How To Own Yourself - Carl Jung (Jungian Philosophy)

This video is sponsored by Masterworks. Masterworks is a platform for investing in multimillion-dollar fine art by names like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso. We will talk more about Masterworks at the end of the video, and for now, let's get on with how to own yourself from the philosophy of Carl Jung.

Carl Jung is one of the most influential psychiatrists of all time, along with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. He was one of the founders of psychoanalysis, and in spite of being highly praised by Freud, Jung departed from his teachings, eventually founding his own school of psychology called ‘analytical psychology’. He published multiple books like the ‘Psychology of the Unconscious,’ ‘Man and His Symbols,’ ‘The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious,’ ‘Modern Man In Search of a Soul,’ ‘The Psychology of the Transference,’ ‘Memories, Drams, and Thoughts,’ and ‘The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious.

’ His philosophy is often referred to as ‘Jungian Philosophy. ’ Within the field of psychology, Jung is famously known for introducing the terms ‘introvert’ and ‘extravert,’ introducing archetypes of the psyche, and classifying the boundary between the unconscious and conscious. Our consciousness includes everything that we know about ourselves; the unconscious entails everything that is part of us but that we are not aware of.

Jung introduced ‘the ego’ and ‘the persona’ as our consciousness, and ‘the shadow’ and ‘the animus and anima’ as the parts that make up our unconsciousness. The shadow is one of the toughest, most intimidating parts to handle: it exists out of everything about ourselves that we dislike, which is why we often refuse to acknowledge it as a part of us. However, what many people don’t know is that not facing the shadow can be an even more intense blow to your self-esteem.

But facing it is actually the only way to gain true control over yourself and who you are. Which is why, in this video, we will teach you how you can truly own yourself by doing so-called shadow work in three easy steps, from the philosophy of Carl Jung. Step 1 - Meet Your Shadow.

Jung says, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular. ” The first step to getting to know, trust, and love yourself more is meeting with the shadow.

This is the stage in which you ask yourself: ‘Why do I behave the way I do? ’ The shadow is the most intense and problematic part of our unconscious. It houses all the negative traits you don’t want to identify with, the parts of yourself that you reject, the characteristics you think are bad, etc.

These shadow parts may include anger, vanity, impulses, dark thoughts, shameful tendencies, and so on. It may even include traits generally considered positive, such as passion or creativity. In many cases, shadow traits are traits or desires that are rejected by society as a whole.

The idea that one should not have these characteristics has been taught from childhood onward, and that is why we’ve become ashamed of them and deny their existence. As long as you’re ashamed of it and push it down, it ends up in the shadow. Generally, people tend to suppress the unconscious parts of their psyche—especially their shadow parts.

They are in denial, often both to themselves and the outside world. And ignoring the parts of you that you are ashamed of might seem like the key to confidence at first. But denying the shadow does not make it go away.

In fact, doing so only makes its presence worse because what you are unaware of, you cannot learn to control. Thus, what we suppress tends to come out uncontrolled in our weakest moments. The shadow is then the cause of outbursts, emotional blowups, snapping at others, and unwanted thoughts.

For example, someone who is considered to be a gentle person might have lots of repressed anger that they have failed to acknowledge, and so may snap furiously at another in a moment of weakness. These moments then feel like they come out of nowhere and might give you the sense that you barely know yourself. One of the most important aspects of the shadow is that it is unconscious—and thus, unknown to you.

This leads to problems: whatever you push down the most tends to control your life the most. As explained before, the parts of yourself you reject then bubble up when you have no say over them and will leave you feeling hopeless and not like yourself. This can destroy your confidence.

To prevent this, we have to bring the shadow into the light. To make conscious what is unconscious. To get to know our shadow side.

But how? Well, encountering your shadow happens in daily life in the way of ‘projection. ’ ‘Projection’ is what someone does when they fool themselves into thinking that they see their own flaws or fears in someone else.

It’s a way of saying, “See? ! I am not selfish; they are!

” You project onto others what you deny and reject in yourself. Do you ever have those moments when you find yourself judging someone harshly—either out loud or in your head? Or when you catch yourself being biased or holding onto a certain prejudice?

Or when you’re quick to take offense? It is very likely that those are the moments that you project your own unwanted traits onto others. As soon as you encounter traits that you’re afraid you possess, or particularly do not want to be associated with, your reaction will be stronger than it would be normally.

That is because those are the traits that you unconsciously want to make sure are the opposite of what you are; and what better way to do that than to be completely opposed to it? Thus, something that could have been slightly annoying suddenly becomes a huge problem. You cannot let go of the fact that your coworker is often distracted, for example, because you need to make it clear that you are not.

You’re better. These are all ways in which you trick yourself into feeling more confident about yourself, but the confidence is based on denial and repression—and thus, it is unearned and fragile. The more you hate on people and traits you possess, the more.

. . a while.

Embracing your shadow doesn't mean you have to act on those traits or let them define you; rather, it's about acknowledging their presence and understanding their role in your life. Once you accept these parts of yourself, you can transform them into a source of strength. Step 3 - Transform Your Shadow After recognizing and accepting your shadow, the next step is transformation.

This involves integrating those traits into your conscious self rather than letting them dictate your behavior unconsciously. For instance, if you find impatience in your shadow, rather than avoiding it or pretending it doesn’t exist, you can work on being aware of it when it arises. You might even find opportunities to channel that impatience into motivation or drive that leads to positive action.

This transformation process requires patience and practice. You must find healthy outlets for your shadow traits, which means exploring constructive ways to express them. If you acknowledge your anger, instead of lashing out, channel that energy into physical activity, art, or assertive communication.

This will help transform what was once a source of shame into a source of empowerment. Additional strategies include therapy, engaging in creative outlets, and surrounding yourself with supportive people who understand your journey. Journaling can be an excellent tool during this phase, as it helps clarify your thoughts and track your progress.

It’s essential to remember that dealing with the shadow is a lifelong journey. Life presents new challenges that can trigger reactions you may not have encountered before. As you grow and evolve, your understanding of your shadow will also deepen.

Embrace this process and allow yourself to be a work in progress. In conclusion, recognizing, accepting, and transforming your shadow is about self-discovery and personal growth. It encourages authenticity and promotes emotional health, leading to a more balanced and fulfilled life.

By taking the time to understand and integrate these aspects of yourself, you pave the way for greater self-love, compassion, and resilience. A while. You need to look at your bad traits over and over again.

Say them aloud. Look in the mirror and think, “This is me. ” Slowly, you’ll start to realize that they are not as horrible as you might think.

Step 3 - Integrate Your Shadow. To quote Jung, “If a person wants to be cured, it is necessary to find a way in which his conscious personality and his shadow can live together. ” The final and most important question, after having found and accepted your shadow, is this: “How can I change for the better?

” There is a beautiful benefit to finding and accepting your shadow: the acquiring of a certain wisdom that is hidden in every single part of yourself, even the parts that seem bad. This means that for all the parts of our shadow that we acknowledge and accept, we can use those parts of us in a good way. Once you know it is what has been holding you back, you can actually use it to go forward.

If your shadow is a dragon and you are the knight fighting it, you haven’t won after merely entering the fight and facing your opponent. You have to overcome it. The recommendation is thus not to passively accept your shadow.

It would be akin to passively standing before the dragon, so to speak. So, if you’ve found greediness in your shadow, this does not mean you just have to go on knowing you’re a greedy person and never change. This, too, would leave you feeling like a bad, undesirable, or deficient person.

It’s unlikely that you’d be “confidently greedy” since you still think of it as bad. Instead, to actually grow more confident and fond of yourself, you should use it. Acceptance is merely a way to go to the next step: integrating the shadow into our behavior and lives.

Your shadow is here to teach you. It is here to show you who you are, why you are the way you are - and why that’s wonderful! All shadow traits are traits that could be good, if only you use them right.

Let's go back to the example of having found greediness in your shadow as a response to the treatment you got in your childhood. If you’ve made it this far, you can go on to analyze this trait to work out what behaviors this has caused. Did you become overly generous to combat it?

Or have you been behaving greedily while beating yourself up over it? In any case, you should sit down and think, journal, or talk with others about what behaviors you have exhibited as a result of certain undesirable traits, and then think: How else could I act? How would I rather act?

The shadow is an invitation to think about your behavior and learn. Now is the time to analyze what you think is actually greedy and what you think are normal acts of self-preservation. Not wanting to give your friend your most expensive outfit is normal, but not wanting to let them borrow a spare coat for the night when they forgot theirs might just be a reaction coming from your childhood - and you can adjust your behavior.

When before you probably lunged to either one extreme or the other, now you have found that you are allowed to keep your expensive clothes to yourself, but can be a bit more generous with the stuff you don’t rationally care that much about anyway. On the one hand, you can donate to causes you care about, but on the other, it is also okay to spend a little on yourself sometimes. Such a balance, never going to one extreme nor the other, can only be found when you’ve faced your shadow traits and incorporated them into your life.

Or, as another example, somebody who’s been pushing down fear by being too impulsive can start to use it in order to think their actions through more. Somebody who’s let their life be controlled by fear can now use it as an opportunity to become courageous. The beauty of “bad traits” is that they make us conscious and considerate.

The shadow is a beautiful part of you that can be a great help if you just let it. Integrate your shadow by finding out what good behaviors can come from those “bad” traits. Only then will you reflect your inner self truly in your actions.

And only then you won’t have to fear judgment from others. Nobody can call you out on being greedy, or a coward, or anything else, if you’ve already examined and combatted that behavior instead of denying it. You will never be more sure of yourself than when you’ve accepted every single part of you and behave accordingly.

Not only will this make you feel more confident, more free, and happier… it will leave you feeling completely assured of who you are and how you behave. As we mentioned at the beginning, this video is brought to you by Masterworks. Carl Jung's lessons in deep reflection are more important than ever this year, as the cost of living has hit record highs.

But compensating for rising costs has been nearly impossible, as traditional investments have been suffering as well. However, according to the Bank of America, one surprising asset could help: fine art. Fine art has a very low correlation to other investments like stocks, according to CitiBank.

So while stocks may dip, your art investments may not. Also, Goldman Sachs says fine art can specifically help protect your purchasing power, even as prices rise. That’s why we’re excited to tell you about Masterworks.

Masterworks buys this fine art and qualifies it with the SEC, splitting it into shares for investors just like you. And if Masterworks sells your painting for a profit, it means money back in your pocket. Since we are talking about investing, your investments can fluctuate; they can go up and can go down, and us talking about this does not mean we are giving any financial advice.

But what Masterworks is doing is truly fascinating, and it’s also in their best interest to get the highest return from selling their art. Masterworks has sold nine paintings to date, six of them this year alone. Their last three sales have delivered 17, 21, and 13 percent.

Net returns to investors. Most wealth managers and experts would tell you that you should not put all your eggs in one basket, meaning that you should diversify your portfolio, and investing in art is definitely an interesting way to do that. So, if you are interested in Masterworks and wish to gain priority access, click on the link in the description.

If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out our full philosophies for life playlist, and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much for watching.