Wondered about this.. looked up, higher self vs the ego. I read this article. But after it's like.. ok how do you know, which is the thought coming from your ego or your higher self. Do you always gotta do the higher self decision in a situation. Lemme paste that article. I'll do my observations in the comments.

5 Differences between the Ego and the Higher Self

Linda Lange

I want to shine a light on the differences between the Ego and the Higher Self. And why it’s helpful for you to understand the differences. Why you should care.

Why do I need to know this?

The number one reason for you to know the difference between these 2 parts of you is to distinguish between them when it comes to taking actions, making decisions or reacting to the people or circumstances in your life.

Once you know the differences, you will be able to see more clearly if you are led by your Ego or by your Higher Self. And both parts play an important role in your life. But most of the time, we are led by our Ego these days. Actions taken and decisions made from the Ego are very different to those taken from the Higher Self.

If you by any chance read this article then you are now pretty well informed about the comfort zone. What it means to stay in the comfort zone and to step out of the comfort zone.

In the case of your comfort zone, the Ego wants you to stay in the comfort zone where it’s safe and predictable. Your Higher Self wants you to step out of your comfort zone, so you can have new experiences, learn from new challenges and go after your dreams and desires.

The Ego is concerned about your survival

Your best chance to survive is when everything around you and in your life can be predicted and is known. That means no changes, no new people, no adventures, no going after new goals.

But in these times, our survival is not very often in danger anymore. It’s not like it was thousands and thousands of years ago. But we still let the Ego guide all our decisions and the next steps we take in our lives. And the main reason for that is because we just don’t know any better. We have not learned this at school. Nobody ever explained to me (until recently) that I don’t have to listen to my Ego. That there is another part of me that I can decide to listen to instead.

The Higher Self is concerned about your growth and joy

My Higher Self wants me to go out there, to challenge myself and to expand my life and my world. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have learned this and to know the difference now between my Ego and my Higher Self.

And if what I have shared with you until now, excites you or triggers you in any way, then this message, this knowledge is for you. You are ready to learn the difference between your Ego and your Higher Self and apply it to your life.

We are now going to discover my top 5 differences between the Ego and the Higher Self. There are obviously many more, but these are the ones I find the most impactful and insightful.

Difference 1 – How both of them view the world

The Ego sees life through a limited lens. And this limited way of looking at the world comes with the mindset of lack, scarcity and that there is not enough for everyone. It makes sense that the Ego would think like that, given that it wants you to survive.

To keep you alive, the Ego needs to analyse, assess and compare your external environment to find out if something is missing, if there is a danger or to decide if there is still “enough” to survive.

The Higher Self sees life through a limitless lens. It knows that you are always going to be alright and therefore it wants you to push your boundaries. There is nothing to be scared about outside of your comfort zone. Your Higher Self sees no limits in yourself or the resources in the world and therefore does not worry.

Difference 2 – One reacts and one responds

Your Ego mostly reacts to your external environment. It’s occupied with finding potential threats and scarcity around you, so it can only react when something happens. And that something is quite often a trigger. It usually looks for something wrong, so it can react to it and make sure that you are still going to survive. So you could say that it looks more on the negative side of life. When it finds something and gets triggered, it uses this situation to affirm its beliefs: That the world out there is a dangerous place and everyone is only out for themselves.

The Higher Self sees the bigger picture and the connectedness between everyone and everything. It therefore does not get triggered but rather reflects before responding. It knows that everything happens for a reason and is an opportunity to learn something.

It does not allow people and situations on the outside to unbalance the peace on the inside. And because it has this position of pure peace, it does not get triggered into feeling negative emotions. It rather takes in what just happened, reflects and then responds.

Difference 3 – How both of them communicate with you

Let’s assume the Ego and the Higher Self each have a voice inside of you. So what does each voice speak and sound like?

The Ego communicates usually in a loud, frantic, anxious and dramatic voice. It reacts quickly and wants you to act quickly. So it communicates in a rushed manner, one thought after the other, which can often contradict itself and not feel very aligned.

The Ego’s voice is heavy with emotions with a highly charged tone behind its message. Remember that it wants you to survive, so it will try to hold you back from doing anything new or unknown and will classify everyone and everything around you as a potential threat to hurt and harm you.

We learned already that the Ego does not like change, so in its communication, it will distract you from making changes. It will create stories about why it’s not the right time to change or create worst-case scenarios so you give up quickly.

The voice of your Higher Self usually sounds cool, calm and collected. It’s very consistent in its message and does not change its mind in an instant.

When you hear your Higher Self speak, it feels like deep and grounded knowing inside of you. The messages are straight-talking and direct, but emotionally neutral.

Your Higher Self gives you messages, guidance and insights for you to go out there and fulfil your purpose. It won’t hold you back and try to scare you into staying where you are.

The Higher Self loves change, new experiences and challenges and will always encourage you to expand and go beyond. It’s your biggest cheerleader and sometimes your stern guardian angel.

Difference 4 – Outer world versus the inner world

The Ego is focused on the outer world, your external environment. When something is not going as planned or wished, it tries to find the problem in your circumstances. That can be other people, like your partner, your children, or your boss. Or it tries to fault a country, a government, society, religion, or political situation for anything that is “wrong” in your life.

The Ego believes that matter is all there is and nothing else is important other than owning as much as possible to be safe, to be secure, to have status, to be seen as well put together.

It’s very attached to the physical 3D reality as it does not sense or perceive anything else. But that means it’s focused heavily on survival and fears death and losing everything.

The Higher Self is focused on the inner world. It understands that our outer world, the external environment is only a reflection of our inner world. So if something is not going as planned or wished, it turns within and reflects on what needs to internally change so the external change will follow.

The Higher Self or someone living closer connected to the Higher Self takes full responsibility for every part of their life. There is no blaming, complaining, judging or suffering due to others or external circumstances. It’s all up to the self to change the inner self, which means beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, thoughts, emotional addictions, and so on, to be able to change the life we are living in the 3D world. It’s more focused on energy and the spiritual world, lives by the universal laws and knows that everything physical is ultimately just energy brought into existence by our mind.

Difference 5 – How both of them behave in this world

This last difference that I am sharing with you, shows how the Ego and the Higher Self show up in your life. Knowing this means you can look out for it. You can catch yourself acting in one way and identify if this is from your Ego or your Higher Self.

The Ego’s typical behaviours are to overly care what other people think, to feel jealous when someone else gets what you want and to compete with others for money, status or love.

Behaviours like complaining, blaming, talking behind people’s backs and making excuses for yourself come from the Ego.

The Ego makes decisions based on fear, lack and scarcity. It can’t easily or at all let go of things that don’t serve you anymore, for example, a toxic relationship, an awful work environment and bad habits.

The Higher Self only makes decisions from within, from intuition and from the heart. It provides you with signs if something does not serve you anymore and gives you opportunities to let it go.

As the Higher Self knows about its divinity and oneness, it feels compassion and empathy for every person in the world. It can see the good in each person and each situation however dreadful it might be. It celebrates other people’s successes as it knows about the unlimitedness of money, love and energy. And it loves to give to others with no conditions or expectations to receive something back in return.

Apply this to your life and become a role model for others

I hope that showing you the main differences between your Ego and your Higher Self has been as eye-opening as it was for me when I started to learn this. I wish that this is something we teach at schools and universities. Every person in this world is aware and knowledgeable enough to distinguish if they are living, deciding and acting from their Ego or the Higher Self.

So help me with this message and carry this knowledge out into your world. Start by applying it to your life and take back your control and energy.