Ego Is The Enemy - Ryan Holiday

By Izzy Afriyie

HERE IS MY REVIEW of Ryan Holiday’s book, Ego Is The Enemy:

This book is DIVINE!

The word ego generally has a negative connotation to it. However, believe it or not, I have listened to people I respected egotistically defend the importance of having an ego. They do so  without fully recognizing the unsustainable nature of it.

Throughout this book, Ryan outlines three areas in our lives where ego can prove damaging if left unchecked.

HERE ARE SOME POWERFUL LESSONS I LEARNED FROM THIS BOOK:
  1. Ambition;

With ego, the sense of self-worth is dependent on being better than others instead of an honest assessment of one’s potentials. The ego does the talk instead of doing. It  seeks to be recognized for, instead of having a strong sense of purpose. Lastly, the ego assumes the symptoms of success to be a success.

  1. Success;

When the goal is accomplished, the ego steps in to remind us of how special we are. By doing so it gradually weakens the will and drive that brought success in the first place. As a result, we stay in our comfort zone never looking to be challenged or to look stupid.  And we gradually lose sight of the principles that brought us success in the first place.

  1. Failure;

When we fail, that voice that creeps in to remind us of how unfair things are, how stupid we were for trying, or thinking we could succeed, that is the ego. The voice that provides us with ways we could run away from it all, that is ego! In the absence of ego, we recognize that a moment of failure is not our entire lives. Instead, we understand it to be only a moment in our lives. We gradually come to a place of self-awareness which is the way out and through.

Grab a copy of this book HERE!