5 signs you may be living from your ego.

5 Signs my Ego/Survival mind has been activated.

Over the years I’ve experimented so many times with what it truly means to live from my heart and a place of love and I’ve discovered it’s definitely not a one-time certificate!

To be honest, I oscillate many times during the day in and out of living from my ego/survival mind (fear-based) and living from my heart (love-based).

The difference between who I am today, compared to who I was 10- 15 years ago, is that I am so much more consciously aware of when my ego has been activated and I know exactly what to do, to come back to love and living from my heart.

Every awareness has been a gift and has offered an opportunity to heal another part of myself.

Years ago, I would be living in a fear-based state for months and months on end and to be honest, this was also what happened when I was going through burnout.

Our ego/survival mind is here to protect us. It wants to keep our bodies alive and keep us safe. Therefore, the more compromised and more exhausted we become physically, the LOUDER the ego/survival mind gets.

This is what keeps us stuck in a hypervigilant, fight/flight state if we are not aware of it. (And can create a huge downward spiral into further fear, stress and complete exhaustion, as it is self-perpetuating.)

And that’s also what can cause us to get into extreme states of anxiousness, depression, stress, fear, lack, and scarcity, and focusing on everything that’s going wrong, rather than being able to focus on what’s great, or going right.

Understanding when your ego/survival mind has been activated is the first step to awareness, with this awareness, you can make a CONSCIOUS CHOICE, to come back to love.

Without this awareness, you may find that you become more and more fearful, more and more stressed, more and more reactive and defensive with others, and more and more drained and physically exhausted. This is why it’s so critically important to be aware of it.

Not to mention that our kids are constantly learning how to regulate our nervous system, so when we can come back to our hearts, reframe our thinking and regulate our nervous system, this is also what our kids get to learn.

This will impact your life and their life greatly, not only with their physical health and energy but also with their mental health and emotional well-being.

So the 5 biggest signs I notice in myself when my Ego/Survival mind has been activated are:

1. Reactive/Triggered: Any time I feel reactive with someone or something, I know my ego mind has been activated. Either through the current situation or a past trigger. I know it’s activated when my reaction seems extreme compared to the situation at hand.
2. Defensive: Any time I feel defensive towards what someone says, or even an idea, I know my ego is involved, it’s trying to guard against me being perceived as being wrong, or not being ok. In ultimate reality there is no right or wrong, good or bad, there are just events and consequences that either bring us more of what we want or more of what we don’t want, it’s only ever the ego mind that judges these as good, or bad, right or wrong.
3. Withdrawn: When I want to withdraw from the world, generally it’s because there is a sense of not being good enough. (Feeling a sense of shame) This is a malady of being human and living with our fear-based ego/survival mind and being able to overcome these beliefs and thoughts, truly lands me back in my heart so fast.
4. Justifying: Anytime I’m justifying anything with anyone, I know my ego/survival mind is trying to control the way I’m being perceived, so I can be seen as a “good and loving human”. This is different from genuinely clarifying an intention, or what you truly meant when miscommunication has occurred. Justifying comes with a defensive attitude and energy.
5. Judging/Criticizing: This is well and truly when my ego survival mind is activated. It doesn’t matter whether it’s judging or criticizing me, or someone or something else, it’s coming from my ego. I’ve even noticed my ego judging itself, for being judging!!

There are many more ways that our ego/survival mind shows up, but these are the main ones I’ve definitely observed in myself and also observed as patterns with the thousands of people I’ve worked with over the years. It’s very much a part of being human.

The best way I’ve honestly found in working with my ego, to come back to my heart is the Byron Katie work. You can find incredible resources at www.thework.com

I also share this process and how to apply it to yourself along with many other tools that I’ve found super powerful for myself and my 1:1 clients, in my 28-Day Mini Thrive Course.

Not only will it help you to identify the main ways that you perhaps judge yourself most harshly, but it will also give you the tools and processes, needed to overcome your meanest inner critic and inner judge.

Also understanding the key pieces needed to THRIVE in life, to feel great energetically and physically, to be able to set healthy boundaries and have great relationships, but to also know how to master your emotions.

It’s one of the most powerful courses I’ve put together with all of my favourite tools and processes that I’ve personally used to completely change and transform my life, but most importantly to heal my relationship with myself.

You can access it today by clicking the button below:

Join Now!

With Love and Blessings,

Sal x

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