10 Ways to Diminish Ego

In this post you will read about 10 effective ways to get in control of your ego and diminish it. Some steps will instantly diminish your ego, some will take time. However all of them are capable of reducing the ego and revealing your true inner self. Here are the ten ways to reduce your ego: 1. Remain quiet when someone insults you. It’s hard to not respond in a negative way when someone insults you, but that’s what’s required if you want to diminish your ego. 2. Do a job which you consider to be inferior or which is uncomfortable. For one or more days try a job like waitressing, direct sales or something along those lines. Besides diminishing your ego, jobs like that will teach you valuable lessons, thus you will be better equipped for your future. 3. The attitude of non-judgement. When you look at anything, especially people, avoid classifying them as good, bad, strange, beautiful and so on. This attitude of non-judgement will let you see the life as it really is and not how your ego shows it to you. 4. No gossiping. Gossiping is such an addictive and easy activity (most such destructive activities are, when you think about it!) and it makes our ego grow limitlessly. To end the gossiping habit, know that as you do to others, others will do to you. 5. Stop mentally replaying versions of events favourable to you. This is one of the most favourite activities of the mind, once you become conscious of its content. When you become aware that your mind is creating past events with imagination, focus on the present moment. Also know that such imaginary versions of events make you think that you are always right, when that’s not always the case. So stopping such mental activity will let you see situations in a more realistic light. 6. Replace possessiveness with unconditional love. If you feel like you are possessive towards some person, focus your mind on oneness and compassion to all beings. This will ease your ego’s grab on that person and arise the feeling of unconditional love in you. Unconditional love is already in you, it’s just been covered by the ego. 7. Simplify your life. Ego loves complexity. Soul responds to simplicity. So simplify your life from the food you eat to the interior of your home. Also engage in simple activities to get reacquainted with the beauty of life. Choose sometimes to gaze at flowers instead of going to a party; Go for a walk in the forest instead of watching TV. 8. Listen to your heart and not mind. In the Western world since our childhood weare taught to favour a rational mind over an emotional heart. But mind, the tool of the ego, is far from rational when you become aware of its contents during meditation. It’s mainly engaged in the creation of imaginary situations, replaying the past, speculating about the future and continuously brooding over things that made you angry, were enjoyable to you or arose another intense emotion in you. Ignore this insane and restless ego-inflating mind and turn your attention to the heart – the seat of your soul. 9. Uproot hatred and preferences. When you hate someone, and when you favour some peo0ple over others, you keep affirming that you are separate from the world and thus your ego keeps you locked in a cold cell. Turn your attention to the cycles ofnature and animals working together (such as ants and bees). This will help you arise the feeling of oneness and order beyond different forms and a seeming chaos of this reality. 10. Withdraw your awareness from the world into your inner self. To give a strong blow to your ego you shouldget into the habit of withdrawing into your being when you would otherwise become more aware of the external world. For example, when someone hurts you, don’t runto your friend to tell about it or call your mum. Instead sit with this feeling of hurt until it teaches you valuable lessons. When you are angry, don’t direct this anger into a being - expel it through throwing pillows or something like that and then sit and examinewhere this anger came from. Whatever happens to you, therefore, which causes you to want to delve into the illusionary wold, learn to go deep into yourself instead. Now as the list of ego diminishing ways is finished, I strongly encourage you to select one step out of these ten and use it. After all, reading about how to diminish your ego onlymakes you aware of this possibility. Only taking steps towards this goal will bring the pleasant fruits.