Are you Arrogant Enough?
I think humility is overrated.
All too often, self-imposed limitations born from a lack of self-belief are allowed to thrive in the name of humility.
Don't get too big for your britches. Don't fly too close to the sun. Don't promise anything you can't deliver. Stay nice and warm and comfortable inside your bubble, and let your echo chamber rock you to sleep at night.
The problem that few want to recognize is that nobody grows in an echo chamber. If people don't challenge themselves and their beliefs and reach just a little bit higher than they were told they could, how would they ever know if those limits were set properly?
Who gets to set those limits anyway?
Let me be clear. I don't believe unchecked ego is a good thing. Unbridled avarice (though having a lovely ring to it) will probably cost you more relationships in the long run than it earns you. However, I think humility for humility's sake is just as dangerous.
There comes a time when you need to look around you, assess what you're doing relative to others, and decide if you can do better.
I'm not talking about the houses people live in, the cars they drive, the clothes they wear—that’s the unchecked ego part. I'm talking about the work they're doing, the value they're creating, the messages they're conveying.
Can you do better? Do you want to? Would your community benefit from you leveling up?
Those are the questions you need to ask yourself regularly.
Are you arrogant enough to answer them?
Are you arrogant enough to believe that someone can do better?
Are you arrogant enough to believe that you are that person?
Are you just arrogant enough to believe that your community will benefit when you raise the bar?
Someone has to be. If not you, then who?
I remember hearing Jocko Willink on a podcast talking about not taking days off, because he has too much he wants to do. Days where he doesn’t get anything done feel like wasted opportunities to him.
I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t take any time off. I just wonder if your purpose is so important that you can’t stop. Not because you have a deadline. Not because someone expects it from you and there’s a paycheck on the line. But because your life is more fulfilled with it than without it.
A purpose like that has some arrogance behind it. The arrogance to smash through barriers and goals. The arrogance to go further than you thought you could and do things you didn’t think you’d do. The arrogance to question your limits.
Are you arrogant enough to ignore your own self-imposed limits? Are you arrogant enough to move forward without a defined path? Are you arrogant enough to be curious about where you could end up instead of worrying about when you'll get there?
I encourage you to be arrogant enough to know you're moving in the right direction, even if you don't have a predetermined destination.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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