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best of us, and other defensive gestures that protect ego from being assaulted. |
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But this is not really a problem based on ego, at least as it is viewed in the world of psychology. It is, more accurately, a problem of false pride. The everyday mind confuses what is actually false pride with ego. Let me explain. |
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To put it simply, psychologists view the ego as a healthy and necessary core organizing part of our mental structure that helps us maintain a sense of stability and continuity in our daily lives. Its prime function is the perception of reality and adaptation to it, to make sure we don't get too far out in fantasyland or too caught in arising desires. |
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Metaphorically, the ego is like a good executive secretary who keeps control of the office. The various tasks of the ego include perception, including self-perception and self-awareness; motor control (action); adaptation to reality; and keeping us in touch with our thought processes so as to temper our impulses. |
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My point in distinguishing the term ego from false pride is that the everyday use of the word tends to be negative, seeing ego as a hindrance, as in: "Look at him trading in 2000-share lotshe's just on an ego trip." Ego is viewed as grandiosity, overexuberance of self, and something that needs to be controlled and even beaten down to size. |
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This is supported, incidentally, by the layperson's belief that the work of psychologists is to "shrink" the ego, thus the common slang term for us is "shrinks." Behind the use of this term is the idea that those involved in psychotherapy will have their large egos reduced to a manageable size. Because various forms of irrational thinking and behavior are confronted in psychotherapy, it may initially seem to the patient as if something is being taken away from them and that ego is being diminished, as they begin to shape a new sense of self. But nothing could be further from the truth of what really takes place. It is exactly the opposite: The ego is strengthened through skillful psychotherapy, not reduced by it. |
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Actually, ego is exactly what the disciplined online investor is trying to strengthen. We want the strongest possible ego we can develop. A strong ego is always the friend, never the enemy. Please read these last three sentences again and let them sink in before reading on. |
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The stronger the ego, the more we feel in control. The more self-control we feel, the more able we are to strictly follow a trading plan, and the more confident and secure we are in our in decision making. |
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