Ego is the enemy by Ryan Holiday: book reflection.

 

EGO is the ENEMY book I have read it.

kindly I would like to share with you a bit of reflection about the Eggo is the enemy book that I have read. wish you enjoy reading it. let's start.....

“WHEREVER YOU ARE, EGO IS TOO,”  says Ryan Holiday

Ego is the Enemy, published in 2016, is Rayan Holidays' fourth book and international bestseller. This is the second book in which he draws the principles of stoicism while his previous book, The obstacles is the way, focused on overcoming life’s external obstacles. Holiday’s background is media strategies.

The book is structured to be short, and easy to split into three parts: Aspiration, Success, and Failure. These being three phases that one invariably finds themselves in at any given moment, often alternating between them over the course of life. As the book says, “Aspiration leads to success (and adversity). Success creates its own adversity (and hopefully, new ambitions). And adversity leads to aspiration and more success. It’s an endless loop”

In addition to these three phases, there are a few major themes running through each part of the book, as well as how people can successfully conquer their egos in each phase.

Three key themes from Ego is the Enemy

1: Always Be a Student

The greatest leaders and wisest thinkers have all been students of life. They possessed a unique curiosity about life and had the discipline to constantly be learning. Many people get overly confident in one area and forget that they know so little about everything else. The ego tries to build identification with success by holding you from learning more but learning is a requirement, especially in the beginning. The power of being a student is not just that it is an extended period of instruction; it also places the ego and ambition in someone else’s hands.

Today, books are cheaper than ever, courses are free, and access to teachers is no longer a barrier—technology has done away with that. There is no excuse for not getting your education, and the information we have before us is so vast, there is no excuse for ever ending that process either.

“A true student is like a sponge. Absorbing what goes on around him, filtering it, latching on to what he can hold. A student is self-critical and self-motivated, always trying to improve his understanding so that he can move on to the next topic, the next challenge. A real student is also his own teacher and his own critic. There is no room for ego there”.

2: Live With Purpose Not Passion

Having a purpose will help you accomplish life-changing. Holiday says the first thing you need to do is ask yourself, “Why do I do what I do?” If you don’t have an answer to this question, you should take some time to figure it out. Passion typically masks a weakness. Its breathlessness and impetuousness and franticness are poor alternatives for discipline, mastery, strength and purpose and perseverance.

“Passion is form over function. Purpose is function, function, function. The critical work that you want to do will require your deliberation and consideration. Not passion. Not naïveté”.

3: Talk and think less: do more

Talking is easy, everyone does it, but silence is rare in today’s world. Your ego tells you that you need recognition from others, but real confidence doesn’t need to talk, it produces work. Talking destroys action. Sit quietly and work. Let go of the distractions of social media and of the news, and focus on your work. Watch how much better you get.

“You know that all things require work and that work might be quite difficult. But do you really understand? Do you have any idea just how much work there is going to be? Not work until you make a name for yourself, but work, work, work forever and ever.”

My massage 

Finally, the book is very huge and more important topics are in it. I can’t summarise all its contents in this short blog. I suggest you should read it more,  I promise you will benefit. Furthermore, to build new habits you must get friends to challenge that habits.