Ego Is the Enemy

A truly interesting book. Lots of food-for-thought here. The wiring did get a little boring at times, but I feel that dividing it into sections and then small chapters helped. Looks like something I have to re-read to fully”get” it. So many parts of the writing struck home. It is so true that Ego truly is the Enemy. Something to keep in the back of my head, always. 

I cannot endorse his penchant for praising big-time capitalists, even though the book tends to be insightful.

At stoisismen er i vinden igjen, er visstnok takket være Ryan Holiday, og dømt ut fra denne boken er det med meget god grunn. Det er kapittel på kapittel med anekdoter, kjendiser og store tenkere i historien og nokså innlysende innsikter om egoismens farer. Og jeg liker det. Innlysende er bra når det er sant og godt skrevet, på en måte som får meg til å tro jeg tenker det for første gang☺️. Skikkelig god fiks livet ditt-bok!

We often act like we assume that maintaining an inflated ego is a necessary prerequisite for higher degrees of success. But in reality, more often then not, ego blinds our judgement to the point that we behave counterproductively.

This is a fair point that I hadn't really realized, but I think is healthy food for thought. So 5-stars for that.

Also, 5-stars for the author-read audiobook version, and for including the associated Tim Ferris Podcast interview of the author about this book at the end.

Deducted one star since I didn't find the individual exemplars that interesting or relatable; a lot of historical figures that I'm not that familiar with, whose stories were given what at times seemed like hollow unbalanced treatment.

I was fan of Ryan's work before but now I became a fan of him personally. Great book. A must read for everyone who ever achieved anything. I can especially recommend the audible version which has an additional interview pasted at the end which makes some reasoning behind the book even clearer.

Had to fight my sunk cost bias a whole lot but gave up after 50%. We need a rotten tomatoes to Goodreads' IMDb rating system ffs.

At times this book feels largely like a collection of biography book reports and inspirational quotes, but I think the overall lessons contained are vital. Very easy to read, if a bit shallow.

About the author:[a:Ryan Holiday 5775580 Ryan Holiday https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1340390663p2/5775580.jpg] is an editor-at-large for the New York Observer and former Director of Marketing at American Apparel. His other bestsellers include [b:Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator 13542853 Trust Me, I'm Lying Confessions of a Media Manipulator Ryan Holiday https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1340124369s/13542853.jpg 19107144] and [b:The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph 18668059 The Obstacle Is the Way The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph Ryan Holiday https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391440316s/18668059.jpg 26493723].About the book:[b:Ego Is the Enemy 27036528 Ego Is the Enemy Ryan Holiday https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459114043s/27036528.jpg 47077771] outlines the dangers of egotism and the strategies we can use to rein in our pride, using historical and cultural examples. From finding a mentor to learning how to delegate tasks, these blinks show us why staying grounded can secure future success.My Highlights:What's in it for me? Learn how to tame your ego.A moderate, healthy ego is often crucial to success in life. It allows us to engage in competition, convince others of our strengths and surpass our past achievements. All too often, however, when we experience success, our ego becomes inflated. Our perception can get clouded as our self-image rises above our view of others. We can become so confident that we overextend ourselves and end up paying for it. So, taming our pride is a crucial step – but how do we do that?Ego is the desire to gain recognition without working for it.Ego is the desire to get fame and recognition without doing the good deeds that are required for us to deserve it. While recognition may result from being successful, many people try to become famous before they achieve success.Unlike ego, ambition is based on a solid foundation of real achievements.While egoists chase after fame, ambitious people are driven by the will to excel in their field, regardless of whether they are congratulated and celebrated for their successes.Rein in your ego by reminding yourself that there's always more to learn.Ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus once said, “It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows.” This, again, relates to our ego. Our ego tells us that we're too clever to learn anything new, and while this assumption is a stubborn one, we can overcome it if we learn to humble ourselves. One way we can control our ego is by thinking of ourselves as students that never stop learning.Reminding yourself that there's always someone who's better than you.If you want to remind yourself that you've always got more to learn, you can find yourself a highly-skilled mentor. But working with someone more talented isn't the only way to stay grounded; you can also become a teacher.Pride makes us deaf to warnings and blind to things we could improve.Resting on our laurels is a result of our pride. Pride and ego aren't the same thing, but they definitely go hand-in-hand. Pride helps us justify our ego, making us feel like a single success is a sign of how special we are. We're too busy patting ourselves on the back to see that there's room for improvement, or that we could achieve even greater things. Pride doesn't just stop us from continuing to learn and achieve, it also makes us overly sensitive to criticism and deaf to warnings.Rather than face the fact that we're not the best in the world at what we do, many of us are more willing to fight anything that hurts our pride and ego.Keep your ego in check by learning to delegate tasks and trust your team.Do you have trouble trusting teammates or coworkers? Ever feel like you can't give them tasks to do because they just wouldn't do as good a job as you? These are some serious signs that your ego needs reining in. Try placing trust in other people's work – you and your team will benefit from it.Our ego tells us that we're the only ones who can do them right. By practicing delegation, you'll force yourself to trust and respect the work of others. You'll learn that other people's time might actually be put to better use on the tasks that you used to do, and you'll also see how useful your time can be when dedicated to new things.We owe much of our success to others, and shouldn't hog the praise for ourselves.Why do we love to think of our victories as ours alone? Whether we achieve success after tackling adversity or just through hard work, it's far too easy to let accomplishments go to our heads and let ourselves believe they were all our own doing.Rather than selfishly seeking out praise for yourself, why not share the accolades with others? Usually, they'll do the same for you in return.Thanking those who help you along the way will strengthen your own position. Your team will enjoy working with you and will perform better, and you'll continue attracting new coworkers, too.When you do your best and things don't work out, find out why so you can do better next time.If one of your great ideas gets rejected or you don't get the job you applied for, it's natural to feel frustrated. After all, our egos tell us that we're entitled to receive rewards – but the world doesn't always work in accordance with our plans. Sometimes, we don't get a promotion or close a sure deal, even though we did our best. So how do we confront this? Rather than feeling disappointed, we can start by acknowledging the work we've done and recognize that we can't always control the outcome of that work, or people's opinions of us. An unexpected result should be welcomed as an opportunity to honestly reflect on our performance. And on the other side, we should remember that lucky breaks are not the same as success that comes from hard work. So, again, we have to be honest with ourselves about our performance.Final summaryThe key message in this book: An ego is not something a person develops on purpose; it is a part of everyone's personality that develops naturally, especially in conjunction with success. An unchecked ego can end up being detrimental to your success, and you should take careful steps to ensure that it doesn't get out of control.

I don´t know if Holiday is much of an original thinker, but he´s clearly a formidable researcher and explainer- both valuable skills... and here he complies a great deal of timeless wisdom. Everyone can learn from what´s here, or at least be reminded...

Ryan Holiday puts forward a strong case on how self-awareness truly dictates our outcome, and an inflated ego can drive us into the ground. Examples are vast, and range from the mentality of UFC and football coaches, to modern and ancient military commanders.

No matter who he references, you have, are, or will eventually go through the things he cites or warns about. I highly recommend this book.

“Back to another popular old trope: Fake it 'til you make it. It's no surprise that such an idea has found increasing relevance in our noxiously bullshit, Nerf world. When it is difficult to tell a real producer from an adept self-promoter, of course some people will roll the dice and manage to play the confidence game. Make it so you don't have to fake it—that's they key.”

In a world based on our ego, this book is quite an eye-opener. It makes you think a lot about one's behavior and way of thinking, but also make you rethink a lot of the habits we all have in those social medias times. This book offers invaluable advices towards accomplishing real work, but also as to the way you behave everyday. It's one of those books where you highlight something in every single page and for me quite life changing and challenging. A must read for everyone nowadays.

I enjoyed The Obstacle is the Way but reading this book makes me think that Holiday is better at summarising other people's philosophy than he is at creating his own. Ego is the Enemy needed a stronger philosophical and psychological underpinning than effectively “ego is the opposite of humility”.