Once you create a monster, if you don't feed it, it will eat you! So we create a monster in our minds unknowingly, unconsciously, thinking that every time we pat ourselves on the back or boost our idea of ourselves then we think that in some way we are more secure. The reality is, however, that the stronger our ego becomes, the more subconsciously fearful and stressful our minds get because it knows inherently that ego is destined to topple.