Trapped Between Ego & the Environment: The Challenges of Personal Change Management

It’s surprising where and when you stumble on deep insights on life and the world. I found myself in Romania last year during a short weekend break between Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. 

I started reading a sci-fi action book called “Harrowmaster” that takes place during the grim dark futuristic world of Warhammer 40k where there is nothing but war. A story about one of the renegade space marine legions fallen to betray humanity. Yet they are clever, practical and interesting characters locked in a 10,000 year “long war” with the Imperium of man. They are immensely adaptable, which is what makes them so effective. 

There is a great quote from the book by the main character Solomon Akurra: 

“Ego was rigid and rigid tools tend to break under pressure.” 

Ego is identity. Ego drives you to accomplish things. Knowing who you are is important. Yet circumstances change. Adapting is winning. I know all this but as some that astrology calls a “fixed sign”, this is a challenge for me personally. I find I only change when I meet maximum pain or cannot hide from reality any longer. 

Solomon goes on to say: 

“We always seek to influence outcomes to our advantage. However some outcomes cannot be meaningfully changed without changing ourselves. Sometimes that is necessary and desirable….and sometimes, doing so would render any victory won by such methods essentially meaningless.”

The question then is how far do you adapt? What traits and values do you keep and which ones do you drop?

This is why it’s really important to know yourself and know what your deepest values are. It requires deep and sometimes uncomfortable introspection.  It’s also important that you keep both accomplished AND “good” people around you. They act as touchstones to help guide your way. 

Basically, be so ruthlessly adaptable to win but know yourself and your values deeply so that you don’t lose your way.