In the inaugural episode of the No Ego podcast, host Sy (Cy) Wakeman introduces the central premise that the ego functions as a judgmental, story‑telling narrator that filters our perception of reality. He explains that the ego is not confidence but confidence mixed with self‑interest and judgment, turning thoughts into distorted commentary that drives drama, entitlement, and unproductive behavior at work and in life. Wakeman guides listeners to become aware of this internal narrator, to recognize that it is separate from their true self, and to practice choosing whether to believe its messages. He uses a projector‑lens metaphor to illustrate how the ego clouds our view, and he encourages self‑reflection, questioning one’s thoughts, and cultivating mental flexibility as a path toward co‑creation and a drama‑free, benevolent worldview. The episode ends with a call to action to tune in for deeper discussions on co‑creation and to follow the podcast on social media.
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Hi, I'm Sy Wakeman, and you're listening to No Ego, a podcast where we teach you how to ditch the drama, end entitlement, and drive big results in your workplace and your world place. Welcome, and thanks for tuning in to this first episode of the No Ego Podcast. I'm Cy Wakeman, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you some tools and techniques on how you can ditch the drama in your life and really live in this incredible place that I call beyond ego. There really is a way to work and a way to be in the world that is so much more peaceful than most of us realize. And it all starts with becoming aware of what our ego is and how often our ego comes out to play at work. So first of all, what our ego isn't— our ego isn't that confidence that you feel in your ability. Our ego is a part of our psyche, a part of our mind that takes confidence and puts it with self-motive. It takes confidence and places it with judgment. So it's not just being confident in your abilities, but it's adding in that I have great abilities and you don't, or mine are better than yours, or if only people would listen to me. It's almost confidence that has gone into judgment and story. See, our ego, the way I interpret it on this podcast, is really a filter that we carry through which we see the world. It's a lens that we're viewing the world with if we aren't clear about its effect. We don't have to choose to view the world through the lens of ego, but many of us do it without even Noticing. So the first thing I want you to do and get in touch with is how often you are narrating the world through ego. See, your ego is like a constant narrator. It's always providing commentary on everything that you experience. And so instead of experiencing something firsthand, instead of having a direct conduit with reality, this ego is always filtering and distorting this information. And so the actions you take and the, the behavior that you choose and the responses that you choose Are based on corrupted data. So the ego, if you imagine it, it's, it's kind of our prefrontal frontal cortex. And it is a narrator on the world, is always talking and commenting on what we're experiencing, what we're seeing, the behavior of others. And that narration is usually not neutral. It is with judgment or with motive, or it's with defense and protection. See, the way our ego narrates the world is in our favor. It either paints me as a victim of my circumstances. Mm-hmm. So I would be awesome if only reality were different, or it paints me in a pretty righteous way that I know best. And if everybody would listen to me and work the world the way I think it should be worked, then all would be fine. So as you go through the world, get in touch with this constant narrator going on in your head. And I want you to get in touch with it because I want you to tune in and listen to it so that you realize that it isn't your truth or your reality, that you've got some options. See, When you wake up in the morning, you don't say, "Let me start thinking." If you notice, you are already being thought. This is this narrator in your mind that is being thought. And one of the most priceless things that's ever happened to me, one of the most greatest freedoms I hopefully can give you, is when you begin to notice that you are not that voice, that you are not that narrator, that that narrator is separate from you. Because once you realize that, you can start to tune in. And listen to what that narrator is saying. And then you get the most wonderful choice in the world, which is whether or not to believe the information it's giving you. And that's where incredible freedom comes from, when I can hear the narration and make the choice on whether I am going to believe what I'm thinking. In fact, when people ask me for my best advice, I usually say, stop believing Everything you think. As I said, this ego is a narrator and a filter and a distorted one at best. It's like putting on a pair of prescription lenses that aren't your prescription. It is distorting your view of the world. You know, there's a time that I was teaching social psychology in a local university, and I was filling in for one of the faculty members. And we were talking about things like projection and, and the way the ego works in the world. And so at the beginning of class, I had placed a little speck of paper on the lens of the projector, not on the screen. And as I started class, I pretended to just only then notice that there was something up on the screen that we were seeing in that image. And without pointing to the screen, I asked a couple of students, could you go up and just make sure that we have a better view of the world? Can you go up and make sure that that projection is coming through more clearly? It looks like there's something that is blocking it. Is blotting out part of the screen. And I did this multiple times to multiple groups. And each time the students would go immediately to the screen and try and see what was on the screen, when in fact the little piece of paper I had planted was on the lens of the projector. It took a while for people then to figure out and work backwards to the projector and then clear up the view that was on the screen. And the lesson in all of this is most of the time when what we're seeing is stressful or what we're experiencing in our lives is, is not to our liking or is disturbing our peace, is that it's not reality, the screen that needs to be fixed or cleaned up. It's not that you need a different reality or you need to bend reality. It actually comes back to looking at the lens with which you're seeing reality. And this isn't just positive thinking, folks. This is more clean thinking where you separate out from your ego. So your ego is a filter on the world, it's constantly working. And if you're believing everything you think, you're getting a very distorted view of reality. And so one of the best things that you can do after you become aware of this filter is start to inquire on your thoughts and make choices about whether you want to choose to believe what the ego is presenting. Now, the ego, as I said, is pretty judgmental, and it loves to vent. In fact, venting is the ego's way of avoiding self-reflection, because self-reflection is the first step in accountability. And it really is the death to the ego. And so we'll talk a lot about the power of self-reflection, the power of questioning everything you think, and really getting you to understand as we move through this process, how you can free yourself up and make better choices around this narrator. Now, it's interesting, because if you just close your eyes For a minute, and you really take the time, and this is your assignment after this podcast, to really start to tune into that voice in your head, you'll start to understand what I mean when I say that it's distorted. It has a whole storyline, whether it be that you're not enough and other people are better, or other people are the problem, or your life would be better if you just had different circumstances or different realities. And, you know, our circumstances aren't the reasons we can't succeed. They're really the reality in which we must succeed. Mm-hmm. So as a first step, when we talk about ego, I want you to get in touch with the difference between ego and confidence and how often the ego is narrating your view of the world and what a crappy filter it really is on reality and how it keeps you from great information you could be using to move through the world more skillfully. And get in touch with all of that and then start to play with the fact that you really can make some choices to not believe everything you think. Yeah. In fact, when you stop believing everything you think and you ask and self-reflect, what do I know for sure? Or what seems more true? You can give birth to this incredible quality called mental flexibility. See, if I take the ego's word for it, there's only one explanation why anything can be happening. But if I stop believing everything I think, I can grow this capacity called mental flexibility, where I can come up with maybe 100 different scenarios or reasons about why things could be happening. And then I can go to this grand step of relying on a belief system that says the universe is benevolent, that things happen in my favor. I can really go beyond just taking the ego's word for it and saying, you know what, let me look straight into reality of what is happening. And let me get mentally flexible. Why could this be happening for my highest benefit? And that really leads you into being a better co-creator, it gives you a sense of being more empowered. All topics that we're going to cover in other podcasts. But I just wanted to introduce today the concept that the ego is always narrating your world, that it's really a distorted filter. And that my hope for you is you get in touch with that, and that you stop believing everything you think. I hope you'll join me for my next podcast. And we'll go a little deeper into co-creation and how the ego can actually If you believe it, move you to a place where you're creating the exact opposite of what you want. I hope that you tune in. I hope for all of you, you have a great peaceful day at work that's completely drama-free. Thanks for tuning in. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you so much for joining the episode today. If you're loving this podcast, just make sure that you check me out on Facebook and Instagram and especially YouTube. Thank you.
