~~ EGO AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ~~
There’s a monstrous problem facing our planet – we have a serious crisis on our hands!
In the distance, comes the everyday social entrepreneur or change-maker with tremendous vigour and compassion to help save our world from this monstrous problem for the good of the planet and humanity!
But knowingly or unknowingly, there is an even bigger monster lurking around the corner – the biggest of them all! There is no escape! This monster must be faced to achieve the most efficient solution there is! This monster they encounter, and ultimately have to conquer along the way to the true solution which is consequently often adorned with sacred jewels of success – is the collective ego!
What is the collective ego you may ask? The following excerpt from Eckhart Tolle’s teachings states that a “collective ego manifests the same characteristics as the personal ego, such as the need for conflict and enemies, the need for more, the need to be right against others who are wrong, and so on. … A collective ego is usually more unconscious than the individuals that make up that ego.”
The truth is; in the world as it operates presently, dissolving the ego is a grand affair, that may require a near death or similar traumatic experience that forces a person to remove his or her self from the customary experiences of “normal” life to have a proper shot at regeneration or even survival. Even then, the ego cannot be dissolved completely, it is a part of us that must be understood and controlled as the less logical and effective parts of ourselves.
“How hard is it to live with yourself? One of the ways in which the ego attempts to escape the unsatisfactoriness of personal selfhood is to enlarge and strengthen its sense of self by identifying with a group – a nation (inclusive of societal norms and gender specific roles), political party, corporation, institution, sect, club, gang, football team.
In some cases the personal ego seems to dissolve completely as someone dedicates his or her life to working selflessly for the greater good of the collective without demanding personal rewards, recognition, or aggrandizement. What a sense of relief to be freed of the dreadful burden of personal self. The members of the collective feel happy and fulfilled, no matter how hard they work, or how many sacrifices they make. They appear to have gone beyond ego. The question is: Have they truly become free, or has the ego simply shifted from the personal to the collective?” ~ Eckhart Tolle
The journey to a true solution for a social problem, always demands superb logic, ethics, personal growth, creativity, team work, support, patience and unity – as it is a social problem first. Additionally, each person possesses certain skills, strengths and weakness, that when combined, should create a more efficient work flow. Hence, if the right environment for change towards growth is not supported, this journey may be laden with questions and obstacles similar to:
- How dare you turn up here with a solution that makes sense and has the potential to solve the issue when I have been working here for decades as the specialist charged with this same very task? – Yes the problem still exists, but we will continue with our old ways, it’s going to be the biggest thing ever!
- How is it possible for you to receive that level of financial support when I have not received such for myself, my family, my partners, or my business? – Yeah right, over my dead body!
- How can you achieve success that will surpass myself, my family, my partners, or my business as I am not directly connected or involved with you? – Too much is at stake here – my perceived loss of identity re success and status, I will pretend you do not exist; better yet, I can do what you do!
- If I have something you need, then it is possible for me to get whatever I may want – it’s called leverage and power. Now, how may I assist you?
- Who cares about the world, people and related crisis? – I’m here for the money and personal recognition.
- I’m not familiar with what you do or experience as a result; but it’s my way, or the highway.
… “Sooner or later, the collective will come into conflict with other collectives, because it unconsciously seeks conflict and it needs opposition to define its boundary and thus its identity. Its members will then experience the suffering that inevitably comes in the wake of any ego-motivated action. At that point, they may wake up and realize that their collective has a strong element of insanity.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
Photo via @theconsciousmillenniall
By Simera Crawford, Executive Founder of Cembiorg