There's definitely a difference in the two. I've seen many a men with large egos but little self confidence. When someone tries to claim they're alpha but have a large ego, that seems like a big red flag to me. See, an Ego is like a shield made up of 1lb of material. Now that material can be stretched to cover more ground (i.e. having a larger ego) but because it is thinned out, it becomes easily breakable. And that's the thing, a large ego is often a sign that you still require that external validation. It is fragile. It might be a starting point for some (heck, was a bit for me even when my journey first began) but you can't have fully swallowed the pill on a big ego alone. Eventually you have to transition to true self confidence. True self confidence is unwaivered by external validation. In keeping with TRP and the matrix analogy, having a big ego was like the first time Neo fought an Agent. He basically thought he could take him, and held his own for a little but if it wasn't for the brief moment with the train he would have gotten his ass kicked and lost. And that's what the ego does, it gives you small windows of opportunity but it is fragile. Whereas, self-confidence is the last scene in that movie when he fights the agents again, this time with ease. He knows he can kick their ass (fighting one agent one handed to prove this point). He literally doesn't give a fuck about the agents being there. It isn't a big deal to him because he knows he can take them without much effort at all.

The point is this, build up your confidence. Whether it be by becoming really good at a certain skill or however. Doesn't really matter. Just find a way to increase your confidence and not necessarily your ego. An ego will cause you to break frame. It will cause you to think you have swallowed the pill, but the beta tendencies will still come out. Confidence on the other hand will become your frame. You won't fall for shit tests. You won't require any validation but your own. Simply put, you will be able to handle your shit, and laugh at the shit others try and throw at you. If you truly want to swallow the pill and have alpha behaviors, this is key for that.