Ego is the Enemy

The Book in 1 Sentence

Passion is not the goal, purpose is the goal to control ego.

Brief Review

This book does a great job of presenting both personal and historical stories about times when ego was the mind killer and control of it was what lead to something great. Just like in Stillness Is the Key, Ryan presents what seems like easy concepts in a way that are digestible for daily content.

Why I Read this book

I read stillness is the key, and I am always working to better myself.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I really enjoy this book. I'll be honest, the first chapter of this book, my mind was running. I couldn't tell you what it is about, but overall I think the information is full of cautionary tales of real life individuals that made MASSIVE mistakes in live due to their ego.

I think you can take a lot away from the chapter divisions and the main quotes from each one.

• Aspire
  • Talk, talk, talk
    • This chapter discusses the idea that everyone talks "I am doing great things," but they don't have actions to back up the talk because the ego is saying talking is moving the needle.
  • Don't Be Passionate
    • Passion is great, but doesn't put you in the seat when it is hard. Purpose is what will make you continue to work even when it is hard.
• Success
  • Always be a student
    • "Continue learning, stay humble, and keep that ego in check to achieve more success."
  • Entitlement, Control, and Paranoia
    • Do not assume "I know the way."
• Failure
  • Alive Time or Dead Time?
    • "Dead time" is when nothing is happening, when someone is being passive and waiting for inspiration or something else to get things going. "Alive time" is when someone uses this time for learning, planning, or otherwise keeping things moving.
  • Maintain Your Own Scorecard
    • Ego will make you lose no matter what. You have to create your own scorecard to know what is a win for you.

Like I said, this book has great information, but it is a lot of it should be something we know, but obviously that damn ego keeps getting in the way. To point it out a bit, I almost wasn't sure what to put here since a lot should have been stuff we should know, but I forgot it while trying to write this.

How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

I was recently on a podcast about mentorship and mentorship culture, as well as wrote an open letter about it and talking about it people have been a great experience, and it is something I very passionate about. However, I am looking to expand that mindset into a side project, and it is good to check myself before continuing.

Rating

This is a 6. It is a little light and a little self-helpy at times, but I really think it can give you a good perspective and something just to chew on as you move through life, specifically those who are looking to move forward in their career relatively soon. I enjoyed it and would read it again at time, but I think I'd rather read the source material than this book specifically.

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