Are you giving off an arrogant vibe?
Arrogance – The state of being arrogant. Having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s importance or abilities.
Arrogant people think they know best or are the best. They may feel like other people simply cannot do what they do with the same success. Their perception tends to be that their worldview is superior and correct, and often have a hard time challenging it.
They often don’t even realize they are arrogant, because, to them, they’re just right.
But they might start to notice when friends, family, and colleagues all start to avoid them like the plague. Because let’s face it, no one can stand being around arrogant people, not even other arrogant people themselves.
If you’re riding the slippery slope where confidence meets arrogance, there’s still time to change course. You’ve landed here, so that’s a good sign. If you don’t want to be known (and rejected) for being an arrogant, superior-minded, know-it-all, say goodbye to these 8 behaviors before it’s too late.
1. Refusing to admit when you’re wrong.
Humble people accept and admit when they’re wrong. Arrogant people don’t.
When you make a mistake, don’t try to avoid responsibility. Don’t brush it off, try to push it onto someone else, or pretend it didn’t happen.
Own it. Say to yourself and the people affected, “I realize that I’m wrong and I’d like to make it right. What can I do to fix this?”
2. Taking yourself too seriously.
Everyone has flaws and quirks. Sometimes they’re funny. Sometimes we do foolish things by accident or because of a personality quirk that we have.
Being able to laugh at yourself and not take these quirks seriously shows humility and helps reduce feelings of overconfidence.
Plus, there are many people who bond over playfully giving each other a hard time. Just make sure it’s not mean-spirited or meant to hurt you.
The added benefit of learning to laugh at yourself is that you strip power from people who would use your mistakes or quirks as a way to harm you.
They may make a snide, hurtful comment, and it loses all of its punch if you can just shrug and laugh at it. Most people aren’t worth getting upset over.
3. Thinking you need to be the best at everything, every time.
Arrogance can be a byproduct of a need to feel like you are the best. But you’re not the best, not at everything.
You may be great, but you’re not the best. There’s always someone better out there.
Remind yourself that it’s okay not to be the best.
You’re allowed to have off-days, for things to not go right, to experience hurt, to need rest and relaxation.
Don’t spend your time beating yourself up when you’re not the best. Remind yourself that it’s okay to not always be perfect.
4. Needing to be right in every situation.
Arrogant people tend to think they are right most of the time and that their truth is the only truth that matters.
In reality, there are usually many truths with different facets of information. What you believe may be true, but only partially true or true without the proper context.
You don’t have to be right all the time. And you’re probably not going to be.
You’ve probably been wrong more than you realize, but arrogance tends to blind us to our own shortcomings.
Let other people be right. Not every battle is worth fighting. Sometimes you just have to smile and let things go.
5. Always being “in charge” or the leader of a group or activity.
An excellent way to be more humble is to serve under another person or as a less dominant member of a team.
Follow their lead and allow them to accomplish whatever task there is at hand so that you can see for yourself that other people can get results.
Don’t make suggestions unless you need to. And if you do make suggestions, let them be shot down if the lead doesn’t think that will work out. It’s okay if it doesn’t.
Don’t be surprised if this feels very uncomfortable. It’s difficult to relinquish control when you feel you need to do things yourself for them to turn out right.
But powering through it will help you.
6. Refusing to ask other people for help.
Asking another person for help is another way to defuse arrogance and promote humility. When you ask for help, you demonstrate that this other person may know a better way to accomplish the thing that you are working on.
It goes back to letting other people take the lead on matters that might not be your specialty.
And be sure to thank the person and give them credit if it’s due.
7. Holding back on compliments and praise.
Arrogant people tend to be in the habit of focusing on what makes them great and not so much on what makes other people great too.
So if you don’t want to get a rep for being a big-headed know it all, look for reasons to build the other people around you up. If they’re doing a great job, tell them that. If you’re impressed with what they’re doing, let them know.
Does their hair look great? Are they a snappy dresser? Do you like that thing they did? Tell them!
8. Assuming your success makes you somehow better or more worthy than others who are less fortunate.
It’s easy to get trapped into a cycle of thinking that a person is where they are at in life solely because of their own choices.
It can be tempting to think that the person you’re dealing with should have done as well as you, but you don’t know their circumstances or story.
Some people do everything right and still don’t manage to get ahead. Not everyone can win. And sometimes it’s down to luck and circumstances outside of one’s control.
Try to avoid judging other people who are not as successful or haven’t been able to succeed at what they tried.
9. Not knowing the difference between arrogance and confidence.
One word – humility.
Humility – a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness.
It’s the ability to accept that you can be wrong, that other people will be better than you at some things, that you are flawed and capable of making mistakes.
A confident person may think they are the best person for the job, but they are also willing to hear other people out or use their knowledge to help get results.
A confident person can admit when they’re wrong and apologize.
That doesn’t always feel good either. Sometimes it’s embarrassing or hurtful to have to admit when you’re wrong.
It’s just part of the cost of being wrong and mending whatever fences need fixing.
Fortunately, worthwhile people – the type of people that you will likely want in your life – will see and respect that.
Toxic and destructive people often look at an apology or being wrong as a weakness to be exploited.
This is something you’ll want to be aware of and ready for should it happen to you on your journey of self-growth.
The best way to handle it is to have firm boundaries that you enforce.
It’s okay to accept responsibility and the repercussions for a bad choice. It’s not okay to let anyone else shove their responsibilities and blame onto you.
Confidence itself is not bad. It’s good to be confident in your skills and abilities.
But arrogance often leads to overconfidence. It creates blind spots where you may not be able to see your own shortcomings or bad choices. Don’t become that person. Stay humble.
