What Does It Mean to Be Humble, Really?

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
George B. Thomas (00:03):
Humility is about having a realistic view of
yourself, which by the way, whenI say that that means if you're
a stinker then you're a stinker.But if you're not, which I know
if you're listening to this,you're probably not then have
that realistic view versus theview that your internal worst
enemy might be having of you. Tome, it means acknowledging your

(00:28):
talents and accomplishments, butit also means recognizing that
you're not perfect and thatthere's always room for growth.
When you're humble, youunderstand that your successes
often come with the help ofothers and that you can learn
from everyone around you. At thesame time, I think with
humility, it's important torecognize your own worth and

(00:50):
achievements along the way.
This, again, is not aboutbragging. It's not about being
arrogant. It's about havingconfidence in your abilities and
being proud of the hard work anddedication that led to the
successes in your life.

Liz Moorehead (01:09):
Welcome to beyond your default. I am your host,
Liz Morehead. And as always, Iam joined by the 1, the only
George p Thomas. How are you?

I'm doing great. There probably should
only be 1 of me. Like, I don'tknow if the planet or my family
could handle more than 1. Sowe're coming back off of a a
long weekend, 4th July weekend,and I feel rejuvenated. I feel
ready to rock and roll.
So all is good.

Well, let's dig in. What are your highlights and
lowlights from the weekend?

I get tired of constantly battling how much I
should be working versus howmuch I should be relaxing on
days that a world has dictatedshould be for relaxation, but
that doesn't necessarily meanjust because we've been told we
should. But so mentally, it wasa battle. Like, I literally was

(01:57):
trying to spend time withfamily. I was trying to spend
time on the business. I wastrying to spend some time with
myself, and, like, I wish Ididn't have such a mental battle
when it comes to that thingright there.
Now the highlight, highlight'seasy. The highlight is I stepped
on the scale, and we are £30down, which is amazing and fun.

(02:20):
And, again, it's been more ofwhat I have been allowing to go
into my mouth as far as food andbeverage. I have been doing a
little exercise, but nothing towrite home about. And the other
piece of this, though, is if Ido a highlight is that my new
walking treadmill with anactual, like, desktop piece

(02:41):
showed up this week, and I wasable to put that together.
So now I'm really interested inthe change in lifestyle, aka, I
did not say diet, but the changein lifestyle and now adding in
this new walking treadmill tothe work day, I'm really curious
what's gonna happen movingforward. So, Liz, what about you

(03:01):
highlights and lowlights?

Well, first, I have to say congratulations.
That is freaking incredible. AndI love that you pointed out that
it was lifestyle versus dietbecause I've, you know, I've
started seeing massive resultsthe moment I stopped being
numbers obsessed. The moment Istopped trying to say, like, oh,
I'm gonna get from point a topoint b, and it's just, nope. My
life is changing now, and mybody will adapt to the changes
that I am making around it.

(03:23):
So that is freaking amazing. Goyou.

Thank you.

Low light, it was an interesting weekend. I didn't
have my usual struggle of shouldI be working? Should I not be
working? I felt like I had areally good balance. There are
just some external factors rightnow where it's weighing on my
mind.
And it it's those things of, youknow, how do I walk that line
between careful planning anddoomsday anxiety in my head?

00I hear you.

Yeah. And so that this week is, you know, it's
like, okay. So I need a plan a.I need a plan b. I need a plan
c.
But if we start dipping intoplan b and plan c and then it's,
like, okay. Hold on. Wait. Wait.So it's really just kind of
learning how to regulate myselfand find that line between,
okay.
We're here. Let's make a plan.Step 1 isn't panic.

Yeah. It's funny we both chosen to be, you
know, business owners,entrepreneurs, solopreneurs,
whatever you wanna call it. Andit's funny because that life
comes with some great freedoms,some great responsibilities, but
the occasional panic attack,

potentially. Panic. Oh, yeah. I know. I was
talking with a friend of minethis weekend who she also runs
her own business, and we werehaving the same conversation.
We have those moments of, hey.Remember when someone else used
to take care of our healthinsurance for us? That was so
nice.

Yeah.

It was so nice.

I'm sure most entrepreneurs or business owners
who have listened are listeningto this podcast have had moments
in their careers, in theirbusiness life, where they've had
$2, 000, $200, 000, and $2 intheir bank account, which you
feel completely different waysbased on what that number shows.

And it can change overnight. That's what's insane
about it.

It's crazy. Keeps us humble, by the way.

We're gonna get to that. And then my highlight
is actually something I'm gonnabe writing about in this week's
newsletter,beandredefault.comforward/newsletter.
So I was staying with a friendthis weekend. And we had this
moment where we're in her newhouse, and we had 18 people here
including 10 kids.

Oh, wow.

We had eighties music blasting. We were singing
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now byStarship, the best people could
offer. I was making stuffedshells for almost 20 people, and
she and I have been kinda goingthrough a similar trajectory. We
have some unfortunate overlap insome of the experiences we've

(05:47):
had in terms of, you know, we'veboth been going through a
divorce. There are similarthemes that were present in that
divorce.
You know, there's been a lot oftimes where she and I were
reflecting that, you know, thistime last year, we were both in
our cars in parking lots tryingto, like, keep our head
together. Mhmm. And each takingturns telling each other, we we
can do this. We can we can getthrough this. It's gonna be okay

(06:09):
even though it doesn't feel likeit.
And then, when we were flashingforward to being here in her
house, in her kitchen, andeverybody was dancing, there was
this moment of, oh, so even ifyou can't see the other side,
there is another side. And itwill just happen like that. I
mean, there is nothing todescribe what that felt like. Do

(06:30):
I still have some other hinkystuff that that I was talking
about in my little light? Yeah.
But it was that moment of, like,just because you can't visualize
on the other side, doesn't meanit's not there.

Oh, that's good. It's always there. You
just have to arrive at it.

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. But we're not here
to talk about that. We're hereto talk about humility, George.
And I'm very excited to havethis conversation with you today
for 2 reasons.
1, this is a continuedconversation from our superhuman
framework. You know, humility is1 of the tent poles that you
mentioned is part of this way ofachieving that beyond your
default life. Right? But I'mexcited because unlike the self

(07:08):
care episode where after youread the outline, you said, so
are we sure this is what we wantto be talking about? For the
first time in the history offorever, and this is not saying
you don't love my outlines, Igot a,

oh, this is gonna be a good 1. I do love
your outlines, by the way. Butthis 1 in particular, I was
like, oh, okay.

I went there with some of my questions, and that's
fine. What personally, why I amvery interested in having this
conversation is you have alwaysin addition to this being part
of the superhuman framework,you've always called yourself
the happy, helpful, humblehuman. Yeah. Humble has and
humility has always been part ofthis brand that you've put
forward. And going through, Iwould say, the past few weeks

(07:51):
through our conversations andjust life experience, I started
to realize that for over a yearor so that we've been working
together, I think I was lookingat humility the wrong way.
Because my goal in terms ofbeing your quote unquote content
therapist, was that I had spenta lot of time trying to get you
to come out of your shell, toown your power, to step into the
light, instead of sideliningyourself as a number 2. So I was

(08:14):
always worried, is that humilitypiece, is that humbleness piece,
something that hamstrings you?Is it something that you're
saying, I'm being humble, butyou're actually putting yourself
in second chair for no reason?

Right.

And then last week in the newsletter, I wrote
about humility. Because I hadI've had a few experiences, I
would say, over the past coupleof months that have really
pushed me to redefine how I lookat humility. Because 1 of the
things I've been really tryingto do over the past, I would
say, year or so, is kind of areckoning within. Right? If I

(08:49):
became someone who could makeall of these fear based
decisions that then created thislife that was just a prison,
what was I doing?
My heart wasn't open, and Iwasn't allowing myself to be
open hearted. And so I wannaread just a little portion from
the newsletter issue I sent overthe weekend. It was basically
talking about, you know, I amsitting here railing at you guys

(09:11):
once or twice a week, like, dothis, do that, be honest, Tell
me what you want. But I'm notbeing honest with any of you. So
I'm gonna take a moment, and I'mgonna be honest about what I'm
feeling.
You don't experience great love.You are humbled by great love.
You don't experienceinspiration, you are humbled by
inspiration. You don'texperience pure joy, you are
humbled by pure joy. You don'texperience the divine, you are

(09:31):
humbled by divine.
Humility, surrender, andrelinquishing your need for
control, these are your onlytools to bring what you want
within reach. You must let go ofyour expectations and demands
and requirements in order toreceive. You see, when what you
want shows up and knocks up onyour door, it does so with the
demand of an absolute acceptancefor what it is as it is. You get
no say over its size, its shape,its form, its timeline, its

(09:53):
breadth, its depth, its scale.You want true love and blinding
passion, here it is.
You want to find inspiration inthe revealing of your purpose,
here it is. You want answers tothe deepest questions in your
heart, here they are. It's likea final test of sorts. Do you
really want what you say youwant? Are you willing to be
humbled and humble yourself bywhat it is you seek?

(10:14):
And so I have been going throughthis whole process of
understanding what humility, atleast so far, actually is for
me. But as I've been goingthrough this shift in my
perspective, I knew this was thetime we had to have this
conversation. Because since itis such a critical part of the
superhuman framework, and sinceI'm likely not the only 1 who

(10:34):
maybe has not appropriatelydefined it in the past, Do we
all have a shared definition ofwhat it means to be humble?

I mean, maybe, maybe not. To be honest with
you, for most people, I don'tknow if it's a major focus in
their life. For me, this hasbeen a 26 to 28 year journey of
focusing on understanding,implementing this idea of
staying humble, paying attentionto ego, understanding the

(11:05):
difference between proud andpride. So I don't know if we
have a defined definition to behonest with you because it might
not even be in some people'sgame.

Well, then let's talk about it. Let's start our
conversation here, George. Howdo you define humility?

Yeah. For me, humility is this blend of
religious beliefs and thepsychological ideas that help us
grow as humans. Liz, on thereligious side, humility means
recognizing that we depend wedepend on a higher power and
easy example in Christianity Aneasy example in Christianity

(11:50):
religion, for example, Jesus isa great example of humility
because he served othersselfishly. The Bible tells us to
be humble towards each other,acknowledging that God favors
the humble and opposes theproud. I've had to battle with
pride in my younger life to thepoint where it broke me, but,

(12:10):
Liz, we'll chat about that in abit.
Religiously, humility meanssubmitting to God or a higher
power that you believe in andunderstanding that your talents,
my talents, your successes, mysuccesses are gifts from this
higher power or the God that webelieve in. It also involves

(12:30):
serving others and putting theirneeds above our own. So right
away, I want people to realizethat this is kind of like
multifaceted, and it's not supersimple. Because by the way,
right now, I'm just talkingabout serving, and I'm talking
about the religious side ofthis, but there's far more that

(12:51):
we have to dive into. This iswhy servanthood, by the way, for
me is so important in my lifeand how I show up for those
around me because it's rootedout of humility.
Being humble means knowing ourflaws and always striving to
improve ourselves bothspiritually and personally. Now
on the other side of this,psychologically, humility is

(13:15):
about having a clearunderstanding of our strengths
and weaknesses without beingarrogant about it or self
deprecating on the other side.If you're in tune from the
spiritual side of humility, bythe way, this part, the
psychological part is super easyor at least easier. To me, true
humility involves havingbalanced self esteem where we

(13:38):
don't think too highly or toolowly of ourselves. In this
sense, humility includes selfawareness, recognition of our
abilities and limitations, andan openness to feedback and new
ideas so that we can grow overtime.
Listen, I don't know about you,but that part right there feels
like the bedrock for anothertopic that we've talked about on

(13:59):
this podcast, which is growthmindset. But, again, we'll hit
that point a little bit later.Good humility. And I say that on
purpose because you spent a lotof time trying to get me to show
up as a whole ass human. And inthe effort of wondering, and you
even said at the beginning ofthis, is humility holding him

(14:20):
back?
Because, by the way and it mighthave been a little because I
used to say a lot, I'm just aguy. But that was my knee jerk
response to, like, trigger thedeflation of the air in my
cranium, AKA my ego. Again, it'sa balance, but good humility
also means that we're beingempathetic and compassionate,

(14:42):
understanding and the on myjourney through this life. So
you have to think out of thisconversation of humility and
what it is, it's directly tiedto the servanthood mindset that
I have and the empatheticmindset that I have, as well as

(15:04):
a growth mindset is essential.Where we see challenges and
failures, where most seechallenges and failures, we need
to see them as opportunities tolearn and grow.
So if we combine both religiousand psychological views, I would
define humility as having abalanced and honest sense of
yourself. I like some quotes. Bythe way, as always, there's some

(15:27):
quotes and some scripturessprinkled through this episode.

We love a good sprinkle.

We do. And I love the quote scripture 1, 2
punch, actually. Like, gettingboth sides of kind of the
stream, if you will. SoConfucius wisely said, humility
is the solid foundation of allvirtues. It's about recognizing
our abilities and limitsdepending on a higher power and

(15:53):
committing to serve others.
By the way, that could probablybe the dang definition, but the
Bible supports this stating,blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom ofheaven. And that's Matthew 5:3.
Ladies and gentlemen, humilityhelps us grow continuously. It
helps us develop empathy, and ithelps us deepen our spirituality

(16:16):
along the way. And it promoteswell-being and encourages
lifelong learning and selfimprovement.
Now I don't know about you, butthat sounds like a recipe to
success for me.

I love the way you framed it, but I do wanna
take a step back here and saysome of the things that you were
pointing to is more religiousaspects. There are things though
that I hear echoes of in eithermore secular agnostic or even
atheistic circles. This level ofhumility that even if it's not
rooted in some sort of spiritualset of beliefs, there's still

(16:46):
that idea of there is somethinggreater. Right? Carl Sagan, who
is an author, an astronomer, aphilosopher, also famously
atheistic.
He said once modern science hasbeen a voyage voyage into the
unknown with a lesson inhumility waiting at every step.
When we look at the world aroundus, I think it is always
important for us, regardless,again, as to the belief

(17:07):
structure it's rooted in, torecall, is there something
outside of ourselves? Is theresomething greater than
ourselves? Are there rules andlarger forces at play? And the
answer is yes, regardless as towhat it is you believe.
So let's keep going thoughbecause I wanna go back to a
piece of the conversation we hadwhen we were introducing the
superhuman framework. And whenyou talked about humility, you

(17:30):
said that God had to break youto teach you humility. Nice try
trying to sneak that 1 in like Iwasn't gonna come back here a
few episodes later and say, so,sir, what were you talking
about? Because that's what Iwant to know. Tell us about that
experience and how it changedyour perspective on humility.
What happened?

At that time, I was living in Jewett, Ohio. I
was working at a camp calledFaith Ranch. We had 42100 Acres.
We would do horseback riding. Wewould have camps.
I was a camp counselor. Duringthat time, I was also, like, an
archery instructor, rappellinginstructor, certified lifeguard.

(18:07):
A little unknown fact about meis, I'm actually a certified
riding instructor, western andEnglish, which is crazy. Listen.
Your boy used to be a cowboy.
I'm just saying, I watchYellowstone, and it reminds me
of my past. It's not like thisfictional thing.

You 1 time sent me a picture of you in a cowboy
hat. I'm like, he looks very,very at home in that hat.

Yeah. I was very comfortable in the cowboy
hat. And so to make a long storyshort, I had worked at the camp
for about 2 years. I ended upworking at the camp for 3 in
total before I moved on withlife. And and at this camp, we
worked it like a farm yearround, but then we had kids
camps, you know, during thesummer.
I got room and board, and I madea $100 a month, Liz. $100 a

(18:49):
month is what we got paid. Wow.And I had been saving up my
money, and there was this, Ithink it's 5 or 600 CC Honda, a
motorcycle showed up. Somebodyhad came.
They were gonna sell it. I waslike, I wanna buy it. The camp
director, Bill, he said, I don'tthink that's a good idea. And
listen. I had saved up money.

(19:10):
I didn't really need a lot, butwe were making a $100 a month.
And so I think I paid, like, 7or $800 for this motorcycle. You
know, I didn't heed any warning.I was very, like, I don't care
what you say. I'm gonna do whatI wanna do.
Be careful, by the way, whenyour brain does that to you
right there. And so I bought themotorcycle, and it's 1 of the

(19:33):
weekends in between campfinishing and starting again.
And some friends of mine thatworked at the camp, we decided
we were gonna go into Jewett,and we were gonna play some
basketball. So I hopped on themotorcycle and took off and,
like, headed into town. Theywere in a I think it was, like,
a gold station wagon followingme.
We get there. We play somehoops. You know, we have maybe a

(19:55):
couple Mountain Dews and Cokesand whatever, and we're heading
back to the camp, and I decidethat it would be a good idea for
me to show off. And I startgoing kinda fast. You know?
And, by the way, if you knowanything about Ohio, you know
the roads are windy. I'm wearinga pair of shorts because we're
playing basketball. I have aleather jacket on because I'm

(20:16):
not an idiot, and I have myhelmet on. Thank god. Because it
probably saved my life.
I was going about 80 miles anhour. I was going around this
turn. A possum, God. I hatepossums. A possum came walking
out in the road.
I tried to dip out and dip backinto the turn, but my front tire

(20:36):
caught gravel instead of theasphalt. I remember trying to
lean off of my bike because Iknew it was going way wrong, and
so I remember leaning off thebike, and then I remember waking
up and standing up and tellingthem to get my helmet off. Like,
I couldn't get my helmet off. Ididn't know why I couldn't get

(20:57):
my helmet off, but I couldn'tget my helmet off. And they're
like, we can't take your helmetoff.
You might have a neck injury.And I'm like, I wouldn't be
standing if I had a neck injury.Like, take my helmet off.
Because I was getting veryclaustrophobic. It was a full
face helmet.
It was full of dirt. I just Ineeded to see. I needed some
air. So they took my helmet off.And at that point, the first

(21:17):
responder showed up, pickuptruck because we were out in the
country.
He sits me on the back of thetruck. I see the ambulance kinda
coming towards us. I must haveblacked out. Because the next
thing I remember coming to, I'min the ambulance, and I look up
and there's this lady. She's alarger lady.
She's definitely an older ladycompared to me at that point

(21:40):
because I'm probably, like, 26,27, maybe even 25 at that point
in my life. But I ask her tomarry me, and, she kinda
giggles, and then I pass outagain. I come to in the hospital
just in time for the doctor torebreak my wrist that I didn't
realize was broken, but they hadto rebreak it and set it. And so

(22:02):
come to find out, 1, I had adislocated shoulder that was on
my left side. I had a brokenwrist that was on my right side,
and I had stitches in my kneebecause gravel and asphalt and
knees don't really mix.
I get done with all of this, andI'm sitting there in the bed.
And sitting next to me is Bill,the camp director, and I'm

(22:25):
waiting for it. I'm waiting forthe I told you so. I'm waiting
for the lecture of all lecturesbecause he was almost like a 3rd
dad to me, to be honest withyou. Like, he was he was 1 of my
first, what I would call, lifementors.
And you know what? He justhumbly sat there and didn't say
anything, and he took me back tothe camp, and he, like, made

(22:47):
sure that I was okay. And sothere was this sign of how not
to be and how to be whensomebody is actually in a place
in their life where they don'twanna be. Come to find out too,
the next day, I get to see themotorcycle, and it's trashed.
The gas tank's laying beside it,seats all mangled, the forks are

(23:07):
all bent.
Like, it's gone. They're like,there's no salvaging it. And my
friends start telling me thestory about how when I went off
the road, they saw the bike do 6flips. And you could literally
when you went back to where wewere driving, you could see 6
indentions where the bike hadflipped. They found the gas

(23:27):
tank, like, a 150 yards on theother side of the road.
And so all of this just createdthis moment for me where I was
like, oh my god. I'm I'm glad tobe alive. Then this happened,
which for a brief moment intime, I was like, oh god. Just
let me die right now. This isembarrassing.

(23:48):
It was the Monday or Tuesdaycampers showed up. I realized
that I had to go to thebathroom, So I went from, like,
this downstairs area where we'resitting on picnic tables. I went
in the bathroom to use thebathroom. And then at 25, 26
years old, I realized I can'tpull my pants up. And so I had
to yell out of the bathroom,help.

(24:10):
Somebody help me. And Chuck,I'll never forget Chuck's name.
Chuck came in, and he's like,what's up? And I said, like,
bro, I I can't pull my pants up.So he pulled my pants up, and he
said, are you okay?
And I said, yeah. I'm okay. AndI shut the door as he left, and
I sat down on the seat of thetoilet, and I started bawling my
eyes out. Because I realized atthat point, for God to get my

(24:34):
attention, he had to break me.It was because that I wasn't
paying attention to good advice.
It was because I was letting egoget in the way. It was because I
wasn't focused on being a humblehuman that I had arrived at this
place. And so because of that,when I start to think about, you
know, this story in my life andwhat happened because of it,

(24:59):
humility for me, like I kind ofteased at the beginning of this,
went from a nonexistent to amajor focus in my life. And
because of this major focus onhumility, I became less focused
on myself and became morefocused on others. And I think
this is where my fascination andjust deep dive into, like, body

(25:22):
language and micro expressionsand, like, feeling people's
emotions in the room when I walkinto it as, like, a professional
speaker.
And I definitely started to godown at that point this journey
of understanding proud versuspride and the difference that
they play in our mind and how wetreat them. And and I tried to

(25:45):
start this is gonna sound weirdto maybe a lot of folks, but it
was at that point and by theway, like anything in life, you
can backslide and then go backinto it and backslide and go
back into it. But it was at thatpoint really that I tried to
start to walk the world with alighter touch versus this what
up until that point had verymuch been like a bull in the

(26:06):
China closet. Like, I'm gonnashow up. I'm on me me.
I'm a wreck whatever's you know?And I was like, maybe that's not
just the way to show up. That'sthe moment in time. And, again,
it's been, you know, what, 27,28 years now focused on staying
humble, deflating the ego,focusing on others, being wise

(26:30):
and listening. That's kinda whatthat's about.

There's so many elements of that story that I
want our listeners to take withthem because on its surface, you
know, that is not a story I canrelate to. I will tell you 1
thing. I will never get on amotorcycle. Do you wanna know
why? I don't even know how toride a bike, George.
I have made peace with that Goda long time ago. I grew up in an
apartment building across fromthe Pentagon. Biking was not in
my like, that was never gonna bein my repertoire. Right? So I

(26:57):
think sometimes we can hearthese stories from other people
that maybe seem either out ofour reach or at an extreme end
of of a spectrum where we canhear the story, hear the lesson,
understand the lesson, but wedon't necessarily personalize
it.
So when our listeners who are,well, listening right now, what
I want you to take from thatstory is that we all have those

(27:20):
moments where the world, God,the universe says stop.

Yep.

Where you go 1 day having a certain capability,
to the next day eithertemporarily or permanently not
having it. To the moment whereyou are feeling independent to
the next day where you need toask for help.

Yeah.

I was having this conversation with a friend of
mine yesterday in the car. Wewere driving over to a friend's
house. And I told her about howthere is someone in my life whom
I'm very close with, who I knowsees me in this. I don't know if
it's an ideal an idealizedlight, or they just they always
see the best in me. And I said,it it's really hard for me

(28:02):
because every time this personsays something nice about me or
they talk about me or myaccomplishments, whether that's
to me or somebody else, I can'thelp this feeling of
fraudulence.
Because the way I said it, I'mlike, I know I look like I have
it together, but I'm basically10 gerbils, like, tied together
in a trench coat. We weretalking earlier. Let's not talk
about the bank account rightnow, guys. Let this is we are

(28:24):
just getting through the daysright now. You know what I mean?
We are just making this work.And so it's so funny that it was
that contrast of I am feelinghumbled right now, contrasted
with someone who sees me in thisvery idealized way. And it's
almost painful. And I thinkthese moments of humility, we

(28:44):
have to remember we are notbeing punished. We're all humans
just trying to make it work,guys.
And sometimes, we get a littlebit big for our britches.
Sometimes, we shoot out a littlebit over our skis. And
sometimes, there are just goingto be things that happen that
are outside of our control. Yep.My lesson in humility, I'm gonna

(29:04):
go in a bit of a differenttrack.
Because I have plenty of storiesthat have echoes of yours.
Right? Like, have I fallen down?Yes. I fall down more than I
write words, and I'm aprofessional writer.
Me and gravity, it's always adelicate dance. Right? I'll go
back to something I mentioned inthe newsletter. Because if
you're gonna get raw and realand honest, I am going to do the
same. And this is something I'vebeen continuing to challenge

(29:26):
myself week to week.
And this was not something I wasplanning on talking about. So I
wrote last week about you arenot you don't experience a great
love. You are humbled by it. Ihave probably gone through 1 of
the most excruciating lessons inlove that I have ever
experienced in my whole lifeover the past year. Like, to the
point where I didn't even admitit out loud until I told a

(29:47):
friend this past weekend.
And, you know, she wasincredibly gracious. She was
holding space for me as I wasworking through some very
complex feelings. And the reasonwhy I call this a lesson in
humility is that look, I'll behonest. Your girl is, ladies and
gentlemen. I'm an only child ofonly children.
I like me. I like winning. Ilike to joke. I don't need to be

(30:08):
the best. I just need to bebetter than everybody else.
My first word was no. And that'snot some cute quippy joke. I
thought my mom told me thatonce. And I'm like, that doesn't
are you just mad that I tookapart my crib but my dad was
like, no. No.
You were Elizabeth right fromday 1. So I've always considered
myself ethical and honest. But Imentioned those things because
I've always been strategic. Theright side of clever. Not afraid

(30:32):
to put myself in a position towin.
This love lesson that I'veexperienced, which is an
unrequited sort, taught me thatwhen you really love someone,
you are not in the picture.Because you want them to
experience happiness and love ontheir terms, however they define
it, Whatever they define it as.And with whomever they define it

(30:55):
as. And it's been thisinteresting experience of
because this true great loveexists is the exact reason why I
will never ever dip into thatonly child mentality. It was to
truly be humbled by it.
And it was a beautiful thing andit's painful. It's painful. 0
out of 5 stars. But it has beenprobably the most humbling

(31:18):
lesson I have experienced out ofa lot of humbling lessons I've
had this year. And I share thatbecause, again, I've been really
going through my own journey aswe've been recording these.
And that woe tells me that Iwent a little deeper than I
usually go.

But I love it.

I'm very glad I learned it because humility
comes in all stripes. It's notjust the times you get knocked
down. Sometimes, it's a thingthat shows up on your doorstep,
and you asked for it. And nowyou have to bring it in and
accept what it's here to teachyou. And that's what it's meant
to do.

Yeah.

So what daily practices or habits help you
stay grounded and humbled?Because, obviously, you and I
both have had these bigexperiences. Right? But it's
like going to a conference.Like, we talk about this a lot.
You go when you go to theinbound marketing conference,
inbound by HubSpot.

Yeah.

You go there. You're excited. You got notes.
You saw all these keynotes.You're ready to change the
world.
And, like, within 2 weeks whenyou're back at your office,
you're already doing the sameold shit you were doing before.
Right? Like, you're already,like, I'm just gonna do the way
it was before because nobodywill listen and nobody was there
and Right? So how do you takethose big catalyst moments in
your life in humility andtranslate them into those daily

(32:24):
practices and habits that keepthat lesson going, that keep it
integrated into your life.

I'd love to say that they are daily
practices or daily habits. Manytimes, I may do them daily. I
may skip them for a week or 2,and then they become daily
habits. But there is a set ofthings that I'll list under
daily practices and habits thathave helped me stay grounded and

(32:55):
humble along the way. Maybe it'sjust routines that I think
anyone can adopt, and maybe thepace at which the routine you
choose or set of these piecesthat you turn into a routine.
Anyway, the the first thing thatI try to start each day with and
and, again, I'm gonna say theword try a lot over the next

(33:16):
couple minutes because these aregoals. These are aspirations.
These are things that, again, Itry to keep in place. But
starting each day withgratitude, before I let the day
take over, I take a few minutesto reflect on the things that
I'm thankful for, which helps meappreciate what I have and
recognize the contributions ofothers in my life. And, again,

(33:41):
this 1 right here, this becomeseven more important when you
feel like you're in 1 of thosecatalyst moments or when you're
in 1 of the more stressful partsof your journey, focusing in on
gratitude, especially thebeginning of your day, might be
the oxygen that you need toactually continue to move

(34:02):
forward.
The second thing that I'm a hugefan of and I try to do, notice
the word try again, is activelistening. Whether it's at work
or with family and friends, Itry to make a conscious effort
to listen more and talk less.And as somebody who has to talk
to people that's hard to do,meaning I gotta do a lot of

(34:22):
training and, you know, thispodcast and other podcasts. And
so I do talk a lot, but when I'min those 1 to 1 moments in life
or 1 to group, I really do tryto listen more and talk less.
Again, like, sometimes Icompletely fail at this 1, but
when it works, when it worksright, this helps me understand

(34:46):
others better and helps me keepmy ego in check.
See, that's the thing. If you'relistening to the input around
you, it kinda can become amirror. And and this even ties
into, like, listening and evenfeedback and listening. The
other thing too that I haveembraced, I would say we both
have embraced, Liz, is thismindset of continuous learning.

(35:09):
For me, it's been in my lateryears, and so those listening,
if you have not yet, you can.
I mean, I listen to audiobooks,podcasts. I take courses. I read
blogs. I seek out new knowledgeat every turn possible. And by
the way, I don't always do thisin the my lane, and I'm using
air quotes for anybody who'slistening here.

(35:31):
I don't always do it in my laneper se. I I allow myself maybe
get your notepad readylisteners, by the way, because I
feel like this 1 might be,unlocking for some folks. I
allow myself to learn randomthings of curiosity. Random
things of curiosity can actuallygive you a ton of power as you

(35:54):
move forward. But this idea oflearning and curiosity, it
reminds me that there's alwaysmore to learn and that I don't
have all the answers.
And when you realize you don'thave all the answers by the way,
I might be able to find them,but I don't have them. There's a
level that that allows you tostay at. I also try to make it a
habit to admit my mistakes. This1 might be 1 of the hardest in

(36:19):
the bunch, by the way.

I do feel confusion about that.

I don't get excited about this 1, but I do
try to, like, admit when I'mwrong. Like, when I mess up, I
try to own it and apologize ifnecessary. In your personal
life, this is a just a win foreverybody. Professionally, it's
like next level stuff that yourclients probably aren't used to.
But but this idea keeps mehonest and accountable, and it

(36:46):
and it shows others that it'sokay to make mistakes, which, by
the way, if you're a leader andyou want your team to embrace
this mindset, then you have tolead with this mindset.
Finally, this what I'll talkabout is I reflect on my day
before I go to bed. Honestly,I'll sit there and I'll think
about what went well. What couldI improve? How did I treat

(37:10):
others? And I'll sit there anddissect the day that I just had,
and I guess you could call itthis a moment of reflection.
Right? You're reflecting on themain points of contact and
conversation and community. Andwhen I do this, this helps me
stay focused on my personalgrowth throughout that day.

(37:31):
Remember, I talk about 1% bettereach and every day. This is like
the diagnosis of where was that1%.
And and, honestly, looking backat what happened in that day,
the amount of value that I addedor didn't add or the
conversations that I had orshould have had, like, it keeps
me very grounded. You've gottabe open to looking at the

(37:54):
bloopers of your life, not justthe highlight reel. And so many
of us just wanna look at thehighlight reel, which gives us a
a skewed perspective. By addingin these simple practices into
your daily routine, your yourdaily life, weekly routine, if
it's better for you, I mean,it's helped me. It may help you

(38:15):
stay humble and grounded andfocus on continually growing and
improving.
And, again, this is why I havethat statement, and people have
heard me say it in life and onthis podcast, and humility is
tied to the statement 1% bettereach and every day. There's a
couple quotes in scripture, Liz.Marcus Tullius Cicero remarked,

(38:39):
the higher we are placed, themore humbly we should walk. By
the way, this quote scares thecrap out of me. Because as a
person who is trying to live alife beyond their default, as a
person who is trying to climbthe highest of mountains, as the
person who now has George bThomas for speaking and emceeing

(39:03):
sidekick strategies for agencyservices, and beyond your
default for helping people growpersonally.
I'm headed to high places. I'vebeen focused on being humble,
but you telling me I gottadouble down? There's a lot more
work to do is what I'm sayingthere. And so the Bible echoes

(39:23):
the sentiment, though, of thisquote, urging us to humble
ourselves. It actually says,humble yourselves before the
Lord, and he will lift you up,James 4:10.
It sounds great, but it's a lotof daily, weekly actions,
habits, focus. It's a greatdirection to go. It's a hard

(39:47):
journey to navigate.

There are 2 things I wanna point out there
that I just I I loved what yousaid. I loved all of that. And
also, I don't know if anybodyelse listening to this just had
that moment. Felt that 1 rightin my bones. But I will say 1
thing I find fascinating aboutthose moments where when you
were starting to talk about, youknow, when I have to admit I f'd
up.
Right? The thing that actuallyhelps me in those moments is a
reminder You just I fucked upperiod full stop. And you You

(40:17):
just I fucked up. Period. Fullstop.
And you'd be surprised theability of apologizing without
editorializing is usually whatpeople are looking for. They're
not looking for some essay ormonologue from you. You know, it
was a Tuesday. It all began whenI was 10 and I showed an
aptitude for the clarinet. Like,nobody wants that.

(40:38):
No. Because sometimes that'sreally all I screwed up. The
end. Yeah. I'm sorry.

Yeah. It might sound like my bad. It might
sound like, wow. I couldahandled that better. Like You

and I have done that to each other where it's
like, so Liz. Oh, yeah. SoGeorge, oops. Oops. I did

it again. Sorry.

The other thing I wanna point out is you mentioned
something about highlight reels.And I think especially in an age
of social media becomes evenmore important. I think
everybody listening should takecomfort in the fact that if
anybody were to get strategicenough, we all have highlight
reels. Everything always looksglossy on the surface. We all
have highlight reels and we allhave blooper reels.
I was talking with someone overthe weekend, 1 of our clients

(41:19):
actually, someone who hasstarted their own business. And
she's feeling a bit nervousbecause she doesn't have as much
experience in the industry asother people do. But she has
been a business owner for manyyears. She's bringing in new
perspectives. And I talked toher about the fact that, you
know, you don't have to have itall figured out.
In fact, I'm gonna send you thefirst video I ever did for a
company named Impact that I usedto work at. It is terrible. It

(41:41):
should be buried within thesands of time. George, I will
send it to you. It is probablythe funniest thing I have ever
done.

Mine's worse.

You would look at it and say nobody would let this
girl in front of a camera again,and that is true. But the
problem was it was the pandemic,so we had no 1 else. So Liz had
to learn. And you know this. Youdo a ton of camera work.
Me, you, our mutual friend,Marcus Sheridan, all of these
people who people get used toseeing on stage and seeing in a
glossy way. Do you know how manybloopers I have? As a joke 1

(42:10):
time, my old video producer puttogether a blooper reel that can
never actually be shownpublicly. That's just me saying
the f word a bunch of ways andthey put it like it's a super
cut And there's like, I'msinging it. It's this.
It's it's like a 2 and a halfminute long thing. And that was
when I was at my prime. That waswhen I was like, I was doing
great prompter work. I was beingmuch more creative. This is part

(42:32):
of the human experience.
This is part of what we do. Youdo not show up ready to wrassle
with no issues. Like this isthis is part of thing. So I
wanna dig into a nuance herewhen it comes to humility.
Because this is where I think Iused to get tripped up with it.
Right? Because anytime you saidthe word humble, I was like, I
want to zap you. And you had apoint. You kept trying to tell

(42:53):
me that's not what yeah.

I'm like, why does she have the cattle prod
right now? I just am talkingabout

humility. Liz, I thought we were friends. Why is
this violent? You know, but youkept trying to say that's not
quite what it means but we'llget to that later. It's now
later.
We we have arrived at thatstation.

Yeah.

What is the balance between being humble and
recognizing your own worth andachievements? Right? That fine
line that I was talking about,like, where you're weaponizing
humility against yourself tokeep you in a box.

First of all, I don't think it should be
humanized. And and the way thatI'm gonna unpack this, I mean,
these are my words, my thinkingof, you know, the conversation.
There there might be a PhD,doctorate, whatever that would
maybe go deeper than this. Andwho knows? Maybe in the future,
we'll try to interview somebodythat's way smarter than me on

(43:44):
this topic of humility and theidea of self worth and it being
empowering versus weaponized.
But to me, balancing humilitywith recognizing your own worth
and achievements involves thisunderstanding and appreciating
of your own strengths andlimitations without letting

(44:08):
either overshadow the other. Theword balance comes to mind.
Like, when I think aboutanswering this question, Liz,
and where my brain goes isliterally to, like, the yin yang
sign and balanced, and it beingkind of the both sides evenly
weighted out. And so humility isabout having a realistic view of

(44:33):
yourself, which by the way, whenI say that, that means if if
you're a stinker, then you're astinker. But if you're not,
which I know if you're listeningto this, you're probably not,
then have that realistic viewversus the view that your
internal worst enemy might behaving of you.
To me, it means acknowledgingyour talents and

(44:56):
accomplishments, but it alsomeans recognizing that you're
not perfect and that there'salways room for growth. When
you're humble, you understandthat your successes often come
with the help of others and thatyou can learn from everyone
around you. As you've heard mejokingly say when we're working
with clients, like, can I talkto the janitor? Now do I really

(45:18):
wanna talk to the janitor? No.
But my point there is I'll talkto anybody in the organization
because everybody has aviewpoint. And the more of those
that I can get, the better. Atthe same time, I think with
humility, it's important torecognize your own worth and
achievements along the way.This, again, is not about

(45:40):
bragging. It's not about beingarrogant.
It's about having confidence inyour abilities and being proud
of the hard work and dedicationthat led to the successes in
your life. It took me a longtime, by the way, to realize I
could be proud of myself withoutbeing prideful. Now listeners, I

(46:01):
want you to unpack that for asecond. You can be proud of
yourself without being prideful.Recognizing your worth actually
can build self esteem.
That's why I think humility canbe a superpower because it'll
motivate you to continuestriving for the goals that
you're gonna set as you moveforward in life. The key in

(46:23):
going back to the word balance,the key to balancing these 2
aspects, at least for me, is tokeep yourself grounded. Right?
So when I say grounded, like,what do I mean and how can we do
that? Like, have you ever metsomebody who they just absorb
all of the, yep.
Look what I did. Look what I Idid this. When you're more

(46:45):
grounded, when you're focused onhumility, you're more apt to
give credit where credit is due.When you achieve something,
acknowledge the contributions ofthe thing that you put in, by
the way, and the contributionsof others who helped you get
there along the way. That's whyin Hub Hero's podcast and this

(47:07):
podcast, we both have givencredit to things that humans
have said that got us to a nextlevel.
Right? Like, I'm sure we've toldthe story of sitting in
Cheesecake Factory with MarcusSheridan and the fact that if I
didn't embrace vulnerability bythe way, you can go back to that

(47:28):
episode because I literally knowthat we have a vulnerability
episode.

Which you loved doing just as much as self care
as I recall.

Yeah. It was Big fan. Big fan. I was a big
fan of it. But you have to shinethe light on others along the
way.
This keeps us humble, showsappreciation for teamwork, and
more importantly, like, fostersa community, a family, a group
of friends, whatever you callit, that is focused on support
of others. So celebrate yourachievements. That's another

(47:57):
thing. Like, it's okay to beproud of your success or
successes. Freaking take time tocelebrate them.
I was terrible at this, by theway, because I was always
worried that they would defineme. Celebrate them, but don't
let them define you. Understandthat they're part of a larger
journey of learning andcontinuous improvement that

(48:17):
you're gonna be going through.Now, Liz, I mentioned this
earlier, but practice gratitude.Again, this is 1 of the
linchpins or key pieces.
I I feel like it's like thespiderweb piece of what connects
so much of this, but regularlyreflect on what you're thankful
for because this will help youappreciate your accomplishments
without being boastful. Lookthat word up, write it in your

(48:40):
notepad, and then write theimmediate 3 things that come to
mind about you, your life afterreading that. The other 1 is and
by the way, from somebody who'sgone on a couple mission trips
and we've done a couple foodkitchens. If you're not finding
ways to help others, which bythe way, I just picked out some

(49:00):
big ones, but you can find somesmall ways to help others in
your life. But use your skillsand knowledge to assist others.
This is why sometimes I'll justbe like, hey. Let me do that for
you real quick when it comes to,like, the marketing or sales or,
like, HubSpot space becausethere is a fine line of I need
to get paid to do that thingversus I'm just gonna use my
skills to get somebody out ofthe ditch real quick, and then

(49:23):
they can move forward and theyreally don't need a whole lot of
what I provide after that. Butthis idea of helping others not
only benefits those around you,but also reinforces the idea
that your abilities are meant tobe shared and that your
abilities can contribute to thegreater good of just the world

(49:43):
in general. And so, Liz, as CSLewis famously said, humility is
not thinking less of yourself.It's thinking of yourself less.
And the Bible also teaches us donothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit. Rather, inhumility, value others above
yourselves. And that'sPhilippians 2:3. And so I think

(50:06):
by maintaining this balance thatwe're talking about in this
section, you can stay confidentin your abilities while
remaining humble in anunderstanding of that you're
continually growing and that thebest part of this might be the
fact that you've unlocked, thatyou can learn almost anything

(50:26):
from those around you in yourlife.

What I love about what you said here, George, is
that like everything that we'vetalked about in multiple
episodes, is that this issomething you have to kind of
recalibrate mentally withyourself over

time. Upgrade your software.

Yeah. And it's that fine line, right, between
we talk a lot about frameworks,mindsets, best practices. That's
how we structure out whetherwe're talking about beyond your
default or how we teach inboundand how we talk about HubSpot
with our clients. It's this ideathat we have mindsets that
inform flexible frameworks thatinform daily best practices.
It's the same thing that we seehere in that we have a certain

(51:04):
mindset, Understanding thatdifference between proud and
pride.
Understanding there are thingsoutside of ourselves, but we can
also still be proud ofourselves. Allow the human
experience to mold and shape usas we move forward through these

(51:27):
moments. What I would be curiousto hear from you though is what
advice you would give to someonewho is struggling with that ego
piece of it. Right? Where theyfind it hard to practice
humility.
And I will be the first to admitthat sometimes I fall into this
trap. I'll get high on my ownKool Aid. Get high on my own lid
supply. When you get a lot ofrecognition about things. Or
maybe just it's something youdon't allow yourself to tap

(51:48):
into.
It could be a lot of reasons.But how do you talk to someone
in that mindset?

First of all, we're we're all really good at,
like, allowing ourselves to, youknow, or I'm the gal, whoever
you are. Like, listen. Before mymotorcycle accent, that was my
default state. I was the shiz. Imean, listen.
At the camp, right, I wanteverybody to think about this
for a second before I answeryour question, Liz. At that

(52:14):
camp, I was a certified ridinginstructor, certified rappelling
instructor, certified archeryinstructor, certified lifeguard.
I was the guy, at least in myown mind, and so that motorcycle
accident was getting me off ofmy high horse because, like you
kind of jokingly said, we wereway too high on the George

(52:38):
supply. Right? And so forsomeone who is struggling with
ego and you're finding it hardto practice humility, I'm gonna
give you some advice, but I'malso gonna take a moment here to
say, please take the advicebecause being broken to learn
these lessons is way moredifficult.

(53:00):
I would just rather you learnthese lessons and be able to
implement them in your life. So1 of the key things is that you
gotta practice self reflection.Take time each day to reflect on
the actions and attitudes thatyou're having and doing. I'm not

(53:20):
a huge journaling person, but ifyou like to journal, journaling
can help you identify momentswhen your ego took over. And
that's where you wanna look atwhat impact your interactions
and decisions made or happenedto that situation.
Adding in this gives you a levelof self awareness. And by the

(53:44):
way, self awareness is the firststep in managing your ego. If it
goes untapped, unchecked,unnoticed, it's kinda like high
blood pressure. It starts outnormal, and it just starts to
bubble up to where it gets tothe point where it's gonna be a
bad thing. The other thing, andthis is gonna be real difficult

(54:05):
if you are friends with ego, ifyou are slightly egotistical
maybe at this point, but I'mgonna tell you that it's been 1
of the most eye opening piecesfor me, and that is seek
feedback from those around you.
Now it has to be people youtrust, but actively ask for

(54:25):
feedback from trusted friends,family. If this is a work thing,
maybe it's your colleagues. Butwhen you ask for that feedback,
be open to their perspectivesand listen to what they're
saying even if, and it's goingto be uncomfortable. But when
you are able to embrace thisconstructive criticism, again,

(54:49):
from people you trust, it canhelp you see the blind spots and
areas where your ego might getin the way. And to be honest
with you, before my motorcycleaccent, I was like that horse
with blinders on where I justsaw straight ahead.
I couldn't see to the left orright. And so you gotta look for
these blind spots and feedbackand listening to those around

(55:11):
you and then taking action andchange based on the constructive
criticism that you get in thatuncomfortable moment or
conversation is gonna be a keyto get out of this, like, ego
ruling your life. I mentionedthis 1 earlier, but I definitely
think it deserves repeating, andespecially after the last thing

(55:34):
that I just talked about. Butfocus on listening. Make a
conscious effort to listen moreand talk less.
Truly pay attention to whatothers are saying without
planning your response. And,again, too many times when we're
just communicating to be right,we already know what we're gonna

(55:55):
say before they actually finishthe sentence.

That's not communicating. That's lecturing.

Exactly. And so little practice in your life
will help you appreciate theviewpoints of others, and in its
own small way, will help youreduce your focus on yourself.
By the way, when you start toreduce your focus on yourself,
you can acknowledge others. Andwhen I say acknowledge others,

(56:21):
regularly express gratitude at aboys', at a girls' appreciation
for their contributions in yourlife. Like, the amount of it
just happens and nobody saysanything is almost terrifying to
me.
We should be telling people,like, man, that was awesome, or
you did a great job, or Iappreciate you because of more

(56:45):
in our lives. I say it's not abig shift, but it actually
probably is a big shift, and itmay feel huge to folks. But to
me, I would say it's it'sactually a little shift because
now with you not focusing onyourself, you're focusing on
others, you can actually find iteasier. But this shifts the
spotlight from you to thosearound you. And and, again, it

(57:05):
fosters a more collaborativeenvironment, whether it be
friends, family, or at work.
And, Liz, we've talked aboutthis, but I think if you're not
humble, if you're dealing withego in the driver's seat right
now, and I don't mean this to bedisrespectful, but you may have

(57:26):
a closed mindset. And man orgal, that's dangerous. And so
unlocking or embracing this ideaof lifelong learning and what I
love to do is and I've said thisbefore where it's like the
master is always the student.Adopting a beginner's mindset.

(57:49):
Remember that there's alwaysmore to learn and that everyone
you meet knows something thatyou don't.
And I have to ask you, like, doyou walk this planet thinking
that you're the smartest personin the room? You may be, by the
way, but that doesn't mean youneed to think that way or act
that way. This humility inlearning helps. And I think, by

(58:11):
the way, this might be 1 of thereasons that I doubled down on.
Like, I'm gonna learn everythingthat I can.
I'm gonna grab this spongementality is based off of this
because humility in learninghelps keep that ego in check.
Now the last thing I'm gonnamention here is that and, again,
they're kind of layers. If yougo back to this rewind, kinda

(58:34):
start to jot it in your notepad,you'll realize that 1 begat the
other, begat the other, begatthe other. Because once you get
to this point, you can start tofocus on serving others. When
you engage in activities thathelp others without expecting
anything in return,volunteering, random acts of
kindness, these can ground youand remind you of the value of

(58:58):
service and community.
I think about the mission tripsthat I've been in. And when we
went to Billings, Montana and wedid a mission trip at the Indian
reservation, masterclass inhumility. Masterclass in
humility. Like, when we've goneand worked at soup kitchens, and
I see my kids helping people,and they're having the

(59:19):
realization of the life thatthey have masterclass in
humility. And you know what?
Actually, there's 1 I said thatwas the last thing, but there's
1 more thing that came to mind.I don't know if I was gonna
share it, but I think I shouldshare it. And the reason I say I
don't know if I was gonna shareit is because when I start to
unpack this 1, Liz, it's a realfreaking doozy for me,

(59:40):
personally, because some peoplerun from this, by the way.
Ladies and gentlemen, you haveto remember your roots. You have
to reflect on where you startedand the journey that brought you
to where you are.
Recognize the support andopportunities that helped you
along the way. It can foster asense of humility. To know that

(01:00:01):
I've gone from 1 room log cabinto business owner. To know that
I've gone from a 1 roomschoolhouse to certified HubSpot
trainer, to know that thismassive change from just being a
inbound 0 to being an inboundhero. Heck, let's even go more
recent to know that I've gonefrom not having any

(01:00:25):
conversations in the personalgrowth space to us now doing
episode 45 or 6.
You gotta remember your rootsalong the way. Liz, you talked
about your first video. Thefirst video I ever did started
out with a photo of me leaningagainst a brick wall with 3
HubSpot certifications and thenhad about a minute and a half

(01:00:47):
screen share video where youjust saw the screen, and that
was it. It was horrifying, butit's the roots. It's the roots
that got us here.
So you have to think about whereyou came from. You have to think
about the journey that you'reon. The way that you're gonna be
able to expedite that journey,especially with, like, leaving

(01:01:09):
ego and heading into humility,is making sure that you're
setting personal goals focusedon growth, learning, helping
others rather than, and this isthe young George, the accolades
and recognition of the thingthat I'm about to do. This
shifts your motivation from selfcentered to service oriented.

(01:01:31):
And remember, pride makes usartificial, and humility makes
us real.
I'm gonna say that again for thefolks in the back row. Pride
makes us artificial, andhumility makes us real. That's
Thomas Merton, by the way. TheBible adds this. When pride
comes, then comes disgrace, butwith humility comes wisdom.

(01:01:52):
I'll take wisdom all day everyday, and that's Proverbs 112. I
think by incorporating thesepractices into your daily life,
your weekly life, your monthlylife, you can begin to manage
ego. And by the way, that's allI ever really try to do is, can
I just manage it? I'm not tryingto kill it, but can I manage it?

(01:02:12):
And when you're managing it,then you can cultivate a more
humble, balanced perspective ofthe life that you're living.

Liz Moorehead (01:02:20):
So as we close in on the end of this conversation,
I know we've touched upon this,but I think I just wanna hear
from you. As we pull this alltogether, why is humility
essential for personal growth?Why is it essential for building
these strong, specificallyrespectful relationships that we
have?

George B. Thomas (01:02:40):
I believe humility is essential for true
personal growth and buildingstrong, respectful relationships
for several reasons. First,humility fosters a mindset of
continuous learning. When you'rehumble, you acknowledge that you
don't know everything and thatthere's always room for
improvement. Liz, this is huge.Like, that piece alone is huge.

(01:03:02):
This openness to new ideas andwillingness to learn, like I
talked about random acts ofcuriosity, this willingness to
learn from others, it's crucialfor our personal development.
Being more receptive to feedbacklike we talked about earlier,
and and new perspectives allowsyou to grow, adapt, and improve

(01:03:22):
over time. It it gives you thisopen mindset instead of closed
mindset. With an open mindset,you can head into a growth
mindset. Humility helps youbuild stronger, more respectful
relationships.
I I think that if you ask anyhuman, they want stronger and
more respectful relationships.Approaching others with humility

(01:03:44):
instead of ego increases yourability to listen actively and
value their contributions. Thiscreates a foundation of mutual
respect and trust as people feelheard and appreciated. I mean,
this is gonna be a hardquestion, but when's the last
time you felt heard,appreciated, or maybe you might
use the word I felt seen? Ourculture right now is not

(01:04:07):
necessarily baked that into thebedrock of what it is.
Forming genuine connections iseasier when you're not trying to
dominate the conversations orprove your superiority.
Additionally, humilityencourages empathy and
compassion. And by recognizingyour own flaws and limitations,

(01:04:27):
you become more understandingand forgiving of others'
imperfections. This is a hugeunlock. This empathy strengthens
relationships, fosters anenvironment where people feel
safe to be themselves withoutfear of harsh judgment.
Put that into your workenvironment. Holy crap. Humility
also reduces conflicts andpromotes collaboration. When

(01:04:52):
you're not driven by ego, you'remore willing to compromise and
work together towards the commongoals that you're trying to
achieve. This spirit ofcollaboration, it's vital for
maintaining harmony in personaland professional relationships.
It prioritizes collectivesuccess over individual pride.

(01:05:15):
Not to mention, humility helpsyou stay grounded and realistic.
By keeping your achievements inperspective and acknowledging
the contributions of othersalong the way, you avoid the
pitfall of arrogance andentitlement. I don't know about
you, but there's been plenty oftimes in my life where I felt
arrogant and probably feltentitled. And those are spaces

(01:05:38):
that I do not wanna be in.
So moving forward, this balancedview of yourself, of myself, of
your abilities, of my abilitiesprevents this overconfidence,
and it makes sure that youremain approachable and
relatable. That's where youwanna be, approachable and
relatable. Trust me when I tellyou, you want to be moving

(01:06:00):
yourself as far away fromarrogance and entitlement to
approachable and relatableespecially as you travel this
journey to a life beyond yourdefault.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}What Does It Mean to Be Humble, Really?

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

All Episodes

What Does It Mean to Be Humble, Really?

Stuff You Should Know