Crazy Fox Marketing Specialists

After reading Karen Caffrey’s post on left and right brain theory, I got to thinking about the ego. Karen points out that while there are some general differences between the sexes, there are, of course, exceptions.  But it does seem to me, that generally speaking, men tend to have a more fragile ego.  Is it left/right brain dominance that determines the fragility of one’s ego?  Is it nature or nurture?

There is a theory that a person who brags or boasts or presents as having an “inflated” ego, is really compensating for a DEflated ego - or in other words, they truly feel inferior and in efforts to boost themselves up, they publically praise themselves for real or perceived greatness.   It can be difficult to differentiate between an inflated, deflated and healthy ego.  A dead give away that a person is coming from a place of a damaged ego is when they put others down so that by contrast, they appear greater.

An inflated ego, in my opinion, means that the person thinks he (or she) is greater than he (or she)actually is.  It does not come from underlying feelings of inadequacy, but rather stems from a holier than thou syndrome of sorts.  The person with the inflated ego truly believes he (or she) is just a little bit better than everyone else… be it smarter, better looking, or what have you. 

A healthy ego belongs to the person who is realistic and honest about his accomplishments.  If he is in fact superior to most, he may not be shy about saying so.  On the other hand, he can admit his mistakes, and in fact learns from them.  If he is not superior to others, he does not claim to be.  He acknowledges his flaws and his strengths and is grounded.  You can have a healthy ego and be humble… or not.  Some may differ with my contention here, and believe that a lack of humility is a sign of an unhealthy ego… perhaps they are right… but I don’t think so. 

Donald Trump is probably a good example of the humility test.  I believe Trump has a healthy ego. Others would say he presents as having an inflated ego.  He is realistic and honest about himeself, and while perhaps not the most humble of men, he does not “trump” up his accomplishments ;).  I suppose in the case of Mr. Trump the old country song “it’s hard to be humble” could apply.

The more humble person is certainly more likeable, and perhaps that is because their ego strength is not dependent upon others feeling intimidated. Again, I think Trump passes this test. He knows he has a superior ability to make money and has no need to bash others in order to build himself up. The person who appears to have an inflated ego, but is actually compensating for feelings of inadequacy feeds his ego by intimidating others.  If others feel inferior he (or she) feels superior. 

This individual feels a need to brag about his accomplishments to demonstrate his (or her) superiority.  Here is where differentiating gets fuzzy because the person with the inflated ego may also brag, but it is not done with the same malicious intent.  In other words, the inflated ego does not need to tear others down to see himself in contrast, since he truly feels superior, in spite of the reality that he is not.  The person with the healthy ego may also appear to be bragging when he is simply telling the truth about his accomplishments.

I have had some people tell me that they think that the owner of Prosperity Cast Network, Val Smyth has an inflated ego.  This is based on the videos on the Prosperity Cast Network website, and on his live business briefings.  I see Val’s ego as healthy.  While his presentation is less than humble (think Trump), he is being himself.  The videos are of him and his wife, in their actual neighborhood.  Yes, he is selling the dream.  The dream of prosperity, but he is also living proof that it IS possible to come from nothing and achieve great wealth - he did it.  His videos are real - they are not an attempt to mislead like many of the other sites out there are. 

Val does not build himself up by putting others down.  On the contrary, he tells it like is, dispelling the myths of instant prosperity.  One on one, Val is very humble. He has an incredible life story and a heart of gold. He has made millions of dollars in network marketing, and through the Prosperity Cast Network, he provides the training and the opportunity for subscribers to apply what he teaches.  Call him arrogant… love him or hate him, Val Smyth is the real deal. 

Which brings me to the point of this post.  You don’t have to be like Val to profit from his training. You don’t have to be an egomaniac to make this business work for you.  You don’t have to be into flashy cars and big houses.  This business is not about ego, or it doesn’t have to be.  It is about prosperity and what that means to you. For me, and my crazy fox contributors, prosperity is about having the freedom to have, be and do whatever we choose.