Self Respect Over Ego

July 05, 2018

When life requires a leap of faith do you feel that your immortal, untouchable or do you feel you believe in yourself enough to have the confidence to overcome the fear? The thing about that question is that; both will get you to the other side but when you get there and look back are you going to be proud or ashamed. As much as being immortal sounds nice, mortality is probably one of the only things stopping us from becoming egotistical assholes. It might be easy to fill up on ego but have a bit of self respect, it goes further than you might think.

“To acquire true self power you have to feel beneath no one, be immune to criticism and be fearless.”

— Deepak Chopra

I just finished reading “Self Power” a book by Deepak Chopra and even though there people sceptical of his words there is a sense of “mind over matter” that lays between the lines. It’s that “mind over matter” that i found intriguing for an artists career. We all know what the artists ego looks like because it’s usually a snippet of them on the news or on the internet saying something crazy in an interview (shout out to Ye). But you don’t always see the side of the creator that has enough self respect to not react to the things that people or critics might say or do.

This isn’t to say having an ego is a bad thing, no harm in being a little cocky every now and then. Staying focused on your end game is most important but how you get there says a lot about the kind of person you are. Would you want to be friends with someone who walks over people and uses them for personal or professional gain? If so then you better hope there’s is honor amongst thieves. Because you might be crushing it, but if you make more enemies than friends you’ll also find that it gets harder and harder to stay on top.

If that’s not the kind of people you connect with then think about the kind of relationships you want to make. Don’t go burning bridges worried they might do the same to you and if they do just remember it’s their loss, not yours. Sure, maybe it takes you a couple more years, but at least you get to spend it in good company instead of looking over your shoulder. Be beneath no one, proactive not reactive and fearless in your relations.