What comes to mind when you hear the term ego? Most folks dub this a negative word that means someone full of themselves, but your ego is your center of awareness and identity. It’s what helps you stay in touch with your body, thoughts, and emotions.
Sure, it’s about how you express yourself to the world around you, but it’s what helps you form your personality and how your brain structures your identity. Within your ego is the formation of your ideas, your thought processes, and your perceptions of life.
The ego is closely tied with your self-esteem and how you view your self-worth. Someone with a healthy ego will positively look at themselves, whereas someone with a negative ego will view themselves poorly.
An inflated ego can get you in trouble, especially if you tend to be a bit narcissistic in nature. However, having a large ego can be beneficial as it gives you the moxie you need to get ahead in the workforce, and it gives you the boost required to believe in yourself even when no one else does.
Ten Ways To Boost Your Ego
If you tend to have a poor view of yourself, you need to learn to gain an inflated ego to get you through life. According to the National Library of Medicine, ego enhancement can be done by using a step-by-step approach. No, you don’t need to be self-centered or self-absorbed, but you need to know your worth and value.
Assume you have a used car to sell. Would you sell that car for $5,000 without even knowing its worth? You would find out the automobile’s value before you listed it for sale, as you wouldn’t want to shortchange yourself.
That car might be worth $8,000, and you would be out all that money. So, if you don’t want to cut yourself short on selling a car, why do you cut yourself short on the big things that really matter?
If you lack confidence in your abilities, your worth, and your value as a human being, then each day, you’re hurting your overall self-worth. Thankfully, there are ways to get the inflated ego you need to get through life, and developing some simple habits can change your life.
1. Speak Positively to and About Yourself
Enough with being so hard on yourself. It’s time you start speaking to yourself as someone who knows their worth. Rather than beating yourself up over things you could have or should have done better, why not praise yourself for all the things you’ve done right?
You need to encourage and support yourself just like you do those around you. Try pulling out some positive affirmations to start each day.
2. Stay In Your Lane
One way to boost or have an inflated ego is to stop comparing yourself to those around you. How many times have you driven down the highway and were jealous of the car next to you? Quit comparing yourself to those next to you and be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
You might not have the sport’s car you want with all the bells and whistles, but you have a nice sedan that has AC and a good stereo. Stay in your lane, and stop being overly concerned about what’s going on next to you. Be proud of the things that you’ve accomplished and where you are in life.
3. Improve Self-Confidence by Giving Back
Nothing in this world feels better than to give to others. Remember the Golden Rule; well, putting this practice into use can change everything. If you want an improved level of self-confidence, then start by giving back.
Plus, the Universe rewards those who are kind and good to others, and it will make you feel amazing to know you’re doing what you can to help those in need.
4. Don’t Expect Perfection
Do you know anyone in this world who is perfect? Even the sainted Mother Teresa made mistakes. So why do you expect yourself to be so flawless when everyone around you hasn’t achieved sainthood yet?
Life is hard, and there is no way that you’re going to get everything right along the way. Sure, it’s okay to have a pity party occasionally, but you need to acknowledge your mistakes, learn lessons from them, and move on.
5. Make Sure Others Hear Your Voice
You’ve got to speak up in this world if you want to be heard. How many times have you asked your partner or your children to speak up because you couldn’t hear what they were saying? Chances are they were mumbling or weren’t speaking loud enough for you to get the message.
Wow, it’s powerful to consider how many times you were overlooked for a job promotion or some other advancement in life because you weren’t heard. The person with the inflated ego stands right up and makes their request and opinions known. How can you ever get ahead if people can’t hear what you have to say?
6. Pace Yourself
Running is a fascinating sport. While it seems relatively straightforward, it requires endurance and talent. If you bust out of the gate using all the energy you have, then it won’t be long before you lag. However, if you start at a good pace, you won’t run out of steam.
Taking small steps each day will equal big rewards. Do you remember in school when your teacher gave you a significant size novel to read? Your first thought was to panic that there was no way you could accomplish this task.
However, you had to change your mindset and pace yourself to complete the assignment. If you had 600 pages to reed and 30 days to do it, then you should break it down into small, manageable bits. If you were to read twenty pages a day, then you would complete the book. The feeling of accomplishment at the end of the 30 days would be great.
Now, if you try to read it all in a week, it’s going to be overwhelming for most. Pace yourself for success so that you’re winning and not failing.
7. Say No to Negativity
Negative talk and thought processes will only bring you down. When you surround yourself with positive things, then good things will happen. You have the power to speak things into existence.
8. Trust Your Instincts
Do you trust yourself? According to the National Library of Medicine, each person has an intuitive side to guide them through life. It’s this ability that lets you know something without having any conscious reasoning for this knowledge. You can think of it as an internal GPS that’s guiding you to where you need to be.
Learn to trust this instinct and inner voice to help you get ahead and avoid some mistakes.
9. Get Moving!
Remember Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion? Something that is in motion tends to stay in motion. How can you expect things to get done if you never act? You can improve your ego by putting your legs on your hopes and dreams.
How many times have you said things like:
• “I’ve always wanted to be a painter.”
• “I want to go back to school, but I don’t have time.”
• “My dream is to one day live on the beach.”
• “I want to be debt-free.”
Now, what are you doing to make these things happen? If you keep throwing these blanket statements out into the atmosphere without doing anything about them, then nothing will happen. However, if you get up and start moving, then you can have anything your heart desires. Imagine what it will do to your ego when you start accomplishing those things that seem to be impossible.
10. Let Go of the Baggage
When you board an airplane, the airlines require how much luggage you can carry. If you’re over the baggage limit, they will need you to pay more or lighten your load. It’s costly to overpack and take too much with you, and wow, what a profound concept for life.
Quit carrying around the regrets and hurts from years ago. It’s time to unpack your bags with all the stuff that’s weighing you down, as it costs you dearly. Pitch some of the junk you carry in your being that keeps you from getting where you need to go.
Final Thoughts on Having an Inflated Ego (in a Healthy Way!)
So many people confuse ego because it reminds them of the person with the big head. While an overinflated ego can undoubtedly come across the wrong way, it’s good to have a healthy one as it boosts you through life. If you don’t believe in yourself, then how will anyone else?
Much of the things you go through will require you to sell yourself. Imagine you sold vacuum cleaners for a living. How many would you sell if you didn’t like or believe in the product? You wouldn’t be phenomenally successful.
Now, what if you believed that this was the best vacuum on the market. You go into every home for a demonstration with enthusiasm and making them feel you had an inside secret to making their life easier? You would sell more vacuums than you can imagine.
It’s time to know your worth, sell yourself to the world around you, and accomplish your goals. An inflated ego and a boost of inner strength will help you, and it will keep you moving and shaking. Change the way you look at yourself, and it will change your entire life.