Today’s Book of the Day is Humble – Free Yourself From the Traps of a Narcissistic World, written by Daryl Van Tongeren in 2022 and published by The Experiment.
Daryl Van Tongeren is an associate professor of psychology at Hope College. He is the author of more than 160 scholarly articles, the coauthor of The Courage to Suffer (Templeton Press, 2020), and actually is the associate editor for the Journal of Positive Psychology.
I have chosen this book as I often deal with people stuck into an apparently endless loop of hyper self-assertiveness and presumptions. This kind of behavior has many negative outcomes on team building and positive relationships both in personal and professional life.
So, the reason why I wanted to find a book specifically dedicated to humility was to learn about the best strategies to incorporate this concept into one’s self-improvement and growth journey.
And in his book, Daryl Van Tongeren shows the readers that humility has many benefits and brings several advantages, as it can help us wholeheartedly accept who we really are, build more authentic and deeper relationships, and also set us free to achieve more positive results in our lives.
One of the key assumptions of the book is to explain that humility is not modesty, Furthermore, humility is a key aspect of self-confidence, positivity, and emotional intelligence.
The book is filled with anecdotes that help the reader build a toolset of practical, concrete tips on how to become aware of humility, how to foster it, and how to use it. All this while becoming more prone to receive feedback from others and less hostile when it comes to negative outcomes.
So, humility is a key asset to help us build confidence, start believing and trusting our true strengths while accepting our limitations, and grow a mindset that will let us grow toward our goals and achievements.
One extremely interesting outcome of being humble is also that our relationships will improve and this can have a positive ripple effect on the environment around us, by growing awareness of our behavior in a society where we have to live with other people, respecting them.
As we live in a world where narcissism is growing at a concerning rate and where a false idea of assertiveness seems to be winning in companies and social media, where getting noticed is considered the key aspect to “being someone”, working on humility is something we all should do.
I would say that this book promotes, finally, the idea that we, as a society, should try to help one another, to grow all together. And all this while recognizing that we have limits, doubts, and fears. Also, by admitting that we all have to learn, every day of our life and that having connections with others based on mutual understanding and respect is the only way to foster progress for everyone.
So, I would recommend this book to everyone, today, so as to remember that we are all different in being all equal.
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