Reasons Being Humble is Good For Your Mental Health

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5 Reasons Being Humble is Good for Your Mental Health

Why does humility get such a bad rap? Too often, we put down the idea of someone humble, simply because we think of them as weak. After all, if you had any real accomplishments, or were worth knowing, you’d tell us…right?

What’s so amazing about humble people is just how much more confident and even competent they are. It takes a strong person to back off and let their actions speak louder than their words. Only someone with a great deal of confidence can keep quiet about their achievements. It’s the weak who have to puff themselves up to appear strong.

With these thoughts in mind, being humble sounds pretty impressive. Now add this thought: it’s actually good for your mental health to be humble. Here’s how:

There’s Less Anxiety About the End

Not everyone likes to be aware of their own mortality. Humble people find death to be not quite so scary. Frequently they are quite good at keeping this in perspective, making them much calmer when the time comes to ‘shuffle off this mortal coil.’

They Have Better Willpower

Why is it when you’re obsessed with yourself you can’t quite get enough of anything? Somehow the ability to put others first also means you’re better able to put their needs first over yours. This has the odd effect of making humble people better at exercising self-control, a trait proven by multiple studies.

You Perform Better Cognitively

Here’s another area where various studies have proven a lot of benefits to being humble. Both in academic and work performance, humble people do better across the board than people who aren’t humble. While no one seems quite sure why this is, the data doesn’t lie. Humble people just think better.

Humble People are More Tolerant

When you’re not so concerned with yourself, you start to let go of the idea that anyone owes you anything. In fact, it becomes quite clear you’re not above anyone else. This means humble people tend to be more at peace in their own minds and experience less prejudice across the board.

They Experience More Love

Kind of going hand in hand with the last item, those who are tolerant and more at peace with others, display more love toward their partners, leading to better, more loving relationships. It might even be argued humble people are simply better at love as they seem to experience more solid relationships, which last longer.