Last September, I decided to get my very first (and only as of now) tattoo. My heart pounded and my hand shook, as the artist drew my pineapple logo with the words hungry, humble, smart beneath it.
I’d chosen that particular tattoo, because I’d heard a role model of mine say that if one was hungry, humble and smart, he/she could successfully be taught anything. The moment I heard that, I had an a-ha. That was what I needed to be if I was to find success. You see, I believe that in order for us to have what we want to have,
we need to be the kind of person that we need to be and do the kinds of things that need to be done.
So, in order for me (and you) to be successful, the recipe is simple: we just need to be humble, hungry, and smart. But why are those qualities so important?
If you are hungry, you are a learner.
You crave knowledge and understanding and experience. People who are hungry, learn and go and do. They ask great questions that lead to more questions. They don’t complain. They don’t make excuses, they don’t bother themselves with worthless drama, negativity, or the distractions that take their focus away from the main goal. They run fiercely after growth, knowing that there is no real such thing as TMI (too much information)… except for you, Lady at the nail salon talking about your toenail fungus. Anyway, I digress. Let’s talk humility!
If you’re humble, you put your ego aside.
You don’t jump conclusions, take things personally, compare yourself to others, or constantly try to put others down or make yourself look better. You’re “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry”, as the Bible says. Simply put, you put others ahead of you. This is important, because in order to become successful in ALL areas of your life, you must be able to work well with other people and humility opens the door to more possibility. Think about it: have you ever had a team member who had an ego? Was there any room for expanding an idea or vision or collaborating to make a project spectacular? Probably not. The result of that is smallness. There is no possibility for more and bigger. Ego shuts everything else down, because it is the only thing that matters. But humility will always win in the end.
There is no doubt that you also need to be smart in order to be successful. But smart in what way?
Make great decisions in every area of your life. Use your gut instinct, but think about the choices that you make before you make them. Everything is connected to everything! It is so easy to let life pass us by without making conscious choices on things that really matter to our future success. If I want to be at my peak health, and yet I eat out every day, simply because I am doing what I have always done (subconscious), will I ever reach the peak of my health? And yet, most of us do this every day, making one unconscious choice after another at work and at home. Be smart and make sound choices in every area of your life. (Check out Hal Elrod’s brand new book The Miracle Equation for some awesome motivation in this area!)
As I wrote, everything is connected to everything. If you feel like you struggle with information, experience, or expertise in a particular area, but you are humble enough to admit that you don’t know everything, and hungry enough to seek to learn more, you may just find that you get much further ahead than you ever dreamed possible. Everything is connected to everything.
Hungry, humble and smart all matter equally.
Now grow forth and until next time, Shore Locals, I am sending you peace, love, and good vibes from my beach chair to your’s!