jump to navigation

Utilizing ego management to achieve balance and harmony in personal growth and development March 20, 2012

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Ego Management.
Tags: , , , , , , ,
add a comment

We are all trying, through controlling or managing ego, to achieve a sense of equilibrium in our focussed efforts towards personal development and growth, while at the same time dealing with the ups and downs of daily life, or what is sometimes referred to as “the human condition.”

Whatever term you use, be it ego management, controlling ego,  managing ego, or positive thinking, our efforts are directed towards some sort of management system for our mind, so that the sometimes unrealistically positive coloring of the ego, or the ego’s equally unrealistic negative coloring, does not interfere with our conscious efforts towards attainable self-improvement goals.

As a life-long follower of personal growth and development information and theories I have found that ego management, or maintaining mental balance, is essential  in my own personal development because, more often than not, the emotions summoned by the ego can lead to poor choices in actions based the emotions of negativity, fear, or conversely, unwarranted and unrealistic optimism.

This WordPress blog on personal development potential is, in part, a means for me to examine my own emotions and ideas critically and think effectively about the challenges inherent in any program of personal growth and development.  Because of certain circumstances in my life, I had let my blog remain dormant for several years, but recently revived it and also restarted a more structured approach to personal growth and development in my life.

As part of this process of rediscovery, which naturally involves managing the ego and the ego’s efforts to focus on past negativity and fears of the future, I have been reading other blogs on the topic of personal growth and seeing how people are dealing with their life circumstances.  Because of free platforms such as WordPress.com and Blogger.com, many people with good ideas on personal development are writing about their journeys of discovery.

A considerable number of people writing these blogs are managing their lives under very difficult circumstances, including serious illness, depression, and also the grieving process. In a way, at least in my interpretation, they are, in effect, using their blogging as a means of managing their egos and their mindset in a positive way and giving the rest of us the benefit of their experiences, their emotional and intellectual journey, and their hopes for a positive future for themselves and for the readers of their blogs. These blog authors are showing great courage and generosity of spirit in sharing their emotions with us. They are also giving us a lot of good ideas for positive personal growth and development.

On a number of these blogs that I have come across, the authors relate their often very difficult circumstances and state openly that they are using their blogs, at least in part,  to help them deal with their life situations and to hopefully help others who are also facing trying times in their lives.  These authors are on a courageous and public journey of personal development.

Their motives and actions are to be commended.

The role of managing the ego in enabling the Law of Attraction and influencing positive personal development March 14, 2012

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Ego Management.
Tags: , , , , , , ,
add a comment

In recent years there has been a lot discussion about the dynamics of our minds and our thought processes, or ego management, and the concept that improper channelling of our thoughts can lead to negative results regarding workings of the Law of Attraction.

If we simplify the concepts of managing our ego, controlling our ego, or regarding our ego as a management challenge; and also simplify the concept of the Law of Attracting to stating that positive thoughts attract positive results and negative thoughts produce negative results, it is clear that our ego or simply the workings of our mind can have a definite influence on some outcomes in our lives.

Although the concept of our thoughts or our egos influencing life outcomes is as old as the written word, and is a key component of wisdom writing from ancient times to the present, it is only recently that the idea has been codified with the words the “Law of Attraction.”

There is some thinking that, by taking advantage of the Law of Attraction, if we can only think abundance and not scarcity, for example, then we can attract abundance in our lives. It all seems simple, mystical and magical.

However, many critics of the popular concept of the Law of Attraction note that all the ego management we can muster, and all the positive thoughts we can produce are not enough to solve many of the serious problems we face in our lives, and which the people of the world face in their day-to-day struggles to survive and prosper.

I am not saying that ego management, ego control , mind control, or thought control applied or implemented towards the Law of Attraction does not work, but I do believe that it works differently than the simple and popularized conception of: abundance  thinking = attraction of abundance; or scarcity thinking = attraction of scarcity.

I believe that The Law of Attraction does exist, but in a more complex way than has been popularized, and I also think there should be recognition that there is also a Law of Repelling, or, stated in more familiar terms,  a Law of Non-Attraction.  It is our conscious decisions in managing our mind, our thinking, or our ego that energizes these laws, or principles; coupled with positive actions.

My own experience with the Law of Attraction and my so-called Law of Non-Attraction or “Law of Repelling“ is that if we take positive actions, such as working on specific goals in a program of personal development and start to have success with various components in our personal growth program, we are likely to have a more positive personality. By achieving successes through managing our ego to focus on setting goals and achieving them, we start to recognize additional opportunities for growth and can capitalize on them.

The Law of Attraction might say that we are “attracting” these opportunities, but what is really happening is that we are allowing these opportunities to present themselves to an open, accepting mind, and to an ego that is confident and not fearful of change.

Similarly, if we allow our ego to run rampant with negativity, do not attempt to accomplish any personal growth gaols and thereby create a positive mental attitude, we will not likely  be in a position to recognize opportunities as they manifest, and in effect could say that the Law of Non-Attraction is operating.

As another example, if we are facing significant financial problems and start to manage our ego or mind to begin looking at possible solutions and setting realistic goals to make or save extra money, instead of worrying about our money difficulties, then we are more likely to recognize opportunities in the financial sphere when they present themselves.  Proponents of the everyday interpretation of the Law of Attraction might say we are attracting“ those opportunities.

Conversely, if we focus our ego or mind on scarcity and continuously worry about the bad financial circumstances we are in, we are not likely to be in a position to seize chances to improve our finances when favourable circumstances arise. The negative focus of our ego or mindset is then blinding us to opportunity. Proponents of the usual interpretation of the Law of attraction would say that this is a demonstration of scarcity thinking = scarcity attraction.