We sometimes let our ego lead our lives until it somehow destroys it. There’s a big difference between confidence and ego. Confidence is healthy, ego is destructive. There’s a famous expression: ‘Too much ego will kill your talent,’ but it will not only kill your talent, it will kill you career, your relationships and your happiness. Too much ego can actually ruin your life. Here’s why:

1. It makes you less compassionate. It makes you believe the worst in people and get defensive most of the time. It blinds you from seeing the bigger picture or giving the benefit of the doubt. It makes you think that people are personally attacking you instead of trying to understand where they’re coming from.

2. It pushes people away from you. It may attract a few wrong people but it pushes the right ones away from you. People want to be around those who lift them up, not those who tear them down or make others feel like they’re so much better than them. Too much ego can be a conversation killer and can get in the way of getting ahead in your career and your relationships.

3. It stops you from growing. Too much ego makes you stubborn and when you’re stubborn you don’t listen to other people or take their advice – people who may know better than you and are probably more experienced. Your ego could potentially hinder your success and you could end up getting lost if you keep rejecting any type of guidance you get.

4. It blocks love from coming into your life. When you don’t allow yourself to be vulnerable or risk facing rejection, you don’t take many risks or chances on love — chances that could turn your life around. When you’re always waiting for others to come to you, you’re going to miss out on amazing people or even worse alienate them.

5. It makes you irrational. When all you want to do is win or prove others wrong, you start acting in ways that are not very diplomatic or rational. You will always say and do things that you might regret if all you want to do is prove you’re right instead of trying to understand things from a logical standpoint.

6. It makes you competitive in an unhealthy way. It could make you want to harm others so you can be on top. It makes you not wish the best for someone else and it will make you less content with your life when you want to take what others have.

7. It makes you critical. Too much ego makes you criticize every one and complain about everything because they’re not up to your standards. That kind of attitude will not make you enjoy anything in life because you will never be satisfied if you keep trying to point out what’s wrong with the world.

8. It makes you greedy. Because you always want more and you want to win bigger. It’s good to be ambitious but when you become greedy you can take away everything you’ve ever worked hard for and you will never appreciate what you have when you have it.

9. It only adds more stress. When you’re always trying to be above everyone else and take everything as a direct hit to your self-worth, you will probably not be sleeping very well and you probably won’t have any peace when you’re always frustrated and anxious.

10. It kills your happiness. Your ego can take away so many good things in your life and pushes many loved ones away from you. Your ego will affect the way you live your life and you won’t be able to deal with the disappointments or the hardships in a healthy way; and disappointments are a part of life.

Gaining control of your ego is the best thing that you can do for yourself or else it will continue getting in the way of your relationships, your career and your life.

CC: Rania Naim – https://thoughtcatalog.com/rania-naim/2016/05/10-reasons-why-too-much-ego-will-ruin-your-life/