In 2015, the LA Times published the results of a survey that analysed fear. Over 1,000 people participated in the study, which revealed that 31% of adults had a fear of failure. Nearly one in three people! That figure was even higher than the segment of Americans with arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. For a lot of people, potentially coming up short of a goal can be the crippling deterrent that prevents them from even taking the first step. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Humility has been lauded as a virtue in most world cultures and wisdom traditions. More recently, scientists have started to study humility, and they’re discovering its many benefits. “Psychologists have recently linked intellectual humility to a host of benefits: showing more persistence in the face of failure, holding less polarized beliefs and attitudes, and being received as warm and friendly by others,” writes Tyrone Sgambati in Greater Good.

Over the past three days, I have been participating in the John Maxwell Team (JMT) conference in Orlando, Florida. Learning from Dr. John Maxwell is always a positive “lid lifting” experience that inspires me to lead better starting with my self-leadership then to lead others to make the world a better place.