Stay Humble, Sit Down
That lyric has been playing in my head for months.
Not "Be humble, sit down" — but stay humble, sit down.
At first, I didn’t know why the wording mattered so much to me. I do now.
When “Humility” Is Used as a Weapon
I realized it while writing my podcast episode on character assassination: a lot of people in my life weren’t encouraging humility; they were trying to humble me.
There’s a difference.
True humility is internal. It’s grounded. It’s knowing who you are without needing to prove it.
Being humbled by others, especially repeatedly, is often about control. It’s about shrinking someone who refuses to live small.
When people say, “Be humble, sit down,” what they often mean is:
Stop thinking so big
Stop believing in yourself so loudly
Stop making us confront our own limitations
My Mindset Makes People Uncomfortable
I don’t live my life through limitations.
Even when I hit a wall, I don’t stop; I assess.
Can I go around it?
Can I climb over it?
Can I dismantle it?
If there’s a problem that can be solved, I solve it. If a move needs to be made, I make it.
That mindset makes insecure people uncomfortable.
Not because I’m arrogant.
But because my way of thinking forces them to confront the ways they’ve accepted less.
Resilience Isn’t Loud, It’s Relentless
If I had lived my life giving up, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
Resilience didn’t come from ease. It came from persistence.
From choosing myself again and again, even when people tried to convince me that wanting more was a flaw.
Some people mistake resilience for rebellion.
Some mistake confidence for ego.
Some mistake forward movement for disrespect.
But refusing to bow to obstacles isn’t arrogance, it’s survival.
Why People Try to “Humble” You
When people feel threatened by your growth, they rarely say it plainly.
Instead, they:
Create unnecessary obstacles
Question your intentions
Undermine your decisions
Frame your ambition as pride
The goal isn’t to teach you humility.
The goal is to make you feel how they feel, unsure, stuck, limited.
That’s not humility.
That’s projection.
Stay Humble, But Don’t Sit Down
I stay humble by knowing where I came from.
By honoring my journey.
By staying teachable, grounded, and self-aware.
But I will not sit down.
I will not accept someone else’s ceiling as my own.
I will not shrink to make others comfortable.
I will not apologize for decisive moves made for my betterment.
Staying humble doesn’t mean staying small.
It means standing firm, without losing yourself.
So when the world says,
“Be humble, sit down,”
I respond:
I’ll stay humble.
But I’m standing up.
