Ego is Destroying You
The 21st generation has it all: the highest drug usage, the highest depression rates, and the biggest egos by far.
Let’s get this straight: nobody enjoys being around somebody with a noticeable one unless their head is leaking cells.
What I find depressing is the modern-day aspirations for validation, and materialistic luxury (money, how fast your car is, how many of the opposite sex you attract, etc.)
All of these desires are fueled by ego.
- The kids in school who argue against the teacher — ego.
- The ‘TikTok influencer’ gym girl who claims a guy was stalking her after he peered over for 0.8 seconds — ego.
- The people who weigh 1/8 of the weight they’re trying to squat or deadlift and fail — ego (lifters).
This vice of a human trait has never been so rampant, and thus has never caused so many issues; it must be abolished.
The self-entitlement of the modern day must be replaced with the virtue of humility.
Humility got me out of many arguments and it can do the same for anyone.
Now in this article, I want to go over more on how ego affects us, and how to abolish it.
How Ego Burdens Us
Everywhere we go, our ego comes with us. This means that you are the only one capable and responsible for suppressing it.
Our ego is a mask over our true selves that we wear always.
It gives us a false sense of self-confidence and capability, and a desire to drown out all other thoughts and ideas but our own.
If people have an ego, how are they supposed to:
- Acknowledge feedback
- Be open to new opportunities
- Or relate to others when living with this fake identity?
What doesn’t help this situation is the modern-day culture obsessing over validation and flexing.
“How fast is your car?”
“What’s your snap score?”
“How many bitches you get?”
I’m tired of being asked these questions.
Often I wonder what 90% of the kids at my school are going to do with their life after high school because, as far as I can tell, they think that high school is life.
Aren’t they in for a surprise?
Anyway, we can receive praise on social media from hundreds to millions of people with a few clicks.
Don’t get me wrong, ego can occasionally grant something positive, but most of the time something negative.
Whether the rare reward from being egotistical is meaningful or serves no other purpose than to impress others is up to question.
Wrapping this section up, we now see how ego burdens us:
- It creates a fake identity of self-entitlement
- It creates a crippling desire for validation
- It attracts the wrong crowd
The Way To Abolish
With everything said on how ego does no good for ourselves or anyone around us (most of the time), we will now discuss how to abolish it for good.
Although this is what we all want, to live a life free without ego and be able to have acceptance and humility, this can’t be done, sort of.
Your ego can’t be abolished, removed, or forgotten until we perish.
It is a part of us that will always exist, and we must accept this.
Don’t forget, this doesn’t mean we can’t mitigate the control it has.
If you can learn the art of humility: to not compare yourself to others, obnoxiously gloat, and not view others as inferior, then people will respect you significantly more.
It isn’t easy to resist comparing yourself to peers when their li are being documented on social media.
An instance in which ego can get a hold of people is when they pay for followers. They are putting on a fake following for validation.
I may have done this once, but let us talk about something other than that.
Don’t let this be you — at least work for a following. *ahem @bode3161
Gaining control over your ego, rather than the other way around, is a matter of:
- Being humble
- Knowing when you’re acting out of purpose
- And knowing when you’re acting out of ego
Make unselfish, dedicated, creative, and wise actions.
A Story of Unchecked Ego in Action
One historical figure whose life was at the hands of their ego (literally) was the Emperor Caligula of Rome.
Caligula’s egotistical manifestations were not hard to notice.
He viewed himself as a god who earned divine honor ship.
He was greedy, in that he depleted the Roman treasury at the time for his benefit.
Additionally, he committed numerous acts of cruelty, and his infamous attack on Britain in 40 A.D. was perhaps his biggest ego-driven decision.
There was no reason to attack Britain, and this decision ultimately led more people to perceive Caligula as a tyrant.
Most influencers, in this sense, are tyrants. You can’t convince me otherwise.
All of this tension surrounding this leader was enough to earn Caligula a spot in a tomb, as he was assassinated by Praetorian members who sought nothing but the end of his rule.
This is just one example of ego going unchecked.
Be sure to check yours.
Conclusion
I’ve been pretty brief in describing the aspects of ego and why you should drop it, but I believe I’ve gotten the basic point across.
Having an ego is not something worth being proud of, and it really should be something that we all work to suppress.
We’ve learned that ego poses as nothing but:
- A fake identity (an unlikable one)
- And an unfulfilling gamble
That’s about all I have to say.
Thanks for reading.
I’ll see you in the next article.
