How to be Successful When Your Ego is in the Way

Understanding Our Ego

recently, I was listening to a podcast highlighting the importance of understanding our ego. before learning what the ego is, I would always think of it as overconfidence. that isn’t quite the right definition in this context. as humans, our minds are equipt to protect us. the way we process things and react is a part of our conscious minds that are triggered when danger arises.

this system in our brain is so detailed. it warns us of danger any time we step out of our comfort zones, but sometimes this can actually be harmful. we’ve been stepping out of our comfort zones since the moment we entered this world. learning to walk and fall in the process, getting a bad grade on our test, learning that we need to study more, making mistakes, and learning from them are all ways we learned from our ego. while our ego protects us from feeling discomfort, it doesn’t know the difference between good and bad discomfort, preventing us from learning and moving toward growth.

Understanding Intuition

if our ego is constantly trying to protect us, how do we know when it’s preventing us from good discomfort? This is where our intuition comes into play. our intuition is a part of our unconscious mind that often takes the form of a passion or calling in life. it has no fear and is only guided by positive energy trying to guide us towards exploring something new. but as this is a part of our unconscious minds, it is much more difficult to control and it becomes so easy to lose sight of it.

The balance between the two

often, the ego overtakes our intuition. there can be many reasons for this, but a large one is that we’ve been fueling it our whole lives. each time we let our ego stop us from doing something we have a calling toward, we are teaching our minds that the ego is in charge. while sometimes this can be good in times of danger, it prevents us from listening to our intentions and experiencing growth.

using intuition to follow our passions

the most productive way to follow our passions is to listen to our intuition. our ego will always be under the surface trying to trick us out of it, but creating a habit of ignoring that teaches it to take a step back more often. to create this habit, we just go for it. what have you been having a calling or curiosity to do but you just can’t seem to take the next step? what have you been held back from being you’re worried about what others will say, how it will affect you, or anything else?

maybe you’ve even taken steps toward your goal but you still have this idea deep down that you’re not going to succeed. I heard once, that you are what you think. it doesn’t seem to make sense, but it has so much truth to it. when we tell ourselves we won’t succeed, we won’t. when we tell ourselves we will and truly believe it, we naturally take the steps towards doing so.

so step out of your comfort zone. you can even start small- go dance in the rain when people may judge, go start that business even when you have no idea what you’re doing.

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