"The difference between an ego-driven life and a soul-driven life is so vast that you would have to travel from hell to heaven in order to truly understand it."
~ Sal Crispo
When I was depressed, I was in hell. Every day I had to carry this dark heaviness around with me and it never let up. So how did I manage to turn it all around? How did I go from living in a state of constant hell to living in a heavenly one? I learned to correctly integrate and balance my body, mind and spirit.
Your body, mind and spirit are a 3-player team. The healthier they are and the better they work together, the higher your team performs at the game of life. Of course, just like with many teams, each player has a specific role or position. Your body is the workhorse. It is the temporary home for your mind and spirit and they use the body as a vehicle of expression.
The mind is the star player. It is super talented and through the use of thought can help the team create just about anything. However, in the same way, the mind can also destroy just about anything. Under the right leadership and guidance, it can be a master creator but if left unmanaged, it likes to run wild and dominate the team. And will continue to do this, even at the team’s own demise.
The third player, your soul, is the captain of the team. Its role is to lead and guide the team to perform at a high level. The soul is also the heart of team which means it knows what you love and what you should be aiming to create. When the captain is the leader, it ensures that all 3 players are on the same page and doing what is best for the entire team. It understands that neglecting any of the 3 players will lead to a drop in team performance.
So, as you can see, there is an appropriate integration and balance you need to establish within your team in order to perform at high level and live your life to the fullest. However, this is far from the norm. Many people I meet and coach are completely ego or mind driven. Their captain is on the bench. This is the state I was in. I was spiritually bankrupt and severely depressed as a result.
My mind was steering the ship so to speak. It was trying to figure a way out of my depression using cold, calculative thinking. But no matter what it tried, negative (addictions) and positive (accomplishments), I (the team) continued to suffer. The truth is, until my mind surrendered its thirst to be the leader and admitted it needed the captain’s guidance, I would continue to be depressed. Remember, without the loving guidance of the soul, the mind is completely blind and lost. Anytime, any of the players step outside of their roles, chaos and disfunction quickly ensues.
I want to give you a basic and hypothetical example of the difference between an ego-driven and a soul-driven life. One of my favourite tennis players, Roger Federer, had a choice to pursue tennis or soccer. He is a tremendous athlete so it’s no surprise that he excelled at both. Now, if in his heart, Federer loved tennis more than soccer, you may think the choice is quite obvious. However, it’s not that simple. His mind does some calculative thinking and determines that there are a lot more perks in soccer. Overall, soccer players make more money and are more famous than tennis players. As a result, the mind may try to overturn the wishes of the soul.
You may say, it doesn’t matter if he chose to become a soccer player because he would still be successful. Would he be though? Yes, maybe from a financial and status perspective, but not from a truly holistic perspective. He would always regret selling out his soul’s desires for fame and fortune. What is the point of having these things if you are too miserable to enjoy them? Fortunately, Federer followed his heart and has become one of the best, most successful and famous athletes of all time. In the end, I am not going to tell you what to choose. I just want you to understand the difference between the two. An ego-driven life may get you more of the shiny objects that a lot of people desperately chase after today. If you think attaining these are fulfilling enough then feel free to continue on your path until there not. However, if you feel like these shiny objects offer nothing more than a temporary, artificial high and always leave you thirsting for more then you might want to consider recalibrating your team’s leadership. As for me, I wish that you start leading with your heart and get what your heart desires.
Your V10 Health Coach,
Sal Crispo
P.S. If you are interested, I also make a coaching video for each of these posts on YouTube. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel so you do not miss out on any of the valuable content I share. Here is the link for this post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60nPrTfugZw