Ego Management: Focus on what you can control October 5, 2012
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Ego Management, Goal Setting and Realization.Tags: achieving goals, controlling ego, ego management, focussing, managing the ego, setting goals
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In the ongoing effort to manage or control our ego (that constantly chattering voice inside our head) we often spread ourselves too thin, and set up a path for failure, by tackling areas of our lives over which we have little or no control.
Instead, although it is difficult, we should look at our life situation analytically and make an effort to decide which areas of our overall life circumstances are within our power to change and which areas are beyond our ability to effect change.
There is a traditional prayer asking for the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, for courage to change the things we can, and for the wisdom to know the difference.
Being able to know the difference will take a lot of internal work for each of us, but it is key to success in calming that inner voice that wants us to look at every problem as being solvable by us.
Ego management: Envisaging our future April 24, 2012
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Ego Management.Tags: achieving goals, controlling ego, ego management, goal setting, managing the ego, personal development, self-improvement, visualization
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Understanding the necessity of controlling the ego, or managing the ego, is important if we are to create the future we want for ourselves in our personal development or self-improvement programs and goals.
The ego, which is not to be confused with simple egotism, can be thought of in many ways, or as having a number of diverse components, but it is often simply that voice in our head which is constantly chattering or thinking, either aloud or visually.
One of the keys to successful personal development, or self-improvement, is having a good grasp or appreciation of the importance of the present. The ego, in its tendency to constantly look both back and forward can interfere with this, particularly in the case of imagining our future.
If we are not careful in terms of managing or controlling the ego, efforts towards accomplishment in the present can be sabotaged by the ego’s daydreaming optimistically about the future.
Ironically, there is, therefore, a danger of subconsciously procrastinating personal development tasks in the present by thinking we are doing something concrete in the present by simply by thinking optimistically about getting things done in the future.
We can miss opportunities for achievement in the present because we are taking the easier path of visualization of success in the future. We should instead be focusing on the things that need to be done in the present to concretely create the future we want.
It’s something like creating an ambitious “to-do” list. Making the list gives us a sense of accomplishment, but nothing is going to happen unless we starting doing the items on the list right now.
Not tomorrow, not next week, but now.
Personal Development Ideas 