Humility: A way to live.

Justin Elliot
Nov 3 · 6 min read

Humility is defined as a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness. I am sure we are all aware of the definition, though the gravity of the word cannot be understated. It is more than just an emotion. It can be a useful tool not only in analyzing our own selves, but by doing so can lead to extraordinary gains in our personal and professional lives.

How to Live the Keanu Reeves Way of Life and Produce His Extraordinary Results in the Process


This article, by Tim Denning, was not just very informative but also carried lessons that struck home to myself that can be applied to just about anyone. After tirelessly searching and thinking of what exactly I wanted to write this piece about it began to dawn on me. Rather than just looking through things I enjoyed, i.e. sports stories, food, and math articles, I branched out and started reading every article that passed through my line of sight. This one seemed to stick out. Obviously, I am a fan of Keanu Reeves as an actor, but I never took the time to realize exactly how different he was from the other mega-stars of Hollywood.


“One thing that struck me after reading hundreds of tweets about people who had met Keanu in real-life was how normal people said he was. People that met him said he was just like anyone else and had a calm energy about him” (Denning).


Denning goes on to explain in more detail of this quote. By coming across as normal and more importantly humble, he has created his own lane. As he has become more and more humble his professional successes have increased exponentially. After reading this article I began a process of self reflection of my own. I have had many successes and failures throughout my own life. Personally, I believe my own ego and over-evaluation of my own self worth may have contributed to ultimate failures after working tirelessly to achieve personal goals. From here on out having humility will be one of my life’s pursuits. Being humble and having humility is easy to say but when you’re caught up in life’s successes and a feeling of over-inflated self worth it can be lost at a moment’s notice.



In another article about humility, Chad Bockius goes on to further expand on the definition of humility. Simply stated, it is a way of behaving that shows that you don’t think you are better or more important than other people. Not only can humility have an effect on ourselves it can also help to develop better relationships, or teams in a professional environment. No one wants to work with a jerk, but everyone wants to work with someone who doesn’t think they are the best and one who supports other people’s goals while achieving their own simultaneously. Once again, anyone who fears or who has an overly arrogant boss, may just do the minimal amount of work required to not get any attention and keep a low profile. Though, if someone considers their boss to be an actual genuine and heartfelt person the employee will break their back to not let down the humble and kind authoritative figure. When you’re humble you understand that not everything is about you, switching from selfish to selfless. “Seeing each other as equal rather than placing one another on podiums that are adjusted in height based on success, is how we relate to people that helps us to produce extraordinary results in life” (Bockius). Ultimately, we are all in this together, we are all trying to achieve success, happiness, and build better relationships. Though, every person’s definition of success may be vastly different, we are all trying to reach whatever our concept of success may be.

Life is a team sport, the more great people you surround yourself with the more success you can have but, the way the team feels about each other ultimately drives how far they can go as a team.


Solace and self reflection can also be a key component in not only humility but in our own personal growth. Denning states, “There are many photos of Keanu on the internet sitting in quiet solace and reflecting. It is fascinating to analyze these photos and to ponder what he might be thinking. It seems that this time alone has helped Keanu process the tragedies his life has produced and that is how we find meaning to endure. Life can be go, go, go and without quiet time away from technology, we can’t assess what is happening, and most of all, why it is happening.”

I recently was at a crossroads in my own life, I thought I had it all and I let my ego get the best of me. I thought I was more important than I was, and then my life changed dramatically. I had a successful business; one of which I worked my whole life towards this ultimate goal which I finally achieved. Working even harder once it was obtained turning nothing into something. It all went to my head slowly but surely and I began to think I was better than those around me, eventually even looking down upon them. I had an illusion of my own self worth, all the hard work and perseverance it took me to get to where I was, was lost. My younger self who had no ego or cloud of self importance would scoff at the imbecile I had become. Just as I thought I was on top of the world, one frivolous lawsuit and it was all gone.

Unsure of what to do and which path I should take I took some time alone to deeply think about what I should do next for myself. After a couple month period of self-reflecting it came to me, which is how I ended up writing this article. After some self-imposed humility of my own trying to figure out my next move, it hit me. It was time to go back to school. Putting my personal ego aside, I now am a full-time college student after a 15 year hiatus. It seemed like a daunting task at first how can someone like me go back to college, I thought. I now spend the majority of my days in classes with people 15 to 20 years younger than I am. Not only have I learned more about education in general I now consider myself to have grown from the inside.


“Humility is a journey that takes you on a path to discover what it means to be human and how you can leave the world better than you found it.” When you are in a crossroads or unsure of what to do, or starting to get to you full of yourself just think : What would Keanu do?


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