In this episode of The Jim Fortin Podcast, Jim Fortin unpacks the provocative statement “today is a good day to die”—not referring to physical death, but to the death of the ego. Drawing from shamanic wisdom and decades of personal evolution, Jim reveals how every fear, shame, anger, resentment, and struggle in life stems from ego identification. The masks we wear in different situations—at work, home, social events—aren't who we truly are, yet most people have forgotten they're even wearing them. Jim explains that transformation isn't about becoming better or acquiring more; it's about removing the illusion of who we think we are and recognizing the soulful being beneath the ego.
Throughout the episode, Jim shares personal stories and observations about how the ego plays out in everyday life—from road rage incidents to political divisions to relationship conflicts. He explains why the ego, formed hundreds of thousands of years ago as a survival mechanism, still drives our reactions today. The key isn't eliminating ego (which is impossible), but recognizing when it shows up and choosing how we want to demonstrate it. When we stop identifying with our ego and start seeing ourselves and others as soulful beings temporarily wearing masks, everything shifts.
If you've been struggling with fear, conflict, or feeling stuck in life, this episode offers a profound reframe that can help you see beyond the mask and reclaim your true self.
What You’ll Discover in This Episode:
- (05:14) Why we wear different masks in different situations — How the masks we learned as children for survival still run our lives decades later, keeping us small and inauthentic.
- (09:03) The power of separating ego from soul — A parking lot encounter that demonstrates how recognizing someone's ego behavior rather than taking it personally creates instant peace.
- (13:25) How your ego was formed and why it persists — Understanding the ancient survival mechanisms that created the ego and why fears of rejection and judgment still control modern behavior.
- (18:41) Why reacting to someone's ego with your own ego keeps you stuck — How judging people for being assholes makes us the asshole, and what to do instead to break the cycle.
- (23:28) The choice between being right and being kind — Why wanting to be right in relationships is pure ego, and how shifting this one pattern transforms conflict into connection.
- (26:55) Seeing every person as a soulful being — The train metaphor that helps us recognize everyone—even the “bad” people—are on the same journey home, just at different locations.
Listen, apply, and enjoy!
