not as good as you think. And it made me think, he is right.

I am not as good as I think.

Why?

Well, when you're not in the position you want to be in, you clearly aren't as competent as you thought.

It could be a skill issue, a knowledge issue, or a structure issue where you have the competence but cannot structure it right.

That is fine as long as you do not think you're the best.

There is one thing you need to be the best in, and that is to be the best student.

Always eager to learn and hungry for improvement.

If you think you are really good, there is some sort of ego involved.

Your ego is not your amigo.

It prevents you from learning more and from forming better connections.

It can bring you a lot, but eventually, it will hold you back.

The only difference between you and someone else is the choices that they made.

Nothing more, nothing less.

People can also think that their way is the only way and are resistant to new ideas or methods.

That is also an ego thing.

The world is built in teams with others.

If you think you're too good or way better, there will be a distance between you and the team.

I talked with multiple managers by now, and what was cool to see is that in bigger companies, they work in teams.

Every team knows what they need to do and is specialized in certain things.

Because of that, they move efficiently and quickly.

And most importantly, they work together.

Nobody thinks they are better than the other; otherwise, it will be a bottleneck in how the team works.

The best mindset you can add to your student-of-life approach is: Everything I know is that I know nothing.

The way luck works

We know now that we need to put our ego aside, be a team player, and a student of life, but how are results created then?

I would say you have a couple of ways that luck works that have a major influence on your results.

Of course, you need to take actions to get results in general, but within those actions, you have the role of luck playing a part.

Let's categorize luck in 4 categories:

• Dumb Luck

• Actionable Luck

• Skilled Luck

• Created Luck

Dumb luck means in simple terms you just got lucky.

Something completely out of your control happened, and it benefits you.

For example, when you buy one lottery ticket and win a big amount of money.

This is purely random and entirely out of your control.

Actionable luck is when you work a lot of hours, doing a lot of different things that will set things in motion and can create forces that could generate a lucky break.

For example, when I go to a network event and talk to a lot of people and out of that comes a major opportunity for work, then I created that through action.

Skilled luck is when you become competent in what you do and your knowledge and skill sets allow you to see and understand what’s happening before others do.

When you see an investment opportunity and you recognize it because of your experience in the field, you have skilled luck.

Last but not least is Created Luck.

Created luck is all about the position you create for yourself in the market.

This is created through a personal brand, through the skill sets that you have.

People want to be associated with that brand or need your skill set to help them capitalize on an opportunity.

Lots of influencers have this; they created a brand that people want to be associated with and therefore they created their luck in the position that they have.

What you can do with this knowledge is actively create results for yourself through the four components of luck, or track where your results are coming from and double down on that.

Ask for help while doing this, because we know now that we are not as good as we think that we are.

Together we can learn from each other and create even better results.

So let luck be on your side.

What being Humble will bring

Okay, put away your ego, be a student of life, work together, create luck, now humbleness.

Yes, why?

Simple, being humble in what you can do, in your achievements, in the results that you generated is a skill in itself.

I am not that good at it, but I am better than I was before.

No one likes a person who brags about how good he or she is.

If you say things about yourself it is bragging, if others say it about you it is true.

Being humble creates openness and makes you more approachable, when you are more approachable more opportunities will come your way.

Also, people talk more and quicker to you in a genuine way.

If you do not experience that yourself maybe it is time to take a look in the mirror and see how humble you really are.

The benefit that will come if you are able to humble yourself is that people are more likely to teach you things.

When you're seeking a mentor or coach this is an important thing to think about.

Why would they want to help some stubborn person with an ego?

There is just no wrong in being humble.

Actions speak louder than words, so let your actions speak.

Being humble does not mean that you cannot stand up for yourself, or that you suddenly need to listen to everyone.

It is more about picking your battles, knowing when and how to speak to whom and never appearing as the one who is only busy with themselves.

Adjust your behavior

To sum up the main takeaways that we talked about.

Let's first remind ourselves of Continuous Learning and adopting a mindset of lifelong learning.

Always seek to improve and expand your knowledge to keep on improving.

Then we talked about Ego and Humility and how recognizing your strengths but remaining open to others' ideas and perspectives is of benefit.

Use humility as a tool to build relationships and learn from others for sustainable growth for every party.

Then we talked about the different types of luck and how they impact your life.

Use this understanding to position yourself advantageously and improve results.

And last but not least, foster collaboration, value teamwork, and collective success.

Engage with others constructively and appreciate the diverse skills and insights they bring.

Your ego is not your amigo, so learn to be humble instead.

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That's it for now.

I wish you a good day - Job Baltes.