This Is How You Get Tricked by Your Ego

"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are"

-Naval Ravikant

The Ego is a powerful part of our consciousness.

It is incredibly useful to us, especially when it comes to self-protection or navigating us through the world.

But it’s not all fun!

There are numerous ways it can get in our way, often to our detriment.

Let's take a look at how gently our ego tricks us into living in an illusion.

Ego as an obstacle

We all know that feeling of setting a goal in our mind, for instance, getting promoted, or having that one dream body.

Here, as in many situations, the ego gets in the way of achieving those exact goals.

Over time, one imagines more and more what it would be like to live a life in exactly that position, with your desired attributes. In your head, the ego places you exactly where you want to be.

The problem is, “ego placement” ensures that you don’t take the necessary steps to reach your goal.

In your head and your imagination, you are the person you want to be, but you have accomplished nothing that transforms you into this individual.

This is simply the arrogance that your ego brings with it that makes you live in this world of illusion. This is one of the main reasons why you do not reach your desired goal.

We evaluate others according to their successes and defeats or in short, their actions. However, we evaluate ourselves mostly according to our intentions.

Tension is where your ego puts you out of pure arrogance.

But not just entirely out of arrogance. Maybe it is your mind that recognizes your potential and thinks, if you would live the ideal life, this is who you could be.

Don’t get me wrong, your ego is not fully evil, it protects you and wants you to feel comfortable in many different ways.

But, it is easy and deceitful to slip into the world of illusions precisely because our ego likes to put up a wall that serves as self-protection.

It is important to understand this phenomenon so that you can confront yourself, in case it happens again.

A simple example.

A while ago, I was in hustle mode.

For a couple of months,

• I woke up almost every day at 5 AM
• Right after that, I went for a 30–40 minute run
• I took my supplements and went to class.

In the afternoon,

• I went to the gym
• And I had football practice (4–5 times a week)

This was my routine during my semester.

Additionally, I consumed a lot of books and generated a mindset that made me realize so much about myself, my environment, and the people that shaped my perception.

When hanging out with friends, that weren’t on the same mission as I was, I, or better said, my ego, began to judge these people.

I thought of myself as someone that has it all figured out and I was one of the few that would actually put effort into working toward the person that I aspired to be.

Unfortunately, that was completely counterintuitive.

This judgment didn’t bring me into this position in the first place. It was my will to get better, me being humble and focusing on myself.

After this semester, I traveled back to Germany and quickly fell into old habits. I wasn’t working out as much, I didn’t wake up early and I neglected my reading habit.

However, in my mind, I was still this person who would wake up when everyone was asleep and I’d still be that individual that would constantly strive to get better.

Looking at my actions, I wasn’t this person anymore.

I was occasionally great, but not consistently good.

This was me during a specific time. But my behavior afterward wasn’t reflecting any of these attributes.

This is what I mean by living in an illusion.

It’s your ego

It plays tricks in your mind and lets you believe things about yourself that you’re not.

It is a trap that is so well-disguised that it is not only hard to see, but it is also hard to get out of, should the realization not occur.

Self-reflection is the key to staying on track and coming closer to the person that you aspire to be.

Also, realizing that you’re probably not going to reach the “tension” state at all times, is vital.

You are in a “relaxation” state, constantly wandering around while having successes, and failures that transform into lessons.