I think the last line of Kendrick Lamar's meet the grahams — "Fuck a rap battle, this a long life battle with yourself" — 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. I'll use myself as an example:
- I lie to myself and paint a picture of reality that favours comfort over accuracy
- I want things I don't have, but feel no better after obtaining them
- I cave in to short term pleasures knowing the harmful long term consequences
Now some of this is the fault of our brains which have evolved for an environment we no longer live in, but much of it is my ego. Ego is the enemy because the "unhealthy belief in our own importance" both makes us delusional and prevents us from recognizing our 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:
- Be a sponge. Absorb everything around you. Learning requires you to set aside your ego: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears". Learning also helps you fight your ego: "As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance."
- 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.
- 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.
The success we achieve, especially if it comes early or in abundance, puts us in an unusual place... The farther you travel down that path of accomplishment... the more often you meet other successful people who make you feel insignificant... It's a cycle that goes on ad infinitum, while our brief time on earth—or the small window of opporutnity we have here—does not. So we unconsciously pick up the pace to keep up with others. But what if different people are running for different reasons? What if there is more than one race going on? ... Only you know the race you're running. That is, unless your ego decides the only way you have value is if you're better than, have more than, everyone everywhere.
IRL Update: 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