Ego Is The Enemy

Ryan Holiday

Rating: 8.1/10.0

“Fuck a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself” — Kendrick Lamar (meet the grahams)

I think the last line of Kendrick Lamar’s meet the grahams surprisingly does a great job capturing the premise of Ryan Holiday’s Ego Is The Enemy.

When you think about a delusional person, who comes to mind? A crazy relative at a family reunion? One of those nutheads on r/PublicFreakout or r/LinkedinLunatics? An American politician with orange hair? All valid answers… but I’m willing to bet you didn’t think of yourself.

That’s right, you delusional dimwit. Ok that was a bit aggressive, sorry about that. I’ll switch to first person. I’m delusional.

• I want things I don’t have, but feel no better after obtaining them
• I compare myself to others to determine my own opinion of myself
• I cave in to short term pleasures with harmful long term consequences
• I lie to myself and paint a picture of reality that favours comfort over accuracy
• I am in the pursuit of happiness, yet I sabotage myself every step of the way

Ego is the enemy because it is precisely this “unhealthy belief in our own importance” that makes us delusional. And it is this same belief that prevents you from recognizing your own delusion.

Ego Is The Enemy is a collection of short chapters, each containing a piece of wisdom about how you can better fight your own ego, complemented by a historical anecdote. I’ve tried to synthesise ideas from my favourite chapters into 3 points:

1. Be a sponge. Absorb everything around you. Be self-motivated. Learn one topic today so you can move onto a new topic tomorrow. Learn for the challenge it presents. Be self-critical. “As our island of knowledge grows, so [should] the shore of our ignorance.”
2. Sweep the floors. Just like your house gets dirtier every day you don’t clean it, your skills will decay if you don’t refine them. Success breeds ego. Ego breeds complacency. Sweep the floors to keep your ego in check.
3. Earn it, don’t fake it. Be the least important person in the room until you can change that with results. Expect the worst and let your success be a constant surprise. Ignore the fakers, they’ll be found out eventually. And don't be like the people who confuse true modesty for the insincere game of self-depreciation.

Your potential, the absolute best you’re capable of — that’s the metric to measure yourself against. Your standards are. Winning is not enough. People can get lucky and win. People can be assholes and win. Anyone can win. But not everyone is the best possible version of themselves.

IRL Update (11/13/2024): Taylor Swift in Toronto tomorrow. I'll have to walk through Union Station on my commute home an hour before the concert starts. Interested to see just how crowded this city can get :P

• ^Update: Wow super organized, great job Toronto!