# @chriswillx on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hekAXF0lK
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20104803-chriswillx-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/99170942b5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-04-03T15:04:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chris Williamson (@chriswillx) — https://gondola.cc/chriswillx

## Caption

Can You Survive Without An Ego?
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I was asked a question recently which really got me thinking. So here’s some thoughts…
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I’m sorry to tell you this, but if you do enough self-enquiry and strip away your ego, you will face an existential crisis.
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If you’ve deprogrammed the need for external validation or social approval, your fears of insufficiency, jealousy, envy, one-upmanship and everything else… You are left with nothing.
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You have to create your own meaning.
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This is liberating and terrifying.
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All those visceral emotions driven by the ego were useful when they got your ancestors out of bed 100,000 years ago.
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Even now, your desire to be noticed by that hot guy because it makes you feel valued, or the chip on your shoulder for never being popular in school, or your desperate need to achieve so other people will like you are all driven by the ego. The ego exists to keep you playing the game. It’s a motivator.
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Without it, you not only have to decide whether you want to play, but which game you even want to engage in.
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So… it’s hard. I get it.
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Stripping away the ego is the first step.
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Then you need to reintegrate the desire to perform and achieve.
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Not because you SHOULD, but because you CAN.
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You are enough.
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But you can be more.
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And life is not lived from the comfort of mediocrity.
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When you look back you want to see a life where you fulfilled your potential. Excellence, virtue, precision, making the most of the few minutes you have.
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Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
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So go and get it x
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#life #upgrade #zen #podcast #productivity #lifehacks #modernwisdom #optimisation #joerogan #interview #improve #selfcare #personaldevelopment

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## Tags

productivity, podcast, personaldevelopment, zen, interview, lifehacks, joerogan, improve, life, optimisation, upgrade, modernwisdom, selfcare

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