I was listening to a podcast yesterday – for long-term success, it is important to remain humble, embrace humility.  The speaker warned that the moment you begin to feel or think that you are better than others is the moment you step onto the road with a dead end.

In my life, lucky me, there are always the ones who will let me know when it is time to get off my high horse.

For example, on one random morning, I got dressed after the breakfast. I walked down the stairs, ready to take on the day. I was ready to be my best, do my best, give my best and receive my best. Like a lion, I was going to walk into the office with the posture of an army general, with the imaginary crown on the head high, my killer abs tight, my buttocks sucked in like a boss.

My hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, my make up was flawless – in a natural yet powerful way. I was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt. To top it all off, to me look like the most awesome human being, over the outfit I wore this elegant gray/purple cashmere poncho. The wardrobe choices, I thought, were a crucial part of the presentation.

I practiced that winners’ walk down the stairs, buttocks clenched, feeling tight. There were my offsprings, at the bottom of the stairs– tidied up, brushed to shine, putting on their school shoes. My 8-year-old son looked up at me.

“Wow, Mom, I really like the way you look in this outfit! You look beautiful.”

“Thanks, babe. I do look great,” I said, feeling now totally unbreakable, and tightened the buttocks even more. I had not even exited the premises yet, and someone had already noticed my powerful, yet beautiful, presence. I was going to make the day my bitch!

But my son was not done.

“I really like how you hung that blanket on yourself!”

The elegant poncho …. Right, it’s technically a blanket or more like a throw on a Lazy-Boy.

That one sentence kicked me off my high-horse in a second.

I still held my buttocks tight and head high, despite the laughter. I still thought I looked great, as great as I could despite the “blanket.” I still thought I was going to own that day, despite the fall from the high-horse. But gone were the bitch, the lion, and the wardrobe.

That innocent comment brought me right down to where I was supposed to be – two feet on the ground, looking my friends, colleagues, and challenges straight in the eyes, and not straight down at them.

The fastest and most gentle way to remind yourself of humility is to laugh at yourself and with yourself. We are all great, we are all fun, we all have something to teach others.