Ask a Blackbelt: How Does Ego Make You Lose?
Responded to by Mik Milman
"In a past article you talked about how ego can prevent you from growing as a person as well as with your game. I am a very humble person and hardly care about losing, but that said I don’t feel like I’m progressing."
I need to be clear, ego isn’t just responsible for people feeling cocky. It is essentially the mind’s notion of who or what you are. Similar to how someone with a cocky ego gets frustrated when confronted with reality, a person with a self view of not being tough or a winner could prevent them self from changing that perception. You have to remember that the way you view yourself, while often dictating your actions, is nothing but a perception developed over the course of your life. Children told they are ugly tend to think they are ugly. Children told they are clumsy tend to think that they are. Or perhaps somewhere along the line after losing at something you wrote yourself off and created a narrative that you’re no good. Self perception is a powerful thing and unfortunately reality matters less than perception for most. It is not easy to break down self imposed limitations created by your own mind, but with hard work you can.
So it may just be that your ego is protecting its perception of how it views itself. But if not, I recommend reading the article, Help I’ve Hit a Plateau, to help you overcome your rut.
