Managing Your Deceptive Self-Image: A Guide
Taming Your Chaotic Inner Self: A Guide to Navigating Your Trickster Ego
Wrestling with Your Trickster Self
Are you making decisions based on your deepest convictions or are you swayed by fleeting emotional whims? Are your choices a reflection of your priorities or merely a brief desire of the moment?
You yearn to make courageous, self-aligned decisions, but that means quieting the mischievous part of your ego that thrives on chaos. This trickster ego often nudges you towards poor decisions driven by fear, keeping you from expressing your true self.
The trickster ego craves instant gratification. It's afraid that if it doesn't act swiftly, it won't get its way. Integrity is forgotten as the trickster ego races to attain short-term goals.
You may think you're on the right path, but you neglect to listen to your intuition, that quiet voice within you that whispers, "Slow down. Be careful. You're off track!" The trickster ego lures you into believing everything is going well, but it's deceiving you.
Your trickster ego acts under the fear that stops you from dreaming big and trusting your intuition. It leads you towards compromises that disregard what's important to you, causing you to slip up.
Even if you experience some success by taking the advice of your trickster ego, that success will be shallow and unsatisfying. It's hard to admit just how much this aspect of your ego has swayed you, promising false happiness and fulfillment if you just obey its every whim.
Yet, if you can have the courage to acknowledge how much fear has controlled you, you can recommit to being true to yourself and harnessing your trickster ego.
When you are honest with yourself, you can more easily recognize when you are chasing after superficial rewards that don't bring real happiness. Deeper successes that resonate with your true self often require a stronger commitment to being true to yourself. It takes courage to make decisions based on your core beliefs and reject fear and expediency.
Making decisions based on your core beliefs means silencing the trickster ego that clouds your judgment and leads you astray. Thankfully, you can establish a new relationship with this facet of yourself.
First, observe your trickster ego. Learn its patterns and when it tends to rear its head. Unmask its deceitful ways and grow conscious of its influence over you. This can be achieved by developing your inner awareness, or as Jungians might call it, your witnessing self.
Your witnessing self arises effortlessly when you calm your mind, allowing access to your unconscious. Your witnessing self will say, "You're not being true to who you are," and "Listen to yourself!" The witnessing self is ultimately understanding, even when it exposes painful truths.
The witnessing self helps you see when you are veering off course. It allows your inner wisdom to emerge. Awaken your witnessing self regularly to practice being true to yourself when you are at your best.
Once you've identified the games of your trickster ego, it will lose much of its grip over you. You can even relax and chuckle at its antics. Smile at yourself, observe when you have been tempted by fear, and firmly say, "No!" to your trickster ego.
You know what you hold dear. When faced with a choice, your trickster ego will begin making excuses for why you should follow its demands-quickly! But your witnessing self will caution you, "Slow down. Consider the consequences."
Working in harmony with your inner wisdom, it will remind you to act with integrity. Listen to that wisdom, and you will start to feel uncomfortable with your trickster ego's manipulations. It will become easier to make a choice that aligns with your core beliefs.
Of course, you will veer off track and lose your way on occasion. Notice when it happens and correct your course, forgiving yourself. We all make decisions driven by fear and the desire to protect ourselves from discomfort or pain.
It's in recognizing these moments and choosing to say, "No, not this way," and making new choices in line with your core beliefs that keeps your trickster ego from running rampant. Pride, joy, and success await if you remember to activate your witnessing self so you won't be taken in by your trickster ego.
by Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD
Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist, Jungian analyst, and shamanic practitioner. He teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and is on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. Learn more at CarlGreer.com
Insights:
- Recognize the Trickster Archetype: The trickster appears when systems become rigid, disrupting norms and challenging the status quo. In the context of your ego, it might manifest as unconventional thoughts or impulses that challenge your current perspective [2]
- Pay attention to times when you feel the urge to challenge existing norms or conventions. This could be a sign of the trickster ego at work [2]
- Developing self-awareness, seeking feedback, and practicing intuition can help you strike a balance between fearlessness and responsibility [1][4][5]
- To effectively navigate your life choices and prioritize your mental health, it's essential to discern the influence of your trickster ego in the realm of science, health-and-wellness, and personal-growth, focusing on education-and-self-development for balanced decision-making.
- Cultivating consciousness through self-awareness and the development of your witnessing self, as discussed in education-and-self-development literature, can aid you in understanding and silencing the manipulative impulses of your trickster ego, promoting well-rounded personal-growth.
- By practicing awareness and acknowledging your trickster ego's role in shaping your consciousness, you can prioritize mental health and wellness, fostering a lifestyle that aligns with your core beliefs, thereby promoting overall health and happiness.
