We commonly utter the phrase, “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We are no strangers to political double-talk and hypocritical rhetoric, acknowledging that people with power will do whatever they can to maintain that power.

Politicians constantly bombard us with accounts of the successful, innovative policies that they have created in order to get us to vote for them. We bemoan the insincerity and self-aggrandizement of our leaders. We often wish that they would at least slightly puncture their inflated self-images and be a bit more “normal.”

But is having an accurate picture of oneself—or even just a good dose of humility—“normal?” Do we, as average citizens, recognize our own accomplishments for their true worth?

It seems that in order to survive in the American system, especially in the competitive professional and academic arenas, one must outwardly demonstrate his or her worth in order to get ahead. We are expected to proudly list our numerous achievements and leadership roles, talking about ourselves ad nauseam, in hopes of being accepted to an exclusive school or position.

So what happened to humility? When we were younger, we were taught not to be haughty or overly prideful—not to show off what we have, be it something easily attainable or arduously realized. Many philosophical and religious texts throughout history have focused on the virtue of humility, and if not on its virtue then at least on the need to resist exaggerating our accomplishments.

Yet despite the fact that we admit to the importance of personal modesty, we nevertheless seem to boast about our every success to whatever audience we can muster. We are forced to inflate our experiences so that they look impressive to potential employers or admissions directions, thereby making it impossible to be humble in our self-presentation.

If we had a true sense of the relative significance (or insignificance) of our accomplishments, however, the concept of humility would no longer be necessary in our lives. Humility is a conscious action. It implicitly assumes that our actions are laudable, for it requires us to downplay what we find to be inherently valuable. Thus, if we were able to accurately judge our accomplishments, we would perhaps see that they are not really as noteworthy as we hold them to be.

Our conceptions of our personal successes tend to focus on the small, comparatively unimportant steps in our life’s journey without taking into consideration the bigger picture. While each step may be recognized as a positive motion, it must be viewed in context as being only a pace closer to a greater achievement. We should not feel pride for every task completed. Some accomplishments are more significant than others and deserve to be acknowledged as such. By maintaining an accurate understanding of the worth of our actions, we will be constantly driven to achieve our goals so that we may experience delight in their realizations.

Now this does not necessarily mean that we should not take pride in fulfilling any smaller goals, for they do indeed serve an essential purpose of advancing our objectives. We must only be wary that we do not inflate our achievements. In this way, we will not lose sight of the big picture or, more importantly, create an unrealistic sense of self-worth.

However, given that we must learn to navigate the American system, we are not permitted to provide an honest account of our activities. To succeed in the rat race, we must boast about our fairly insignificant accomplishments and market our experiences as finely cultivated skills.

Perhaps our truest selves—those that we may not even wish to personally acknowledge given their insignificance—must be kept in a back pocket, away from the corrupting influences of the dreaded job market and the intimidating eyes of selection committees. Perhaps they must always be carried along to propel our grounded, level-headed actions.