E G O

E G O

A simple 3 letter word that can have a devastating impact on your success.

You see for many years I was consumed by my own ego. I always thought I knew better than most!

It meant that when I had a challenge, I always felt I could work things out.

However, they say hindsight is a beautiful thing.

I didn’t seek help from people because of what I now realise were silly reasons… all driven by ego.

Someone couldn’t help me because they didn’t have a degree, they didn’t look successful or I didn’t like the way they spoke.

Now those things are important in certain situations.

If I was just about to undergo lifesaving surgery, I would expect the surgeon to come in wearing the right attire and to speak like a surgeon!

Ego is an even bigger problem for academic people who have been through the education system.

If you’ve graduated from an Ivy League or equivalent institution, you were taught to think that you’re the cream of the crop — with little or no substance behind it!

Academic folks like me were programmed to find shortcuts to get to the top.

Working hard and grinding were for the lesser folk, the people we would be managing in a corporate environment.

Now entrepreneurship does not discriminate.

It punishes those who seek to build something fast and rewards those who work hard.

They say hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

The best advice I can give anyone is to suspend your ego.

I achieved more in a year, after I took advice from someone I’d previously consider to be an idiot!

I am not telling you to suspend all of your rational thinking and take a leap of blind faith.

However, if calculating outcomes in your head and reaching conclusions without taking action has kept you where you are — it may be time to let go of the ego.

Embrace being the dumbest person in the room and learn to soak up knowledge, regardless of where it comes from.

If you’re in the agency community and want to start or scale your digital or social media marketing business to 6 figures this year, then come and join our ego-free community here:

SMMA Mastermind | For Social Media & Digital Marketing Agencies