Often, we have to choose one over the other. These two things don’t always go together. We can either focus more on doing great things, or being a person who is highly recognized and rewarded. In this chapter, Holiday teaches us that as we strive towards success, we have two choices. Lastly, daydreaming can trick our brains to thinking that we’ve already accomplished our goals, which can lead to complacency.įocus more on doing than being. After daydreaming about our goals and sharing them to others, we can feel mentally exhausted and have little energy to actually work hard. Even more, overthinking and talking can deplete us of our willpower. While planning for the future is necessary, too much planning, talking, and thinking can distract us from the task at hand. Our ego likes to talk about our plans and how successful we’ll be, but does this actually accomplish anything. And if they maintain a ego, their current success may not last long.Īfter warning you of the dangers of ego with cautionary tales, Holiday writes about key attitudes, virtues, and behaviors we need to obtain/maintain success and persevere through adversity. If they had a big ego to begin with, they probably succeeded despite of it, not because of it. In fact, most often, it was actually their humility, work ethic, discipline, and coachability that led to their success. Just because an athlete develops a big ego after becoming successful doesn’t mean it was their ego that helped them accomplish their goals. However, as Holiday points out in this book, we shouldn’t mistake the byproducts of success with the causes of success. Often, we see their egos and assume that if we want to succeed like them, we need the same amount of pride, arrogance, and swagger. When we first set out to achieve our goals, we look to successful people for inspiration. If we’re not careful, we can allow our egos to sabotage our goals, prolong failure, and keep us from experiencing true happiness. And it can hurt us during times of adversity and failure. It can hurt us once we finally succeed in reaching our goals.
It can hurt us as we aspire towards our dreams. Here are the top lessons I learned from reading this book:Įgo can hurt us during any time in our lives.
In this book, Holiday teaches you how to manage your ego, reconnect with reality, and focus on making a real impact in the world.
While these books can be helpful, it’s great to balance them out with a book like Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. We’ve all read self-help books that are meant to improve our confidence and self-esteem.