Ego: The False Mask We All Wear

That belief still thinks you’re a younger child, and your quirky little expressions are about to be silenced, shutdown, or shamed by others. It remembers how that made you feel small, stupid, or unimportant. It also remembers feeling more accepted, liked, or loved when you behaved in ways others preferred.

So to keep you ‘protected’ from being corrected, questioned, or ridiculed — fear created the Ego. That's not a judgement, nor is it just the idea of a person having a 'big ego' or showing off. The Ego is whatever false version of yourself you developed to please others, be accepted, get attention, shrink, hide, justify, or avoid conflict.

That Ego still lives inside you as an adult — otherwise known as the fear of rejection, conflict, being left out, ridicule, embarrassment, standing out (introversion), not being noticed (extroversion), being yourself, or being different.

This is where you'll find yourself thinking, “I really want to do this but:

• What if it upsets people? (Drama)

• My partner doesn’t want me to do it (Control)

• Everybody says you have to do this way instead (Peer pressure)

• It’s just not the way it’s normally done (Conformity)

• It’s too different, people won’t like it (Judgement)

• Others want to do this instead, even though I don't want to (Obligation)

• They 'made me' do this instead (Resentment)

• What if I fail, let others down, or embarrass myself? (Embarrassment)

• What if people don’t like me for it? (Rejection)

• They hated it, said it was a stupid idea, so I’m not doing it (Ridicule)

• And so on ...”

Some of that is unavoidable. We can’t always do what we want. We all have to play certain roles, honour our responsibilities, and respect the rules of society.

But fear will allow others to dictate your direction, make choices for you, or even walk all over you. You shrink your brilliance to avoid standing out. You’ll feel ‘posting remorse’ when you make things public. You’ll try and make everything perfect, so you’re not judged. You’ll perform more for the ‘applause’, rather than creative expression. You’ll suppress your point of view.

You’ll subconsciously limit your creativity. You’ll conform rather than innovate. You’ll worry too much about what others think. You'll limit your goals and vision so they're not 'too big'. You’ll choose every word with worry, and over-monitor your responses. You’ll wear whatever mask helps you fit in to whatever group.

You’ll end up being someone you’re not, losing yourself in the process, and living a purpose that’s ‘not yours but theirs’ — which will quietly contribute to silent resentment and depression, as well as introversion, extroversion, insecurity, or ego.

Our Level 2 workshop has an extremely simple but very powerful way to overcome Ego, so you find yourself again, me more of it, and let go of the mask.