In this moment, who are you taking yourself to be?
Do you think of yourself as an introvert while believing that introverts can’t succeed at public speaking? Do you think of yourself as a female, with an associated belief that women can’t have as much influence in the world as men? Or perhaps you are a spiritual person who believes that spiritual people can’t have financial abundance.
The limiting belief that most diminishes our impact in the world is who we take ourselves to be. Any identity you take as real is tied to a large number of beliefs about who you are and who you are not.
The ego identity is ultimately a cluster of concepts that include memories, roles, beliefs and behaviors. You take yourself to be a certain something or someone and therefore you have certain beliefs that cause you to follow certain behaviors.
Your ego is constructed from the past in order to ensure the survival of the physical body. It’s important to not belittle the function of the ego because we cannot accomplish much without physical well-being! Problems only arise when we let the ego’s world become the whole story, because the ego defines itself by dividing what is “me” from what is “not me” based on a very narrow set of experiences.
Accepting the limitations set by our ego will prevent us from taking the risks and undergoing the personal transformation we need in order to live our life purpose and make a difference in the world. When you move beyond your familiar self-concepts you can achieve what seemed impossible before.
The point is not that self-concepts are bad in and of themselves. They do give us a framework to take shortcuts in moving about our day. Rather, as you transform yourself in service of transforming the world, the familiar self-concepts you’ve used your entire life become outdated and are in need of an upgrade.
Take a moment right now to notice what identities you are using as you operate in the world. Here are some examples to get you started: Male versus female, teacher versus student, victim versus bully, US Citizen versus European versus Australian, liberal versus conservative, healthy versus sick person, young versus old person.
What are you telling yourself about who you are right now? What unnecessary limits are you reinforcing in this way?
Then, consciously choose a larger framework that serves the life purpose that calls you. Consider a broader, more inclusive self-concept. Or you may want to get curious about what it means to leave yourself undefined in one or more areas.
Experiment and have fun with this!
