Letting go of your sense of self will help you evolve and succeed in life

Have you ever looked at somebody in awe and thought, “Wow that’s amazing! How does he/she do that? I could never do it myself!” Well, I’m here to tell you that you probably can. Yes, you’ve probably heard these hackneyed phrases enough times already: “You can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” Sure, achieving your dreams requires commitment, perseverance, sacrifice, sweat, and all those things. But the biggest obstacle that most often lies between you and your dreams is your sense of self.

Philosophers and scientists have tried to understand this sense of self over thousands of years. But my most favorite ideas on the subject have been shared by two great thinkers, John Locke and David Hume. Locke said that the self is not derived from physical substance or soul, but from the memories we have of our experiences. Hume went a step further and stated there is no sense of self! He called it

a kind of theatre, where several perceptions successively make their appearance, pass, repass, glide away, and mingle in an infinite variety of postures and situations.

Your sense of self is the perception you have of your own ‘identity’. It’s the part of your mind that tells you things like ‘I’m the type of person who hates pineapple on pizza.’ ‘I’m a night owl and I could never be productive in the morning.’ ‘I have terrible social skills.’ ‘I have amazing taste in music, and it makes me better than everyone else!’ These are beliefs you have accumulated over time and experience to define your self image, and often what you use to justify your actions. But what Locke and Hume tried to portray is that these beliefs can be very subjective and more importantly, ever changing.

While a self identity can feel comfortable and help you navigate your way through life, it can also be limiting and stagnating when it comes to growth. Quite often, you don’t even consider learning a new skill because it doesn’t align with your self image. Or you tell yourselves it will be too difficult because you’re not smart enough, not passionate enough, not analytical enough. And it’s self perpetuating. You are because you tell yourself you are. You procrastinate because you believe you are a procrastinator. You come late to everything because you believe you are not a punctual person. You are stopped in your tracks before you can even start improving.

Your most unrealistic dream is much more feasible the moment you shed the part of your identity that says you are not fit to achieve it. So task 1 on your to do list for your path to success: Believe you can.