Today’s post is the second in a pair regarding how to let go of your ego. In the first post, I went over places the ego presents itself. Now, I will cover simple ways to let go of your ego and live from your soul.
Transcending your ego
Despite the harsh light I cast it in, the ego is not something that should just be done away with. It’s part of people’s lives, and more importantly, it becomes part of their growth.
Letting go of the ego is less about fighting and more about transcending. To rise above the needs and calls of the ego to find freedom.
Awareness
As with any type of personal change, rising about your ego requires self-awareness.
First, you need to be aware of what goes on in your head and how that translates to your actions. Once you tune into that, you will recognize opportunities for improvement and change.
To be aware is to engage with and think about your thoughts, beliefs, and motivations. This can be a moment-to-moment thing or something larger and overarching. Get in the habit of building pauses into your day to introduce awareness.
Creating awareness gives you the ability to direct your internal state. A conscious understanding of yourself pulls you out of a default mode and puts you into a state to take informed action.
Shifts
After cultivating awareness, you are primed to make a few key shifts that will enable you to move beyond the calls of your ego.
Identities
Is your identity fueled by others or from within?
If you attach your identity to something outside your control, like a role or title granted to you by others or even others’ perceptions of you, you’ll find yourself living in an egoic mode.
Try attaching your identities to values or virtues that you can consistently and reliably control and uphold. This way, there is nothing to protect your ego from externally.
When you grant yourself control of your identity, you’re free to live with personal authority and freedom. The authenticity that flows from this is a direct extension of your soul.
Goals
As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s easy to get caught up in goals set for your ego’s sake.
It’s important to be ambitious and pursue grand things. Make sure, however, that your pursuits are fulfilling. The best goals are extensions of your deeper purpose, fueled by your soul’s desire to contribute.
By letting status and money be your objectives, you find yourself on a slippery slope toward greed. Your ego can drive you toward destinations that look cool but are empty.
Think about your passions and deeper interests. Set goals that push you to share your value with the world so everybody can benefit. Let money and fame be byproducts.
In aiming to contribute rather than compete, you’ll be able to look beyond your ego.
Always be intentional
The reason that awareness is so important is because it drives intention.
There’s no better place to be intentional than with your attitude. The way you approach each moment affects the way you feel.
Your ego can drive you to be reactive, competitive, and defensive. These modes can become second nature, but changing behaviors is possible.
As I said, the first step is to get good at using awareness to identify opportunities to improve. You can do that in areas such as your identities and goals. Better yet, you can also harness the power of your awareness to make changes that carry over into every moment.
Individual moments compound to paint the larger picture. Controlling and choosing your intention in each moment puts you on an increasingly wonderful trajectory.
How to let go of your ego in 4 steps:
- practice introspective awareness
- take control of your identity
- set purposeful goals
- curate meaningful intention
Thank you so much for reading! Please share with others who may benefit! 🙂
