Exploit Your Ego

Most of the people consider ego an evil thing. But, in my opinion, ego is a valuable tool that might help us reach greater heights in our lives. As long as we have control over something, its "goodness" or "evilness" depends on us: the users.

Most of us reject our egos, and try to throw them away. But, have you ever considered using them? Like, are you ultra-sure that egos cannot be used for good deeds? Have you ever thought of exploiting them? I think it's high time we started exploiting these resources that we have by default.

For better understanding, I'd like to classify "ego" into positive ego, and negative ego.

Negative Ego

This is the ego that most people know and hate. It is the "default" ego that people have. Unaltered and unattended, it will get in the way of your life, and make things harder. It will make people go blind, and fool them into thinking that their egotistical thought process is the only thing that is right. It won't allow you to see the actual truth, and will fabricate your life.

Some of the negative ego can be used manually and cautiously for your own growth. That is, you can change the negative ego into positive ego. But there is also negative ego that can't be used for constructive purposes, and has to be eliminated.

Positive Ego

I'd like to call the exploitable ego "positive ego," because this ego can make us better, if used right. For example, I use my ego to wake up early in the morning. Of course, the moment I hear that despicable alarm, I'd think of snoozing and sleeping in. But, that's when my ego kick-starter questions come to play.

"You promised you'll be waking up early. Is this all you can do? Is that how weak you are? You can't even keep your word?"

After asking myself these ego-triggering questions, I have no choice but to wake up, kicking off my laziness. My pride is on the line, after all.

I also use my ego to face difficult situations. When I'm in a situation where I'm facing the things I'm scared of, or when I'm given an unbelievably hard task that would make me want to back away and give up, I go like, "Okay, I accept your challenge!" and I use my ego to stick to my words. "I accepted the challenge, so I can't back away now," I say to myself, and I do whatever it was that I was afraid to do.

Side note: I started saying "I accept your challenge" ever since I played Dynasty Warriors 4: Hyper, because the character I choose always says this line before dueling the enemy generals. And from that day, it has been my way of motivating myself to face off powerful, hard-to-defeat opponents (situations).

I basically use my arrogance and stubbornness to my benefit.

This kind of practice will help you to destroy your old habits, and form new habits. The reason why most people can't build a new habit so easily is that they don't have enough motivation or drive to follow up their new routine. But, if you reinforce it with your ego, then you'll have the power to do it!

So, instead of sealing away all of your egos, try to use them. Exploit them to your advantage. Those are just tools, and since they are tools, there is no one way to use them. Get creative. Use your ego the most efficient way you can imagine!

Take control of your egos. Take control of your actions, your beliefs, and your life in its entirety. As long as you don't let them rule over you, your life can become whatever you want to be.

I'd like to conclude by saying:

Don't let your knowledge blind you. Analyze it yourself. Ego is not always evil, especially if you control it. So, instead of abandoning it, use it as an instrument to make yourself a better life.