Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday Book Summary

Number one plus minus equals former UFC fighter and trainer Frank Shamrock shares this idea of plus minus equals how in your life you need people who are pluses people who are better than you who can teach you people who are minuses people who are less than you that you can teach and lastly equals people on your same level that can challenge you cause you to grow your ego is tamed with the pluses because you realize you're not the best the minuses help you give and contribute and the equals are people who challenge you keep you from being complacent idea

Number two don't be passionate that's right you heard me don't be passionate when I read this in the book I was so thrown off because all the gurus tell you passion is your life force your energy but here do they discuss John Wooden one of the best basketball coaches of all time and how one of his best players Kareem abdul-jabbar described him as dispassionate

John Wooden wasn't the type of coach for rah-rah speeches and inspiration he saw those extra emotions as a burden his philosophy was about being in control doing your job and never being passion's slave too often we get flashes of inspiration I'm going to be the youngest ever

I'm going to be the best ever and this enthusiasm blinds us to the reality of all the work that needs to be done we seem to hear the passion about successful people but we forget that that same passion was in many failures as well the author believes that purpose is more important than passion purpose de-emphasizes the eye purpose is about something larger than

yourself when you have more purpose and less passion you're likely going to take more action ask questions like what do I need to do right now what is the best use of my time what is one step that I can take to move myself forward today the author says leave passion for amateurs make it about what you must do and say not about what you care about and what you wish the beat Idea

Number three always be a student the power of being a student is not the extended period of time of instruction but it puts your ego in the hands of someone else when you're letting someone teach you you're saying that that person has more skill than

you they know more than you and this humbles you and tames your ego the art of taking feedback is such a critical skill in life particularly the harsh and critical advice because what often happens is that we get advice from our family our friends even from our own brain telling us we're great when we're not and if we become a student and stay a student that's the best chance we have to learn and reach our potential Idea

Number four get out of your own head Plato has described and what we do as feasting on our own thoughts we have this grand vision in our mind of who we're going to be what we're going to do with our life in the future and this prevents us from taking action to make that dream a reality one of the examples in the book was a politician running for the governor of California in the 1930s he publishes a book titled by governor of California and how

I ended poverty this was written in past tense yet not won the election yet and he was a long shot to win observers at the time noticed the effect publishing this book had not on the voters because he lost in a landslide but the effect it had on the politician all of a sudden he lost interests lost his drive because in his mind he was already the governor what's the point of doing all the work to actualize that dream when you already have the fantasy in your head our imagination is a valuable asset

But it can be dangerous when it runs wild that politician lost his drive because he was living in a passionate fiction instead of an actual reality it's better to get out of your own head and stay in tune with the reality to know what type of work you need to do to stay hungry stay focused and take the action steps to actualize your dreams Idea

Number five swallow your pride Genghis Khan said if you can't swallow your pride you can't lead pride take some miner accomplishment and makes it into a big one for example I published a couple eat books and I've had a couple of them that are bestsellers I use the air quotes because it's not a New York Times bestseller

It was just an e-book on Amazon that was a best-seller in its particular category for a couple days now I've blown this up and I think myself feel more important than I really am and I'm sure you've done this from time to time to pride blunts the very instrument

We need in order to succeed our mind our ability to learn to adapt to be flexible to form relationships all of this is dulled by pride when you're feeling prideful the best question that ask yourself is what am I missing now that a humble person might see there's a simple test to tell if someone's humble because a humble person listens and observes a humble person also is constantly improving Idea

Number six the golden mean this is about finding balance Aristotle described virtue and excellence as points on a spectrum how the center is where you need to be where the golden mean lies is difficult to tell but if you don't find it you risk the dangers of the extremes in every case in life

It's hard work finding that intermediate finding that middle ground the author gives a metaphor of driving a car he says endless ambition is easy it's easy for one to put the foot down on the gas to focus on themselves to become a personal success

but it's also easy to be complacent to take your foot off the gas to avoid your problems to blame others and just stay right where you are what's difficult is to apply the right amount of pressure at the right time in the right way for the right period of time in the right car going in the right direction I did

Number seven alive and dead time according to Robert Greene there are two types of time a live time and dead time dead time are when people are passive and waiting a lifetime or when people are learning taking action and utilizing every second of their lives Malcolm X in prison is an example of how someone used a life time

While in prison he spent just about every second in the library reading or in his bunk reading sometimes we reinvest in that behavior that got us in trouble in the first place for example Malcolm X while in prison could have strengthened his connections he could have become a better criminal

So don't waste a second of this precious life make sure you're learning taking action and utilizing every second that you have dead time comes in many forms I delete dreaming about the future plotting your revenge finding refuge in the distraction refusing to reflect on yourself and poor choices you might have made all these are examples of dead time deadtime is when we're controlled by our egos if we can let go of our ego now we can start living Idea

Number eight detached from the outcome there was a story in the book that was very sad it was a writer wrote a book tried to get it published and it was universally rejected he was so heartbroken by this news that he ended up committing suicide later on his mom found the manuscript and advocated on

Its behalf it eventually got published and even won a Pulitzer Prize detached from the outcome do the best work you can try to serve in the best capacity you can and let fate decide and remember just like that book sometimes what you have is great and it just takes time for people to realize it detach from the outcome Idea

Number 9 Katabasis Katabasis is a Greek word which translates to of going down and in Greek mythology there were several characters who had low points in their life they experienced depression of falling and in some cases literally went down to the underworld but when they emerge

It's with a heightened knowledge and understanding katabasis forces you to face reality and the truths in your life until you hit this low point you may surround yourself with distractions lie about what makes you happy and have a bunch of bad habits that are difficult to break katabasis is your breaking point whether it's being fired experiencing a break up having an embarrassing moment they all can lead to that low point in your life that propels you to your highest point your life Idea

Number 10 maintain your own scorecard warren buffett says to make a distinction between your inner scorecard and your external one winning is not enough anyone could win it but not everyone becomes the best version of themself

Here's the one benefit of being tough on yourself the author says a person who judges himself based on his own standards doesn't crave spotlight the same way as someone who lets applause dictate their success there you have it 10 best ideas from ego is the enemy by Ryan holiday highly recommend.

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