Written by Tanya Tsikkos, CEO
Tanya Tsikkos is an innovative jewelry designer who promotes mental health and wellbeing. COVID-19 left her with emotional challenges, and she found a way to cope and to improve her mental health with her jewelry creations and empowering messages.
Learn how to tame the ego's vanity, how to control its overprotectiveness and how to curb its fears and anxieties.
Sometimes, I would like to grab my ego by the shoulders and shake the hell out of her. She can be so darn judgmental, full of herself, and a bully. It takes a lot of strength to put her back in her box, but that's exactly what I do to better myself. I think it's extremely important to observe your ego sometimes because it can distance you from living in the moment, and it can be toxic to you and those around you.
Of course, I do understand that the ego is there to do a job - to protect and safeguard you. But most of the time it brings with it an unnecessary amount of worry, anxiety and stress, it can make you quite reactive to most situations, and it robs you of being present in the moment.
It stops you from embracing your time now, and keeps you locked away in fears of the past and frenzied predictions of the future. What a useless waste of energy!
Learn how to challenge your ego and take back control:
Become aware
When you notice that you might be complaining a lot more than usual, or that you are experiencing negative emotions, just stop for a moment and shake it out. Sounds bizarre I know, but it really works.
I found myself recently ruminating over the past and allowing my emotions to distort my sense of self. Not only did I feel regret for not having stood up for myself enough, but I also felt an uncomfortable need to blame others for the mistakes that I made. Once I became aware of how negative I was being with myself, I stopped in my tracks and just shook my whole body; I was at home at the time but if you are confident enough to do this in public, then you are a braver person than I am!
It was like a surge of energy had been restored to me. I felt renewed, as if I'd just been recharged and switched on again. Think of it as a kind of a dance. For a couple of minutes just shake your entire body from head to toe and imagine you are shaking off negative energy at the same time. Feel the freshness that comes to you afterwards, with a touch of zing that courses through your body. It really is electrifying!
Another simpler exercise to do is to imagine you are holding up a stop sign, when those negative emotions engulf you. Picture the clear large word 'STOP' in red and hold it up in your mind's eye whenever you need to balance your ego.
Let go and forgive
Consider practicing a little gratitude. Being grateful and appreciative of all that you already have and are is a strong step towards letting go and forgiving yourself and others. Acknowledging and embracing our imperfectly perfect self will calm the ego, and will allow for greater self-compassion and for positive self-work.
To separate yourself from your ego, you might find it helpful to write your thoughts and emotions out on paper. Really dig deep into how you are feeling and thinking in that moment. Once you've explored your emotions in this way, take your piece of paper, scrunch it up and throw it away in the bin (or burn it). This cathartic exercise will undoubtedly deeply cleanse you and is symbolic of getting rid of toxic emotions, and will clear the way for better living.
Select a new perspective
Choosing to come from a place of love will always serve you better. The ego has a clever way of projecting fear as truth, but if you choose to see things from a different angle, to be more compassionate towards anything you face, then your ego will have to surrender and soften its hold on you.
Challenge your thoughts and beliefs a little, and try being a little more loving towards them. Ask yourself if what you are thinking is reality or illusion. Can you back your thoughts up with fact, or are they coming from a place of fear?
More often than not, our actions are driven by our fears. These fears can cause the ego to spiral, and can end up feeding it the belief that it needs to stand guard, take over and control every situation.
I'm starting to recognize that my ego thinks she has to continuously step in to save me. But what she doesn't realize is that she's always in battle with herself.
Stop feeding your ego and giving it the power to control you. It's time to teach it how to work alongside you and become your friend, not your foe.
Tanya Tsikkos, CEO
Tanya Tsikkos is an innovative jewellery designer who promotes mental health and wellbeing. COVID-19 left her with emotional challenges, and she found a way to cope and to improve her mental health with her jewellery creations and empowering messages. She has since dedicated her life to helping others to always feel good and empowered . She is the CEO of EntityUK, an online fashion jewellery company, that combines jewellery with empowerment in each design. Her mission: To inspire, uplift and empower all, to live their best lives, with confidence and style!
