De-mystifying Mysticism

Now, just because the understanding is a little more spiritual in nature, it is by no means beyond the grasp of the average person on the street. It is in no way a "science" that must be studied before it can be embarked upon as some would purport. It is not something where one has to be special in nature, nor is it isolated to the learned or the scholar. Not at all. In fact many do it without realising it. Moreover, everyone should embark upon this journey if they wish to completely submit to God and achieve "complete" submission ("Islam" in Arabic).
Let me start by summarising what self-anhilation is. Self-anhilation would be more accurately described as ego-anhilation or complete removal of the ego, as we are obviously not seeking to commit suicide. And how does this happen? Well, in order to align one's will to the Will of God, one has to sacrifice one's egotistical desires in order to do what is right. This sacrifice is known as self-sacrifice.
Self-anhilation is the final result and self-sacrifice is the mechanism by which to achieve this result.
One has to fight the egotistical "'i' want to do this" or "'i' want to do that", and instead choose to do what is right in the "eyes" of God. This struggle/battle with the ego must happen before one can fully submit to God. Because otherwise, one will have submitted to the whims of the egotistical soul (ego). And therefore, one cannot have fully aligned one's will to that of God's. As Jesus said, "man cannot be a slave to 2 masters". So you are either a slave to your own ego OR you are a slave to God.

From Progression of The Soul By Husayn