13 Signs You’re Breaking Free From An Ego Trap

1. You don’t see yourself as too spiritual or too good for this world.

You know you’re a flawed human being and there’s no such thing as being so pure and angelic enough to ascend the world that it excuses you from interacting with people, buying material goods, eating, having fun, and just being a human in general. You don’t believe that you’re so spiritually superior to others that you can’t connect with them or empathize with them at all.

2. You don’t engage in vitriolic debates or prove that you’re right.

Even when you agree with one side more, you don’t engage in arguments that are only fueled by hate for the opposing side because you don’t see the point in arguing when people just want to prove that those with different beliefs are “always wrong” without making any effort to speak civilly or work together to find solutions.

3. You no longer seek to outdo the people you used to be jealous of.

You don’t abuse yourself into working harder than you need to because you understand that you function best when you’re going at your own pace and doing the few things that are important to you. You understand that the point of life is to live it in the best way you can, not work faster or harder than people who are on a different path from yours.

4. Your ambitions are smaller yet more meaningful to you.

You spend more time working on your goals and you’ve stopped talking so much about how grand your dreams are for the future. You’re still ambitious, but your ambitions have gotten smaller, more realistic, and more aligned with how you want your life to feel, rather than what you want others to perceive it as.

5. You don’t judge people for how they dealt with difficult circumstances that you haven’t faced.

You wisely note that you don’t know the whole story of someone’s suffering and you can’t judge them for making mistakes or reacting the way they did when they faced something that you haven’t faced yourself. You’re more understanding of why they did what they did to cope with difficult life situations.

6. Your goals no longer entail “being the world’s hero,” “having a high-paying job,” or “being famous.”

As a teenager, you probably wanted to do something extraordinary just so you can feel better about yourself after your parents and peers said you weren’t good enough. However, you’ve let go of these childish dreams of saving the world, making a lot of money, and being a popular star. Instead, you’re working on creating a life that feels best for you, regardless of how anticlimactic it might look because you don’t care about living for other people’s praise.

7. You’ve completely given up on working hard to prove people wrong.

Instead, you’re focused on working hard for your own security, wellbeing, and satisfaction. Anything else, especially pursuing success for the sake of getting back at those that belittled you, is pointless and irrelevant.

8. You communicate to connect with others, not to impress them.

Your speech is simpler and rooted in genuine connection. You want people to feel understood, not berated or made to feel like they’re beneath you. You’ve stopped using fancy words and convoluted phrasings to make yourself seem more intelligent than you actually are.

9. You don’t pretend to be more enlightened than other people.

You like what you like, you believe what you believe (even when it’s very simple), and you do what you do without forcing yourself to uphold your fabricated enlightened persona. You allow yourself to have fun, be wild, and not take yourself so seriously.

10. You’ve stopped scrutinizing others’ lifestyle choices.

You know that being judgmental about all the little things other people do can only keep you trapped in a cycle of bitterness and resentment, and this sucks out all the joy from living your own life and focusing on yourself.

11. You don’t view your life as more meaningful than anyone else’s.

You might be passionate about certain life philosophies and healthy habits, but you don’t use those things to prove that you’re a “deeper” or “more meaningful” person than everyone else. You pursue wellness for your own happiness and comfort, not because you want to treat a wounded ego.

12. You no longer view yourself as a victim to society.

You’ve come to realize how detrimental it is to believe that you’re more deserving of opportunities and success just because of how lonely, awkward, ugly, and ostracized you were while growing up. Even though you still don’t love or accept society’s unrealistic standards, you spend more time cultivating yourself from within, putting your best foot forward, sharing your gifts, and improving your skills, instead of just whining about how unfair society is.

13. You’re happier with leaving other people alone and working on yourself.

You don’t need constant validation from others nor do you judge others’ choices because you’re perfectly happy living your own life, staying in your own lane, allowing yourself to love what you love, and pursuing what’s best for you and your future.

https://thoughtcatalog.com/lark-morrigan/2019/01/13-signs-youre-breaking-free-from-an-ego-trap/

Just wow.

eddie wrote:Just wow.

14. You stop acting like Walter Mitty.

15. You stop being jealous of others just because they have achieved more that you.

Someone didnt read 1-13.

Maddog wrote:Someone didnt read 1-13.

Perhaps, the one who ignored #13.

16. People who constantly willy wave are not yet free.

Syl wrote:16. People who constantly willy wave are not yet free.

Yeah, really.

Wish I could wave my Willy, I can't bleeding find it now !

nicko wrote:Wish I could wave my Willy, I can't bleeding find it now !

Have you thought back to the last place you left it?

nicko wrote:Wish I could wave my Willy, I can't bleeding find it now !

Hahahahahahahaha. You always crack me up Nicko.

So...any other opinions on ego?

eddie wrote:So...any other opinions on ego?

Got any pictures?

Maddog wrote:

eddie wrote:So...any other opinions on ego?

Got any pictures?

No darling. Do you need pictures? Of course I understand your sarcasm but sarcasm stops a discussion and is rather time-wasting.

Southerners are frightened of big willies.

Nobody breaks free from ego

Every person that looks in the mirror is based on ego

Every person that buys clothes, based on how it will look good on them, is ego

Every person that wears contact lenses is based on ego

Those who buy sunglasses, based on how good it will make them look, is based on ego

When a person styles their hair, is based on ego

When people show off their bodies, is based on ego

When people tell people of something good they have done, is based on ego

When they tell people about anything new they buy for themselves, is based on ego

When people claim they do not have an ego, is based on ego

I could go on the list is endless, but nobody can break free of ego, as they consciously and subconsciously do this all the time.

What the article should have argued off is around what is an unhealthy ego, compared to a healthy ego.

As what is important for our well being and self worth is a healthy ego.

Example:
A healthy ego is being confident and an unhealthy ego is being over confident/arrogant
A healthy ego is feeling good about how you look and unhealthy ego is thinking you look better than others

Hence you have to look at this as whether something is a positive ego or whether something is a negative ego

Many of the major psychological theorists spoke of the intrinsic human strivings for personal power and autonomy, as a universal ego drive that is not only normal, but a healthy goal – and intrinsically connected to relationship goals. This and other core strivings, or emotion-drives, are universal motivators of human behavior.

What makes a healthy ego essential to your personal and relational happiness? In a nutshell a healthy ego is foremost an ability to regulate painful emotions rooted in anger and fear.

eddie wrote:So...any other opinions on ego?

Yeah, but the OP assumes we all start off with a big ego and well done for those who are changing.

I was brought up to believe I was as good as anyone else, which I know to be true....the flip side of that is you also believe you are no better than others, which sort of keeps the ego a fairly respectable size.

I have never had a big ego, so it didn't need adjusting, and if that sounds egotistical.....tough.

eddie wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Got any pictures?

No darling. Do you need pictures? Of course I understand your sarcasm but sarcasm stops a discussion and is rather time-wasting.

No responses sorta kills a discussion too.

Even a sarcastic response moves the thread back to the top.

You're welcome.

Maddog wrote:

eddie wrote:

No darling. Do you need pictures? Of course I understand your sarcasm but sarcasm stops a discussion and is rather time-wasting.

No responses sorta kills a discussion too.

Even a sarcastic response moves the thread back to the top.

You're welcome.  

Unfortunately Red, you never have a response. Always a continuation of your snarky, bullshite arguments.

Did you ever learn anything, and want to share it? You have no content. You seem to need an adversary, or you're just a bland, cold pizza.

Maddog wrote:

No? I thot not.

eddie wrote:So...any other opinions on ego?

I've got an opinion. I think that your ego is the right size when you can have your opinions (recognising, of course, that they're only your opinions, not universal laws), and be humble enough to actively listen to people with opposing opinions to your own patiently, without simply thinking about what you're going to say next.

If you have no ego, you welcome opinions that contradict your own. You listen with an open mind, trying to understand, with no agenda besides learning.

If you listen to someone who disagrees with you and you still don't agree, nothing wrong with that. We all have the right to our own opinions, after all.

But if you dismiss views you don't agree with simply because you don't agree with them, you have an ego problem.

Ben Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:So...any other opinions on ego?

I've got an opinion. I think that your ego is the right size when you can have your opinions (recognising, of course, that they're only your opinions, not universal laws), and be humble enough to actively listen to people with opposing opinions to your own patiently, without simply thinking about what you're going to say next.

If you have no ego, you welcome opinions that contradict your own. You listen with an open mind, trying to understand, with no agenda besides learning.

If you listen to someone who disagrees with you and you still don't agree, nothing wrong with that. We all have the right to our own opinions, after all.

But if you dismiss views you don't agree with simply because you don't agree with them, you have an ego problem.

Nobody breaks free from ego

Every person that looks in the mirror is based on ego

Every person that buys clothes, based on how it will look good on them, is ego

Every person that wears contact lenses is based on ego

Those who buy sunglasses, based on how good it will make them look, is based on ego

When a person styles their hair, is based on ego

When people show off their bodies, is based on ego

When people tell people of something good they have done, is based on ego

When they tell people about anything new they buy for themselves, is based on ego

When people claim they do not have an ego, is based on ego

I could go on the list is endless, but nobody can break free of ego, as they consciously and subconsciously do this all the time.

What the article should have argued off is around what is an unhealthy ego, compared to a healthy ego.

As what is important for our well being and self worth is a healthy ego.

Example:
A healthy ego is being confident and an unhealthy ego is being over confident/arrogant
A healthy ego is feeling good about how you look and unhealthy ego is thinking you look better than others

Hence you have to look at this as whether something is a positive ego or whether something is a negative ego

Many of the major psychological theorists spoke of the intrinsic human strivings for personal power and autonomy, as a universal ego drive that is not only normal, but a healthy goal – and intrinsically connected to relationship goals. This and other core strivings, or emotion-drives, are universal motivators of human behavior.

What makes a healthy ego essential to your personal and relational happiness? In a nutshell a healthy ego is foremost an ability to regulate painful emotions rooted in anger and fear.