Do you suffer from pride? When someone offers to help you, are you very selective because you see them as inferior? Are you quick to compare yourself to their abilities, talents or skills. Do you find fault in others to elevate your opinion of yourself? Do you have enough self-awareness to recognize this imperfection in yourself? Is this an area that you would like to change?

There was a time when I thought I was not smart enough. I think this is as a result of being called stupid by a classmate in 5th Grade. Since that time I have tried to prove him wrong. When I felt inferior to others my emotions would race back to that classroom. Whenever I was in a room full of people that I perceived as more intelligent my gut would churn, my body got stiff and my mouth would shut. If I am being completely honest, I am cognizant of this even today. My problem was I had an inferiority complex. My teacher, Mr. Trantum was influential in helping me deal with this problem but that is another story. Thanks Mr. Trantum!

Mr. Trantum

Conversely, when I was among a group of people whom I thought intellectually inferior I would start making a checklist of their faults. I became very picky with authority figures. Once, in an accounting class, the professor was explaining a method of depreciation called sum-of-the-digits. When he offered a formula I had to raise my hand to one up him by providing a better formula. That didn’t bode well for my final grade!

If you suffer from the imperfection of pride I would ask you to answer some of the following questions:

1. Why do you suppose your behavior is like this?
2. What happened in your life that you need to address to be a more rounded person?
3. Have you lost or damaged a relationship with someone close to you and don’t know why?
4. How would you like to overcome this imperfection?
5. What have you tried in the past?
6. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high) how would you rate your humility? Your teach-ability?
7. Do you have a realistic view of yourself?
8. Regarding your self talk: do you think about yourself often? Too much?

Are you ready to be more self-aware? Are you ready to take the necessary action to become the person you have always dreamed of being? If not now, when?