Beliefs, Habits and the Ego

 Whew, that title is a mouthfull isn't it?
Been doing A LOT of reading during the Covid pandemic and I have come to some conclusions about self-help and who we really are.  Lots more than just one blog post but to start I want to address those things that I always talk about in my Personal Development classes that I have taught for years and add some of the newer things that I have learned this past year.
First of all let me give you the authors that I have read up to this moment in time.  I have been a follower of Mike Dooley, Tony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, as well as others including my research into Hawaiian spiritualism.  Lately I have been reading Eckhart Tolle and Debbie Ford as well as having some readings done and research into the whole Human Design phenomena.
I love quotes so here are the quotes that led to this blog post:
Your beliefs become your thoughts.
Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your values.
Your values become your destiny.      attributed to Gandhi
It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.     attributed to B. Franklin
I have taught for years that what we think about is what we become and that our habits become us as well as the fact that our beliefs shade how we look at the world.  Our beliefs begin the cycle as in the quote above, but where do our beliefs come from?
Many, if not all, of our beliefs are learned.  We learn from our parents, our teachers, our peers, the books we read and our experiences in life.  But how many of our beliefs are actual truths.  We can look at history to see how beliefs have played out over time when an entire group of people is led to believe something that is not true in fact!
AND, our beliefs about certain things - life, love, money, people, success - are what create the habits that we continue to use every day.  If you think that money is the root of all evil (not the actual Biblical quote by the way) then maybe you will have a hard time charging the true price for a service you offer in your business or think that having financial success is a bad thing.  If that is true then you may be self-sabatoging your own goals for your business or employment opportunities.
So, on to EGO!  Most people think of ego as the definition of I, the who I am used in psychoanalysis.  Or, someone with a big ego who has a large image of their self-importance.  Or, a persons self-image or self importance as in - their ego was wounded by that remark.  In Philosophy the ego comprises that whole person meaning their physical body and their soul.  And in Ethnic studies, ethnology,  the ego is a generalisation or central reference of a group of people, organizational structure or their kinship.
Ego comes from our beliefs and thoughts about who we are and it is the ego part of our brain that creates our words and actions and ultimately our habits and values.  Our ego is what is "in our head" telling us how we should act in a given situation and then creates that definition of who we are - good, bad or indifferent.  If we "think" we know more than another person or group of people we then act in a different way from if we are just learning something for the first time in a classroom situation.  Of course those people who think they already know what a teacher is teaching will act in aa different way in the classroom situation.
The ego that puts thought in our head is sometimes the "voice" that needs to be turned off so that we can really appreciate life and move in the direction of our goals.  Many of my goals have been stifled because of that voice in my head that has said, "You are not good enough" or "You don't know enough" or "no one will want to learn anything from you".
Take some time after reading this and review how those thoughts may have played on in your life AND where those thoughts actually came from to begin with.