An Actor’s Ego

Maintaining a healthy ego is possible… even in Hollywood

 

Ego has a bad reputation. “When someone struts too much or is too loud, we joke about their ego not being able to fit in the room. But is ego really that bad? Have we gone too far to denounce ego without looking at its positive aspects? The key to a well-lived life is balance, so ego should not be eliminated. Rather, ego needs to be fostered and embraced in a way that can significantly improve your performance and increase your self-confidence. Kept in proper check, ego is something every entrepreneur needs to succeed.” – Matthew Toren, mentor and founder of youngentrepreneur.com

“Of course, I have a healthy ego. Anyone who creates does.” – Barbra Streisand

In my book, “YOU GOT THE JOB!” I define ego this way, “The individual as a whole in his/her capacity to think, feel and act.” I also describe ego as an acronym for Energy Going Out.

Ego is energy. If this energy is the product of a positive and powerful success-oriented belief system, the world will recognize it as such. If this energy is unprepared, lacking in confidence and ready to accept failure, the world will recognize that as well.

A well-known casting director revealed that almost 75% of the time he knows if an actor has a shot at landing a role just by the way the actor enters the room, the way the actor walks from the office door to the desk, the first 10/15 seconds of an audition. “When they make their entrance, I can, as a rule, tell the quality of the talent that is entering the room. The next few seconds of small talk usually confirms what I deduced. That first 60 seconds of the audition and I’m pretty sure. The final confirmation is the reading itself which is by and large in agreement with my initial conclusion.”

The Two Egos

In the Barbra Streisand quote, you may have noticed she used the words “healthy ego.” Exactly what is a healthy ego? Some have described it as simply, “Knowing you’re good at what you do.” Others say, “It’s how you maintain self-esteem. How you take care of yourself. That you feel good about who you are, and you stand by your values.”

However, for me, it’s “taking pride with who I am as an evolving human being. And taking equal pride in pursuing my goals, dreams and accomplishments.”

Egotistical (The Bad Ego)

Egotistical is when you don’t have the competence to back up your bravado or swagger. In other words, when you pretend you know something when you actually don’t and you proceed with arrogance. Egotism is the excessive, obsessive, and objectionable focus on oneself while egoism is the habit of valuing everything only in reference to one’s personal interest. In other words, nothing has any value unless it’s important to me.

Ego Grid

While searching the internet I stumbled upon something called the Ego Grid. I found the example below to be extremely helpful in explaining the difference between the egos. It even takes ideas a step further by separating egos into two categories: small and big.

 

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