If you are a follower of any form of spirituality (or religion), you have likely come across the notion that the ego is โbadโ and is the enemy of your growth.
You may have even come across writers, teachers, and speakers who propagate the idea of ego death; the purging, killing, or desperately trying to transcend the ego in order to attain states of bliss and cosmic unity.
Yes, itโs true that having a sense of self can be tremendously limiting and destructive. BUT if we only see the ego as โbadโ we arenโt seeing the whole picture.
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Having a strong sense of self is not only vital in everyday life but is alsoย essential for the spiritual path. I know that may sound absurd but hang in there. Iโll explain why we all need a clearly defined ego โ especially on the spiritual path โ below.
Table of contents
What is the Sense of Self?
Quite simply, your sense of self is the identity you carry around all day every day โ it is your sense of โthis is meโ and โthis is not me.โ The sense of self, also known as the ego, is an image we carry around in our minds about who we are. When we have a strong sense of self, we are able to differentiate ourselves from other people. It is the biological, psychological, emotional, and spiritual destiny of all human beings to create a strong sense of self.
18 Signs of a Poorly Developed Sense of Self
As a person who was raised in a fundamentalist Christian cult, I know all too well how important developing a strong identity is.
Growing up, any time I tried to assert a differentiated sense of self, I was torn down by my parents and the fundamentalist religion they held dear. The only acceptable identity permitted in my childhood was identifying with a group mentality (i.e. the โrighteous servants of Godโ) and religious ideal (being a โgood and faithful Christianโ). Not being given permission or space to grow a clear identity meant that I developed a weak sense of self that spiraled into serious mental health issues โ some of which Iโm still working through today.
But you donโt have to be raised in an intensely religious atmosphere to develop a weak sense of self. I believe that having a weak sense of self is an epidemic issue infecting humanity worldwide. I would go so far as saying that most of us have poorly developed identities.
Why?
Letโs take a few moments to consider a basic question:
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To what degree were the qualities of self-understanding and self-knowledge honored in your environment growing up?
If youโre like most people, your response will be โnot that much.โ
Not only were these qualities non-existent (or never spoken about) but you were probably also taught who you โshouldโ be according to your parents and societyโs standards. In other words, you were never encouraged to develop a strong sense of self.
There are serious consequences involved with failing to develop your ego fully. Symptoms of a weak identity include:
- Losing your sense of self in romantic relationships
- Codependent tendencies (where your happiness is dependent on others being happy)
- Enmeshment with your parents (difficulty separating your thoughts and feelings from your parentโs thoughts and feelings)
- Inability to create strong boundaries (resulting in massive energy loss)
- Scattered priorities (e.g. not knowing how to manage your time and energy)
- Aimlessness and difficulty setting goals
- Not knowing what you want to do with your life
- Group mentality (i.e. tendency to create an identity based on an ideal held by a group of people)
- Increased susceptibility to peer pressure (i.e. being pressured by others to do things that make you feel uncomfortable or arenโt authentic to you)
- Empathy overload (empathizing too much with others that you lose yourself)
- Social anxiety (feeling overwhelmed by others because you donโt have a solid identity)
- Low self-esteem (weak identity + not knowing much about yourself = tendency to feel suspicious and doubtful of yourself)
- Chronic low-grade to intense anxiety (due to not feeling at โhomeโ within yourself because you have a weak sense of self)
- Feeling lost in life
- The tendency to be taken advantage of by others
- Living another personโs definition of โhappyโ or โsuccessโ
- Disconnection from your true needs, desires, and dreams
- Feelings of emptiness inside
Pause for a moment and notice how you feel. Tune into your body if that helps to ground you. How do you feel in response to the list above? If you feel a sense of physical discomfort or strong emotions arising, itโs likely that this list has triggered you. Being triggered here is a good thing because it is a clear sign that you need to develop a stronger sense of self. Weโll explore how to do that soon.
But first, letโs explore why developing a firm sense of self is not only your birthrightย but also your destiny.
9 Ways to Develop a Strong Sense of Self
It is your birthright to develop your ego and soul.
To paraphrase philosopher and integral theorist Ken Wilber, we need to wake up and grow up.
But what does this mean?
To grow up means to psychologically mature and create a clear identity or ego. Psychologist Carl Jung referred to the process of ego development and integration as individuation.
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Without a clear and healthy ego we run the risk of living scattered, confused, and empty lives. When coupled with spirituality, a poorly developed ego leads to issues such as an absence of spiritual discernment which can lead to spiritual misuse and abuse.
What are spiritual misuse and abuse?
Spiritual abuse means being sucked in by corrupt spiritual teachers and movements that seek power, money, and fame. And yes, there are plenty out there. Spiritual abuse also manifests as the cult mentality where a person with a weak sense of self can easily be brainwashed to lose all sense of personal sovereignty.
Spiritual misuse, on the other hand, means letting the personal shadow taint spirituality through spiritual pride, spiritual codependence, spiritual narcissism, and spiritual bypassing. You can read more about these spiritual traps in our spiritual discernment article.
Life is about balance. We are both human and divine, so it makes sense to fully explore and develop both sides of our nature.
If you are seeking to develop a stronger sense of self, here are my suggestions:
1. Learn how to be alone
Solitude may sound like a scary word or idea, but it is actually a deeply nourishing practice. To make space to be alone with yourself is the best first step to developing a strong identity. How often are you genuinely alone (with no technological distractions) or people around you? The reason why making time each day to be alone is so beneficial is that it creates a space for you to listen to your inner self. Being alone means that all external distractions are set aside and you are left with yourself. If you havenโt done this much before, it may sound intimidating. Subconsciously many of us fear solitude because it brings up everything that weโve been trying to avoid. But try to gently push through this discomfort and realize that alone time is absolutely essential for developing a strong sense of self.
To ease any fear you may have, set yourself a task to do that involves self-exploration. For example, try learning how to journal, artistically expressing your feelings and thoughts, or simply sitting down and listening to some emotional music. Find ways to be with yourself and explore your inner world. If you donโt have much time to spare, squeeze in your solitude time in an activity you already do. For example, spend your lunch break, toilet break, shower time or moments before bed with your thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the more time you dedicate to being alone and exploring your inner self the more you will get back.
2. Clearly define your likes, dislikes, and values
For this activity, you will need a piece of paper and aย pen. Divide your page into three parts: one section for your likes, one section for your dislikes, and the last section for your values. For your likes and dislikes section, think back to moments in life where you felt either extremely happy or extremely unhappy. You can also think about what traits you like and dislike in other people. Write down your discoveries on your piece of paper. You might also like to reflect on the qualities of your role models and also enemies. What do you like and dislike about each? Record your reflections.
Values are what you honor/respect the most in yourself and others. Examples of values include being generous, being honest, being in touch with spirituality, going the extra mile, etc. Our values are unique to us and come from our hearts and souls. To discover your values, you will need to ask the question, โWhat qualities canโt I live without both in myself and others?โ If this question doesnโt bring up any strong responses, think about times in your life when you felt the most proud of yourself and write them down. What qualities motivated your behavior? Write down your response.
3. Draw boundaries and say โnoโ
Learn to be assertive. By creating strong boundaries, you are strengthening your sense of self by defining what is and is not okay in social situations. You might also like to pay attention to any people in your life who are frequently overstepping your boundaries. Notice how you feel around every person in your life โ do they support and uplift you or do they drag you down. If you constantly feel drained, depressed or unhappy with yourself after an encounter with a specific person, consider limiting your contact with them. You have every right to take a step back, create rules, and say โno.โ Your time and energy is a limited resource, so ensure that those who drain you of it are put at armโs length.
4. Stop the busyness and tune into your inner self
Working too much can be a form of socially acceptable escapism. Why? When we focus on achieving goals and being productive, we are simultaneously taking attention away from ourselves and directing it externally. Now, thereโs nothing wrong with being an efficient member of society. But beware of using your work life to escape your inner life.
If you are constantly on your toes working, consider simplifying your life โ even temporarily. Cut back on your commitments and do only what is necessary. Spend the rest of your free time exploring yourself and developing self-knowledge. One great way of developing a solid sense of self is by practicing mindfulness exercises and meditation. Mindfulness helps you to reconnect with the present moment and how your mind, heart, and body feels. Meditation, on the other hand, helps you to pay attention to your inner thoughts. Try experimenting with both. I recommend listening to guided meditation and mindfulness sessions at first as they take the pressure out of wondering what to do next. Tara Brach has many wonderful meditations on youtube that I personally listen to.
5. Redefine what success, happiness, and fulfillment mean to YOU
If you have a poorly developed sense of self, chances are that you are living out an idea of success, happiness, and fulfillment that others have handed to you. Donโt worry, this is absolutely normal. I have experienced the confusion and frustration of living out another personโs definition of who I โshouldโ be as well. But now is your opportunity to change that. Now is your opportunity to see that you donโt need to be rich or mainstream to be successful โ YOU define success. Now is your opportunity to see that you donโt need to have a fancy job or big family to be happy โ YOU define happiness. Now is your opportunity to see that you donโt have to be spiritually elevated to experience fulfillment โ YOU define what fulfillment means to you. Your life is in your hands and is of your making. Donโt let anyone try to tell you what you should be doing, feeling, thinking or striving for. Itโs okay to say โno, thatโs not me.โ
6. Learn more about your personality
Your personality is unique and multifaceted โ and there are so many ways of exploring it! Diving into the mechanics of your ego is fascinating and we have dedicated a large portion of this website to personality tests and articles that encourage self-reflection. Other than the numerous books, workshops, and coaching sessions out there, you can also experiment with taking personality tests (see our tests page) which is a fun way of getting to know yourself better.
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7. Take responsibility for yourself only (not other people)
Having a weak sense of self means that you are prone to over-empathize with others to the point of taking responsibility for their feelings and actions. Stop that. Realize that the only person you are responsible for is yourself. Your parents, friends, colleagues, children, and partner are all ultimately responsible for their own happiness โ itโs NOT your job to make them happy. They are responsible for making themselves happy. With the exception of small children who need constant guidance, those in your life who have grown and matured need to get a grip on their own lives. By trying to take responsibility for others, you are depriving them of the ability to learn an essential life lesson: that we must all be sovereign and take control of our perspectives, feelings, and actions. It is not your job to be friends with everyone, care-take everyone, save everyone, or please everyone. Keep affirming this to yourself and you will find it easier to strengthen your identity as youโll no longer be giving all that energy away to others.
8. Explore your passions
What makes you excited? What makes you feel alive? What activities call to you? By exploring your passions, you are aiding the process of individuation or ego development that we must all go through. Pay attention to what hobbies or skills grab you and pull you in. Give yourself permission to follow these passions and see where they lead you.
9. Be a rebel: question everything
As Carl Jung โ a great proponent of developing a healthy sense of self โ once wrote:
I studiously avoided all so-called holy men. I did so because I had to make do with my own truth, not accept from others what I could not attain on my own … I must shape my life out of myself, out of what my inner being tells me or what nature brings to me.
This quote embodies the essence of what developing a strong sense of self means. To have a healthy ego means to trust in yourself and to listen to your own truth.
Developing a strong identity involves a certain level of willfulness or willpower. You must be willing to question every way others try to influence you and ask โDoes this feel true to me?โ and โDoes this feel right?โ It is inevitable that through life, you will be presented with numerous points of view, beliefs, values, and ideals from others that donโt feel authentic to you. In order to distinguish between what feels authentic and inauthentic, you must question and pay attention to your inner feelings. So next time you start feeling insecure, unworthy or like youโre not measuring up, ask yourself, โAm I believing something I havenโt questioned?โ and โAm I using someone elseโs yardstick to measure myself up to?โ
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What are your struggles and experiences with developing a sense of self? Iโd love to hear your story in the comments!
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For me, developing a stronger / better sense of self was somewhat simpler than whatโs laid out in this article (although like all of the posts on this site, there was lots of value in it): it boiled down to cultivating a feeling that my value as a person is the same as long as Iโm making a good-faith effort at whatever Iโm doing; my value doesnโt depend on the results. In other words, for me having a strong sense of self means that whether I do something perfectly or make a hash of it does not affect what I think of myself (or cause me to worry about what others think of me) as long as I did my best.
I should clarify that it doesn’t always have to do with action. It also means valuing myself enough to rest when needed, to say no when I donโt have the resources, and to ask for help and feel that Iโm worthy of it rather than try to do it all myself out of a sense that I donโt deserve othersโ time & effort.
Iโll also add that none of this was easy. Iโm pushing 50 and have spent most of my life feeling unworthy & undeserving, completely dependent on othersโ approval or my own achievements in order to feel a fleeting sense of self-esteem. It wasnโt a matter of just snapping my fingers and deciding to have a sense of self. It has taken a good deal of therapy, self-help reading, and mindfulness to become aware of my default mental patterns and then to substitute better ones; to make my unconscious processes conscious and thereby make them changeable. After all, you canโt change what you arenโt even aware of. And I still can slide into old ways of thinking & being when I let my guard down. But all the effort has been very much worth putting in.
Thank you for sharing your insight into this Refenestrated, it’s all great advice I’m sure others will find useful ๐๐
My mother was/is a physically-verbally- emotionally and sexually abusive parent from my first memory. She had six children, five marriages; none of us knew our father. At 58 years old, I am still trying to figure out my true self. I was trained not to be anything. I was conditioned from birth to be no one. Itโs phenomenal how profound and enduring this programming is.
Hello, just thought I’d help in this situation by offering some common phrases and terms psychology articles may offer in this situation. I’m not saying spirituality is to be avoided, but that mixing psychology and spirituality can lead to interesting results. Here are some recommendations on terms/phrases you can read online. 1. Groupthink 2. Tribalism 3. Conformity in psychology 4. Psychology of discrimination / Psychology of Prejudice 5. Psychology of evil / Psychology of hatred 6. Herd Mentality 7. List of common cognitive biases 8. List of common logical fallacies 9. Individualism vs Collectivism 10. Moral development stages
You were spot on abouty life situation thank you
Also brought up in fundamentalist religion that insists we are born unacceptable to the God they obey. Being anathema to this God means you reject everything about yourself in order to become acceptable.
This horror is thankfully being exposed by certain writers who advise on methods of healing from abusive religious propaganda.
My experience suggests that the damage is so deep and mutilating that complete recovery is unlikely, but a good life is attainable through continued attention. I compare this method as similar to that of someone with a permanent disability that requires constant attention in order to be able to lead a normal, if unique, life.
Acquiring a sense of individual identity is difficult as an adult. We must first understand that the Mask we’ve been required to wear is not our “Self.”
Great insightful article. Thanks.
๏ปฟโค๏ปฟTotal empathy
Dear Aletheia, my apologies, I totally disagree with your point number 9…
Be a rebel: question everything
As Carl Jung โ a great proponent of developing a healthy sense of self โ once wrote:
I studiously avoided all so-called holy men. I did so because I had to make do with my own truth, not accept from others what I could not attain on my own โฆ I must shape my life out of myself, out of what my inner being tells me or what nature brings to me….
I am a Christian and I believe there is a Maker, a Creator. I don’t question everything. I accept some things that many people have accepted and live reasonable good lives, some maybe a divorcee, some may be a single mother, some may be a succesful businessman or woman, some have children, some doesn’t. But we all attend the same church, or different churches but we do believe in the saving grace of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. You may had a bad experience from a “cult” or something along the line that I do not know, pardon me.
Thanks for sharing that Jung quote Edwin, it’s really good.
One of the primary principles of the work on lonerwolf is that ‘truth can’t be found as a consensus’. The moment one group of people claims to have found a truth that they can package into a doctrine and is beyond a scientific method of validation, another group will arise with the same claim, and issues will result.
Finding collective truths works temporarily for practical purposes of finding a sense of community, space of worship etc… but if you question too deeply you end up disillusioned with whatever consensus truth doctrine you’ve accepted. It really depends on the goal of the individual, whether they seek some experiential truth, or a temporary practical philosophy to get through the struggles of life without questioning the relativism and cognitive dissonance between the truth of my religion being right and the truth of other religions being wrong.
You believe in Jesus but there are other avenues to explore, ie, the writings of the Bible were made by men who believed women were inferior. Also Christian crusades were conducted on these teachings and nearly 2 million people were killed because of Christian beliefs, That doesn’t sit well with me. Nanaste x
This was such a huge help and exactly what I’ve been searching for!!! I feel such a weight lifted off my chest reading this. I am 34 and became a widow at 32 with a 3 year old. Aside from the last 2 years , the last time I was single was when I was in highschool. I have been shapeshifting to fit other people’s use for me for so long I have completely lost touch with myself and had no idea where to begin. I had a pretty dreadful moment of realization yesterday, when I noticed my 5 year old starting to pull away a tiny bit and I saw that I have been holding on too tight, he needs and wants other relationships with people who aren’t his mom lol . He’s been my little sidekick, and since his dad died , I have really just .. submerged myself in the Mom role , further suppressing my own feelings, and maybe I subconsciously clung to that role for dear life, as a way to… avoid/deny/minimize my grief and pain.
Until yesterday, It had never really occured to me before, that someday very soon, I will have to find other ways to pass the time … I can only run from myself for so long. Thank you, so much ..,. this article has helped me more than i could ever describe in words.
Much love my friend ๏ปฟโค๏ปฟ
I’ve been going through some difficult trials. Something I learned is: when trying to find myself I’ve made mistakes. Those mistakes have opened me up to why I’ve been too giving, too dependent, too understanding. So we can’t let mistakes be wasted. Learn from them, feel things, try things. A strong emotional response to some action is a sign to listen to your authentic self and intuitions and don”t make the same mistake again. Be. confident and trust your own feelings going forward. Forgive and forget.
I agree, forgiveness is the main thing to healing ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
I’m 20 years old. Currently I’m on a break from college since the spring of 2020. I was experiencing some hardships at the end of my semester and wasn’t quite woken up until my codependent traits were acknowledged and I was left alone with my brain. Throughout my life I’ve completely ignored myself and my desires because it was easier as a teenager raised in a Catholic school. I was deemed easy-going because I never questioned what was around me, consequently leaving myself with no personality because all I needed to be at the time was my successful boyfriend’s girlfriend. Nothing more. Over this break I worked as a barista and lived with my sibling while appreciating the mental break this has granted me. However, I feel more behind on finding myself because I kept busy with the bare minimum throughout the pandemic. I’m planning on returning to school this upcoming winter, however I’m still in a similar situation as the day I left and am second-guessing my return. It’s hard to pick a major when I don’t know myself but am at the time where I’m spontaneously supposed to understand what keeps myself going. I plan on using the exercises to give myself a guide because I’m even struggling finding a hobby that’s not just a school sport.
My Luna exercises! How’s that for identity? I’m kidding. However, I do appreciate the thoughtful insights. We live in a very busy world. A great deal of my own downfall is the pushing of pleasing everyone, never saying no, and the eventual stripping of who I was. It has taken a very long time for me, the second half of my entire life, to figure this all out and hopefully be able to know who I am, to not be afraid to express myself to those who think they can tell me when I’m wrong (happens quite a bit in this family). These affirmations help me and do create a peace within. I enjoy that. My tendencies lie in reading your articles and clicking on the purple words, and delving into those subjects. I have dedicated several notebooks to this. It is all working on myself, which is so helpful!
I’m so glad this exploration has helped you Kathleen. This is a topic near and dear to my heart because I’ve had major issues forming a solid identity (due to a cultish religious upbringing that didn’t make space for that). One of my biggest issues is people-pleasing as well, but I’m slowly learning to stop self-abandonment and draw boundaries. Love and best wishes for your journey of self-sovereignty!