May 23, 20205 min read

Learn from your mistakes and be humble

Updated: Nov 22, 2020

“Do not correct a fool or he will hate you, correct a wise man and he will appreciate you.” This quote was made famous by a renowned Hong Kong-American martial artist back in the days, Bruce Lee. The main point of this quote is to educate others the difference between a lacking man but is full of himself and an intelligent man that is filled with wisdom.

Many a times, we get jealous over people we encounter in our lives that just seems to have such a smooth-sailing journey, but trust Math Lobby on this one: It isn’t as easy as it seems. Today, we will be discussing on different ways we can cultivate humility, and create a more wholesome, conducive environment that spreads positivity in our education journey.

In our modern society, we have been conditioned to value financial wealth as a categorization of the social hierarchy system, or in some extreme cases, a form of authoritative power. This have led to the induction of excessive greed in many, ranging from criminal acts of dishonesty like stealing and robbing, up to the extent of political corruption and money laundering in a government system.

You will realize that these unethical ways of obtaining financial wealth are typically very short-lived and unsustainable, usually ending up having to serve jail sentences or being on the run for the rest of your life. This is quite the contrary to what we have been taught by many of our parents regarding having an abundance of financial wealth, which is living life comfortably and in luxury.

If you have not notice yet, the true millionaires and billionaires around the world do not participate in such illicit activities. Rather, they rely on their own hard work and determination to succeed in life. Real tycoons have simple meals, wear normal clothes and do not flaunt their wealth in the face of others. They speak with kindness and share their knowledge generously with the people around the world, educating others with experiences and life lessons to being successful. And this boils down to a very important characteristic: A humble personality. So, how can we succeed by being humble in our lives? What can we do to take that first step in approaching life with humility?

Math Lobby’s advice on how to approach life with humility

1. Spend time listening to others speak

More often than not, we typically want to get on the good sides of our teachers if you are a student, or bosses if you are an employee. Hence, we tend to give in an excessive amount of input and attempt to be more pro-active in a group discussion or a meeting. This is a good practice to have, but this might cause you unnecessary glares and stares of the members. To avoid such a double-edged sword, we must learn to only give our viewpoints at appropriate timings, and always remember to give others a chance to speak as well. Through this way, you will then be able to learn and understand more perspectives and approaches on the topic that you would have never thought of before, hence widening the boundaries of your knowledge.

2. Ask for help when you need it

When a class discussion is going on, there will tend to be students that ask questions that might seem to be “dumb” or “no-brainer”, and ends up being a laughing stock in front of the whole class. Let’s get this straight: there is NO SUCH THING as a “stupid question”.

We are all humans with a unique mind, no one can tell the other that the basis of understanding something is exactly the same in their minds. We all learn differently, applying different keywords and strategies to make our OWN learning more efficient.

Therefore, when you have any questions or doubts, feel free to raise it up, do not be intimidated by the others in class and allow them to lower your self-esteem. Ultimately, it will be their loss for not even trying to hear you out. Similarly, never ridicule another student’s questions or way of thinking, which brings us back to the first point: Listen and learn.

3. Seek feedback from others on a regular basis

Apart from spending time to listen to others and obtaining knowledge from their end, we must also know the importance of other people’s opinions on your knowledge. When you are confident that you have a substantial amount of understanding on a particular topic or subject, reinforce this knowledge by gathering constructive feedback from others when sharing your version during a discussion. Take in questions and answer them with the knowledge you have, for those questions that you are unable to answer, that will be the areas that you might not have a clear understanding on yet. Never be overly-confident and turn a blind eye towards the viewpoints of others, because sometimes it can be very beneficial for identifying the loopholes in your notions of a topic or subject.

4. Be appreciative of what you have

We know that it is human tendency to be in possession of something, but yearn to have something better that’s in the hands of others. As the saying goes, “Grass is always greener on the other side”, but we have to take note that regardless of what others may have, it did not come to them easy as well, they worked hard for it.

Hence, if you want it bad enough, then stop complaining and work for it! However, before that, ironically, what you have right now might also be what another person wants, so be appreciative of what you have first then set goals to push yourself harder for further gains. As the saying goes, “What a man regards as trash will be another man’s treasure”.

In conclusion, we all know that success do not come by easily, which is why many will turn snobbish and look down on those that have failed. What they forgot to do after being successful is to take a glance back in their past, where they came from and how they started out.

Therefore, humility is such an important trait to have in our life and it can bring us further than the success obtained by being proud and arrogant. In the society where all humans are classified under a species of our own, there is no need to fight with one another to see who the superior one is. Adopt the way of life and thinking of a millionaire/billionaire, and you will be respected like one.

We have come to this end of today’s discussion and as always: study hard, stay humble and we wish all students a successful and enjoyable journey with Math Lobby!

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