Personal Development Ideas

Controlling the ego means controlling our mind March 7, 2012

Managing the ego as part of our personal development process need not be an overly complex psychological process if we look at the ego in a less clinical way than is often done in psychological writings on the ego.

Although there are myriad definitions of the ego and the  sub groups of ego components, we can best manage areas of our ego, such as anger, if we think of the ego as the mind, rather than a deep-seated area of the brain that is difficult to access, such as the workings of the subconscious.

Our efforts towards personal growth will seem more attainable if we realize that for the most part we are in control of our mind or ego, even though in many cases, trying to convince our mind or ego about something can be tough work. But it is do-able.

From a common-sense perspective we all have a good idea of what constitutes our mind. It is that area of our person, which, for example, decides to embark on a program of personal development or self-improvement, or any other conscious course of action.

Here is one definition of the ego which I think illustrates the point that ego management or ego control involves our free-will and is not bound by mysterious inner physic workings: “The ‘I’ or ‘self’ of any person; a person as thinking, feeling and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.”(1)

In this sense we can use our minds to successfully embark on any personal growth efforts requiring thinking. This makes matters of controlling the ego, or managing our ego, just that – matters of using our mind to control what we are thinking and to control how we are reacting to our thoughts.

The power of the mind can sometimes make it seem like an entity independent of ourselves. This is demonstrated by a number of experiences we have all had which show the power of the mind to almost have a will of its own:

“I just can’t get his rude comments out of my mind.” “That song keeps running around in my head.” “I can’t stop thinking about my financial problems.” “My mind keeps jumping from one thing to another and I can’t settle it down.”

However, with work, we can gain greater control of our mind, and thereby realize our potential through our efforts in personal development.

(1) Source: Dictionary.com