Two things, not setting expectations and goals (though they have to be realistic) will not help anyone, I lived for a long time thinking if I expected the worst I could only be happy when the real outcome was better, actually this is not the case.

If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?

Regarding ego I agree, have you tried Ego Death? If you take disociative/psychedelic drugs they can give you an interesting experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_death