Never Settle For Less

"You think so highly of yourself"

"How do you get that big head in the room?"

"I’ve never met anybody as cocky as you"

"Oh my god you’re just so arrogant"

"Your confidence level is totally unwarranted"

I hear this all the time so I feel compelled to write about it today.  My  ego, self-confidence, confidence, or foolish stupidity (depending on who you ask) is a constant conversation amongst those that don’t really know me.

Nothing is wrong with believing in yourself.  Let me repeat that.  Nothing is wrong with believing in yourself.  Even if your level of confidence is "unreasonable", "unwarranted",  "irrational", or otherwise unexplainable to the masses its still yours.  You should live your life feeling like you can climb buildings and accomplish whatever you set your mind on.  As long as your ego doesn’t harm others you’re doing just fine.

What does Ego really mean?

The word ego is simply defined as

“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”

I read that as simply “how you feel about yourself”. Your ego (or lack thereof) is a reflection of how you view yourself in this world.  If you think you’re a peanut then your attitude and actions will reflect that.  Likewise if you feel like a giant then your attitude will reflect that.  I can’t tell anyone how to feel about themselves but I’d much rather be a giant than a peanut.  That’s just my personal preference.

Wouldn’t you rather feel great about yourself and your abilities rather than just average?

Pros and Cons

I won’t pretend like everything about having a sky high ego is great. Here is a list of pros and cons.

CONS

• Not everyone will appreciate it
• People will misinterpret your actions
• Timid people will alienate you

PROS

• You feel great about yourself
• You tackle things you otherwise wouldn’t consider
• You can fail at things and not drown in your own sorrow
• You can bring the best out of others
• You can push yourself to the limit physically, emotionally, and mentally and be excited about it
• You enjoy your life and the experiences to come

The pros outweigh the cons .

New Acronym for EGO –> Energy  Generating Outcomes

After sitting back and thinking about ego even further I’ve come up with an acronym for it.

Energy

Generating

Outcomes

Here’s what that means.  It takes a good amount of confidence or ego to achieve things in life.  When I started out my efforts to lose weight the only thing I really had was the determination to lose weight.  That determination was fueled by my “over sized” ego.  When I decided to become a better speaker I knew I had to step up in Toastmasters.  After 32 speeches I’m 10 times better than I was 2 years ago.  That decision was also fueled by my ego.  Thats 2 life altering decisions I’ve made that were fueled by my “over sized”, “wild”, and “outrageous” ego. They’ve done nothing but make my life better.

Think about this.  The president (no matter who he is) has a healthy ego.  The CEO of the company you work for has a sizable ego. When you think about it, everyone that we admire in this society has to have a decent sized ego to reach the pinnacles of their careers.

So now here’s the question.  How much Energy Generates Outcomes for you?

Conclusion

Ego is not a bad thing.  Especially when it generates a positive energy and does good things for all.  Go about your day and feel good about yourself.  It’s the only way to go.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Training, Motivation, Personal Development, Success, Beliefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.