Ego is the Enemy

 

Ego is the enemy by Ryan Holiday is short but fantastic book about an often overlooked aspect of our being..our ego. When I was reading this book, I came to realize how vain I was in certain aspects of my life. I felt as if Ryan was speaking directly to me. I had let my ego unchecked and this left me being unappreciative of the opportunities that God has given me.

The author divides the book into three themes namely;

Aspiration

This is when we are aiming to achieve something great in our lifetime. Aspiration without action is nothing. You need to stop telling people you're going to do something and just do it. Telling without doing is merely feeding the ego to feel good about yourself.

Success

This is when you are at the top of the mountain in your career. You have persevered through difficult times and put in the work to get here. At this point, it is very easy to drink from the cup of our success and get drunk on our past achievements. We tend to forget how we got there and attribute our success to innate talent and think we are special in some way.

Instead, we should play it cool and think of the bigger picture. If you are working for a company, you should be thinking how can I can contribute to the success of the company. The author suggests we should not be thinking of the self and how to advance your career but to act as a team player. This will often involve letting your superiors shine and at times taking credit for your work. This is a tough pill to swallow given that we are in a competitive field and we all want to shine.

Failure

No body can be successful for 24/7, 365 days without failing. Failing is part of life and often we let our ego get the better of us and allows failure to hold us back. Ideally, we should use failure as a stepping stone to success and learn from it. However, ego often gets in the way and we do not learn from our mistakes..from our failures. This leads to us making the same mistake and being very frustrated just to preserve the ego. The author breaks down failure to alive time and dead time. Alive time is when you utilize the failure to learn something, grow further and eventually, became a better person. Dead time on the other hand, is when you feel sorry for yourself and start blaming others for your failure.

Takeaway

Humility is the way to go. Keeping your ego in check is a lifelong battle that will never stop. You must be humble when you aspire to be successful, when you are successful and when you fail. Moreover, most of your success is not due to your own efforts. Other people play a huge role when it comes to your success. Understanding and acknowledging the importance other people play in your success will keep your ego in check.

Thank you for reading all the way to the end. I hope you find this information useful.