There’s something very interesting when a person of influence remarks ‘come on people, it’s just me’. Those words are a form of humility because when unpacked further, I believe the person is simply saying, ‘there is no need to treat me any differently, I just want the same treatment as everyone’.
My eyes were actually opened about this when I was watching an interview with a very popular music producer and DJ. He said some very powerful things to the talk show host which I believe were great nuggets of wisdom. He echoed that when his with people and sometimes people he grew around, and they just chilling, people will be shocked at how normal he is.
Shocked by their reaction, he would ask ‘what’s up?’ and they would respond to say ‘dude you are so and so, you are super successful’ and he would simply say ‘come on guys, it’s just me’.
I think his response is also tightly linked to his secret for success. He shared that when he creates and produces music he does so as a fan. He doesn’t create it with the objective of selling it to other people. His success stems from his love, it’s not only his fans that enjoy his music, but when he listens to it, he loves what he hears. It kind of cements that cliché we have all heard “do what you love and you will never have to work another day in your life.”
Carrying on with the ‘it’s just me’ undertone, he also mentioned that when he meets people and they get to know him, they always say ‘wow, you are so humble’ or when the media writes about him, they often echo that he is so successful and yet so humble. He said that they make it seem like; if he wasn’t as successful it wouldn’t matter that he is humble or not.
I really love that, because people often over-emphasise about how the influential need to be humble and for the rest of us it’s like well, it’s not that important. What keeps you humble is when you begin to separate what you do with who you are. We are obsessed with ‘making it big’ but there are many valuable lessons we can learn from the people who we perceive have made it big.
I was reminded about what my friend said when we were conceptualising PenTheVision, he asked ‘what do you want the blog to be about?’ And I kept saying ‘I, I, I’ and he said ‘remember, it’s not just about you, it’s about serving those that will read this’. I’m not completely there yet, but I try by all means to apply his advice when I sit down to pen the columns.
I observe people around me, I listen in on conversations and I share thoughts about what I believe people would love to read about and of course I write in a way that I know would enjoy reading.
The heart of the matter is this; I believe that when we have ‘it’s just me’ engraved in our hearts, it keeps us humble and we are fully able to spread kindness. Kindness doesn’t have to be huge; like giving someone money. But it can be as small as being fully present and listening when a person wants to share something, it could even be a really warm and sincere smile.
How many of us when we are in a position where we on the spot light and are constantly praised can simply say “come on people, it’s just me”.