Humble Mindset: How a humble mindset leads to sustained success.

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By Duncan Anderson. To see all blogs click here.

Reading time: 3 mins


Summary: Minsky ‘Stability leads to instability, instability leads to stability.’ Success can lead to failure, failure can lead to success. 

  • Success is an intoxicant. 

    • Unchecked, success often leads to failure. 

    • Failure can lead to success… if you don’t give up!

    • Don’t get stuck in this cycle!

  • Hubris Mindset = Success that leads to failure. 

  • Humble Mindset = Success that leads to success. 

  • Thinking that it’s possible you might fail is one of the best strategies I know of to help with sustained success AKA a Humble Mindset. 

  • Jingle: Aspire to humility, not to greatness. 

    • Done well, aspiring to Humility = Sustained success AKA greatness

    • Aspiring to Greatness often = Hubris mindset = Fleeting success


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Details

Minsky: Stability leads to instability, instability leads to stability

Success is an intoxicant. Unchecked, success can lead to failure. 

  • Success can lead to failure. If you don’t give up, failure can lead to success. 

  • Don’t get stuck in this cycle. 

  • Hubris = Success that leads to failure. 

    • Success => Think you are better than you are (overconfidence) AKA Hubris Mindset => Take silly risk => Failure

  • Harmful Mindset * Determination => Success * Hubris Mindset => Failure * Harmful Mindset etc etc


Another version of Humble Mindset is ‘Innovator mindset’.

  • If you think you have got this you are often in big trouble = Hubris mindset

  • If you think you can’t make this work you are in big trouble = Harmful mindset

  • Humble Mindset = Success that leads to success

  • Success * Humble Mindset => Considered Confidence * Humble Mindset => Success => Considered Confidence * Humble Mindset etc etc.

  • Don’t think you can’t succeed at something (Harmful Mindset), don’t think you can definitely succeed at something (Hubris Mindset). Try to think you can succeed if you do things right (Humble Mindset).  

  • Overconfidence is a killer, underconfidence is a killer. 


Aspire to humility, not to greatness. 

  • A core strategy I see for greatness (AKA sustained success) is humility. To me aspiring to humility is upstream and a better strategy than aspiring to greatness. 

  • Aspiring to Humility => Sustained greatness

    • Aspiring to Humility => Success * Humble Mindset => Success * Humble mindset => Success * Humble mindset

  • Aspiring to greatness => Success to failure cycle (if lucky)

    • Aspiring to greatness => Success * Hubris Mindset => Failure * Harmful Mindset * Grit => Success * Hubris Mindset => Failure * Harmful Mindset etc etc. 

  • Success is an intoxicant, don’t get high on your own supply… as you might die!

Aristotle’s golden mean

If you only take away one thing

  • “You are never as good as you think you are on your best day, you are never as bad as you think you are on your worst day.” AKA don’t have a Hubris Mindset, don’t have a Harmful Mindset. 

  • Try to have a healthy respect for ego distortions and blind spots, try to have a healthy respect for the problem you are solving! Healthy respect = Humble Mindset!