“You’re either humble or you’re about to be.”

2026-01-01

“You’re either humble or you’re about to be.” Every new year, I come back to this thought. Life has a way of teaching humility when we forget it ourselves. A lost deal, a product that does not land as we expected, a conversation with a team member who tells us a hard truth. These moments are rarely pleasant, but they are very effective teachers. I have been humbled more times than I can count as a founder and builder. Each time I thought I had it “figured out,” reality reminded me that I was only seeing part of the picture. Humility is not about thinking less of myself. It is about being honest about what I know, what I do not know, and what I still need to learn. When I stay humble:

I listen more to customers instead of defending my assumptions.
I ask better questions instead of rushing to be the one with the answers.
I give my team space to challenge ideas, including my own.
I adjust faster when the data tells a different story than my intuition. Humility is not weakness. It is awareness. It keeps me open to growth, even when things are going well. It protects me from my own ego when success starts to whisper that I am the exception. And it makes it easier to admit mistakes early, while they are still small and reversible. As we start this new year, I am asking myself a simple question: Do I want to learn through curiosity, or do I want to wait until life forces a lesson on me? Choosing humility early is almost always cheaper than being humbled later. What about you? What is one moment from last year that humbled you, and how is it shaping your decisions this year? hashtag # leadership hashtag # startups hashtag # entrepreneurship hashtag # personalgrowth hashtag # selfawareness hashtag # ai hashtag # founderlife