“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” Epictetus

Ego is the enemy of improvement. I don’t mean pride of accomplishment. I don’t mean the will to win, the desire to accomplish. I’m talking about attachment. Attachment to an artificial self-image. A desire to appear infallible, unflawed to others. Attachment to outcomes. Any aspect of self-improvement requires a willingness to work through errors and mistakes without shying away from them or hiding them. Polishing yourself requires the ability to objectively self-analyze, and ego makes that impossible. If you aren’t honest with yourself about where you are, you can’t find your way to where you want to be.

There is a reason that all the warrior cultures of the world through history emphasize this in their philosophy. From the zen of the samurai, to the stoicism of the Greeks and Romans, to modern day performance psychology in SOF units, the same lesson is taught. Ego is the enemy of improvement. Attachment destroys performance. One of the great ironies of the human psyche is that the more we desire a particular outcome during performance under pressure, the harder it is to achieve it. How then do we train ourselves to perform without attachment? Without ego?

This isn’t easy. Far from it. It takes constant attentiveness. It requires cultivating self-awareness. And maybe most importantly it requires the ability to simply let go and reset when attachment to outcome forms, the ability to recognize when ego rises and circle back around to the process as needed over and over. It’s a lifelong process, not a simple decision.

The conscious mind needs a job to do. It needs to be given a task or it will override the subconscious processes that lead to peak performance under stress. Process focus is the key. Focusing on the process in the moment allows the subconscious to perform at the peak of your current skill. Focusing on outcomes causes you to force and push performance. This invariably leads to mistakes under pressure. The more you try and force a particular result, the less likely you are to achieve it. The more you simply observe the process of performance, dispassionately and without judgement, the better you perform and the faster you improve.

This same principle that in micro allows peak performance during the event, in macro applies to the process of training as a whole. Goals and needs analysis are vital to plan the training plan and adjust it as needed, but that dispassionate process focus over time is what leads to improvements in skill and ability. If you are attached to how you appear when training to yourself or others, to your ego, your training will never be as effective as it could be. If you focus on the process instead, you’re much more likely to achieve your best.

There is an important life lesson here as well. The same underlying principle applied to how you comport yourself in daily life will help you be the best person you can be. Focusing on the process of living, of being your best in all aspects of your life, rather than on appearances and on satisfying your ego, will allow you to grow as a person and reach your potential away from training as well. This is the fundamental underpinning of zen and stoicism, the biggest lesson of practical philosophy and ethics. To achieve your best, to become the person you should be, let go of desire and simply work the process with unflinching self-honesty. No attachment, no ego, just the process.