The notion of ego has gotten a bad rap over the centuries. We associate it with unjustified confidence, people who are too big for their britches, and over-inflated self-importance. It’s a pejorative, and it’s been applied to caricatures of salespeople. For these professionals, it would be more useful to think about ego in terms of its original meaning—ego is your conception of yourself in relation to the world.

There is a difference between being egocentric and having a healthy ego.

To be egocentric means that you are only motivated to help yourself. All of your decision-making is influenced by WIIFM: what is in it for me? Unfortunately, this can lead to financially successful (but selfish) people who want to earn at all costs.

But having a healthy ego is something else entirely. It means that you know your place in the world and you’re confident about the role you fill. This kind of awareness leads to empathy, which is a crucial part of sales. Since you have an unbiased view of yourself, you can peer into the lives of other people from their point of view.

As the great spiritual teacher Anthony DeMillo said, “If you see through yourself, you will see through everyone.”

Everyone is born with an ego. Everyone, to varying degrees, acts out of self-interest. But not everybody is possessed with a truthful vision of why they do what they do. That knowledge, that freedom from illusion, is what makes for a healthy ego. Apply that clarity to your career. Understand your true motivation, cultivate a healthy ego, and allow it to guide you towards your own truth. Only then will you find real success.