In my line of work as a mindset coach/mentor, I am often contacted by spiritual entrepreneurs who are finding it difficult to attract financial abundance into their lives. There is a variety of reasons why people struggle in the business world, but in most cases, it almost always involves an undeveloped persona.
This is due, in large part by the misconception that the “persona” is a false, ingenuine mask that must be discarded if one wishes to reach spiritual enlightenment. Yet, ironically, when an individual fails to develop a healthy persona it actually thwarts their spiritual growth and rapidly leads to a fragmented personality. So you see, there is nothing enlightened about neglecting your persona.
The key to spiritual awareness, wellness, and overall abundance cannot be found by demonizing the darker or more simplistic parts of ourselves, but rather by integrating them and bringing our psyche into a state of wholeness. In other words, it is the fool who strives to be a “good” person, but the seeker of truth who strives to be a “whole” person, and that includes embracing your persona.
The intention of this article is not to unravel all the mysteries of the psyche, but rather to provide a greater understanding of why it is vitally important to develop a healthy persona if one wishes to experience balance, success and overall well-being. Therefore, I will simply give a brief description of the psych before focusing on the persona and the task at hand.
The original definition of the word “psyche” was “soul” or “spirit”, but by the turn of the twentieth century it became more frequently referred to as “The Mind”.
Carl Jung, the leading edge pioneer of in-depth psychology helped clarify the definition of the psyche by describing it as “Total Personality”, which is comprised of one’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and emotions. In addition, he brilliantly divided the psyche into three distinctive realms…the conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious, and within these realms resides the ego, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the persona.
In simple terms, the ego is stationed at the center of this consciousness field and determines, like a gatekeeper, which experiences are to be filtered into tangible consciousness from the deeper realms of the mysterious unconscious. The anima/animus are feminine and masculine archetypes that provide a unique inner experience which is designed to restore balance within the individual when needed. The persona is an attribute which allows us to reveal the parts of our personality that society mutually agrees are the most desirable. The shadow is the part of ourselves that we have been conditioned to view as undesirable or ugly, and thus, the ego keeps it suppressed in the deeper regions of the unconscious, rather than bringing it into the light of consciousness for all to see. It is important to note that when the shadow is suppressed it causes more destruction than when integrated. In fact, when integrated the shadow provides tremendous value to one’s life.
Now then, let’s finally take a look at the pros and cons of the persona. With all its positive attributes the persona can also cause havoc if it becomes overdeveloped to the degree the individual identifies him or herself with it in totality. Meaning, when we attach our identity exclusively to one component of the personality, such as the persona, we become fragmented and lose the quality of wholeness. When the persona becomes overdeveloped, we lose contact with the deeper levels of our personality and foolishly begin to believe our persona/mask is our true identity.
This is dangerous on several levels and therefore, it is vital to a productive life that we do not overdevelop the persona to the point of total identification. The key is to develop and integrate a healthy persona to the degree that we gain the ability to engage with others on a social level, which in turn creates the likelihood for a much deeper soul connection. Clearly, without a healthy persona, it becomes exceedingly more difficult to attract and engage others on a deeper, more intimate level.
Here is a detailed example to illustrate my point. Suppose you are someone who finds it shallow or trivial to develop a persona because you find the idea of wearing a mask to be unspiritual. Now imagine you are at a business function, sales meeting, or social gathering where the type of opportunities you’ve been seeking are currently present. Due to your disdain of developing a healthy persona you are left with a lame disposition.
Unable to don an attractive social mask that only a healthy persona can provide, you are rightfully viewed as a fragmented individual who is socially unequipped to attract the type of relationships that require an integrated personality. Regardless of whether it’s a personal or business relationship you seek, true abundance awaits those who have inner abundance and it all starts with integration, not fragmentation.
Clearly, if you have not taken the time to develop a healthy persona/ mask on the most basic of levels, you can hardly blame others for not wanting to engage with you on the deeper levels. No doubt, it’s frightening to imagine engaging with the deeper, darker, shadow elements of an individual who continues to neglect their surface persona. Indeed, if the living room in someone’s house is a mess, just imagine what lurks in their basement.
In conclusion, before you seek abundance, first seek integrated wholeness within. It will provide you with tremendous utility and make the manifestation of your desire a reality. Embrace your persona and it will become a beautiful friend that aids you in attracting the deeper beauty in others.
~ Daniel Pape
