Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Ego Is the Enemy Reviews

• 
  Ivan Goh

  As a millennial myself, I see too many people around me drift by life wondering if there's any purpose to life. We are all delusional in a sense that we literally think the world should revolve around us. There a voice in our minds that scream out loud; "you deserve better!". We expect our bosses to pay us more, our spouses to love us more, our friends to be more generous to us, without us putting in the time and effort that is needed to build these kind of relationships.
  
  We change our jobs, our lovers, our friends as if we'll find the 'right' one. The next time round. We'll always be disappointed by the harsh reality. Reading Ryan's book help me deal with the existentialist crisis that I think I may be facing. In this book, I learnt 3 lessons that are the crystallised wisdoms from the stoics .
  
  We often think that successful people are like Aston Kutcher in the Movie, "Jobs", they are egoist manics that want to take control of everything. They are geniuses that have flashes of inspiration then work throughout the night, writing long stream-of-consciousness emails and putting pictures together as if they are making something. In reality, these people fail. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple for his erratic management style. The real people who are making things happen are people like Angela Merkel. She is plain, humble, polite to everybody (even to Putin). She makes Germany look good because she places her country's interest before her own.
  
  Success is defined very differently from the normal world in this book. It's not about the amount of money in your bank account, its not the clothes you wear, or the women that you have. Success is the peace of mind, knowing that you have given your best in advancing your purpose. Don't let the trappings of the commercial world get to you. When you achieve small progress, society lavishes praise and money on you, making you feel special. That is Ego taking control. Redefine success in your manner. You have a choice to do the right thing and should do the right thing even when you can get away not doing it. That is what true success looks like.
  
  It's often not enough to be passionate about something. Do you remember a time when you were extremely passionate about something, then losing interest in the end? That is what passion looks like. It is steam blowing out of a kettle. It blunts our ability to objectively assess things. Replace the hot and steamy passion with solid cold purpose. Like a cold stab of marble, we slowly carve it into what we want to be, revealing the beauty within. In life, we are often told that we have two choices, to be somebody or to do something. To do something means that you will often not get recognised. You will fail a lot of times and feel like giving up. That moment is when true character is formed. It's not about what you can get away with, but what you should and shouldn't do. These moments are training our character, and as what martial artist, Daniele Bolelli said, " training is like sweeping the floor...Everyday the dust comes back. Everyday we must sweep." When our character is formed then we can use it to sculpt the cold hard marble block into a beautiful statue.
  
  Commit to a greater purpose and lose the Ego. Hold yourself to a higher standard of character and performance. The obstacle will reveal the way.
  
  
• 
  João Fernandes

  Everybody who knows me knows that I am a big fan of Ryan’s work. But when I read that his new book was about ego I got a bit fearful for him. I’ve read many, many books that approach this same theme and 90% of them fail miserably at addressing it. Not only this is one hell of a complex theme, this is also a very vague and elusive subject. I feared that Ryan would fail for the first time in his career as an author.
  
  But in the first few pages I was proved wrong. Thank God, I thought, this guy is even a better writer than I knew he was. I don’t say this very often but I was impressed by the clarity and simplicity that Ryan addressed such a mind twisting subject. Ego is the Enemy is perhaps the most straight forward book on the subject and a truly humbling lesson on how to live a sober, stoic life. If in his previous book , Ryan addressed many of the stoic philosophies and how those can be applied to our daily lives, in The Ego is The Enemy the reader can only be left in humble contemplation and to question his own life.
  
  While reading it I felt a certain ego resistance to deny and not read it to the end. I knew that the book purpose was this and that the small but precise hits to the ego were addressing issues that I had forgotten or simply put on the side.
  
  I was reminded once again to not fall in the trap of doing too much, too passionately, too soon and to not use that as an excuse to burn myself out and cope with frustration. Passion can be a dangerous element and here is where the sobriety of a student’s life come into play: it is all work, it is all an end on itself and the rewards are the path, not on some outer goal or reward.
  
  Fruit of Ryan’s own study of Stoic philosophy there are also great pieces on the principle of Amor Fati, loving your own fate: 1) The disruptive moments are there for a reason, more likely than not you are unconsciously asking for those, you are behaving in a way that is not healthy or you are leading your life in a way that is not good for you, sometimes only when you hit rock bottom you become truly capable of achieve what you truly desire.
  
  2) The fact that you are not one little special brighter star. You are basically like everybody else, you are not entitled to anything and you need to remind yourself that we are all nothing more than interstellar dust. Yes, you are part of something way bigger than you, you are part of a universe that doesn’t really care about your little problems. Want to feel this: contemplate the ocean, meditate in a silence and listen to all the sounds around you, walk in nature for hours, look directly to the eyes of an animal and see your face reflected on it, watch this video of Andromeda Galaxy or witness true beauty. You will feel part of the All. Freud called this the oceanic feeling.
  
  And lastly Ryan presents us with the most important lesson of all: Always love. Love your work, love your family, love your pet, love yourself, love everything that you don’t consider as yourself, love your enemies, love the failures, the good moments and the bad moments, love everything, love all, always love.
  
  If you would like to put your ego in check, this book is for you. Pre-Order It like I did.
  
  This review is part of a complete article on "The Ego Is The Enemy", which was published here:
  http://adventurousartist.com/index.ph...
• 
  Danielle

  It was a struggle to make it through this book, which is a shame because this is a concept that I can really get behind.
  
  "Ego Is the Enemy" is a series of platitudes, sometimes actually useful, with varying relevance to the overall theme. Ryan Holiday uses "ego" as a substitute for human vice in general, which is probably why the book is so meandering and occasionally preachy. The whole thing seemed like a pep talk he is giving himself in the mirror. I gave it two stars for the inclusion of interesting historical anecdotes.
  
  There are many other books on this subject. Don't buy this one.
• 
  Tanu

  "Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive."
  
  Ryan Holiday defines ego as an unhealthy belief in our own importance. Arrogance. Self-centred ambition. 
  
  I was a person who used to think that I don't have any ego, why should I read this book? But I was completely wrong, there is an innate ego in each one of us. The writer has explained this in the form of examples. He also explains how if you can control your mind and ego you can literally control anything in this world. The book is divided into 3 parts; ASPIRE, SUCCESS AND FAILURE.
  
  Ego truly is the enemy. The enemy of a purposeful life. The enemy of self-growth and the enemy of being a better human being. The author's insights carry a lot of resonance and the book is helpful for shifting the mindset toward the things that matter in life. Definitely going to read more of his books.
  
  I love books that teach tangible skills, but books that make you contemplate your moral fibre and strive to improve as a person are even better. 
  
  Grab your copy
  here.
• 
  Mark Wickens

  Identifying an enemy is supposed to be the first step toward defeating it. But Ryan Holiday doesn't define his enemy in any fundamental way, nor do we learn the principle behind its alleged dangers. Instead, the author throws every mistaken, delusional, pathological, and immoral motivation into a grab bag and calls that the ego. We learn only by example, through a series of biographical vignettes, that people who are narcissistic, vainglorious, and self-absorbed come to miserable ends, while success and contentment are the rewards of those who focus on reality, know their own capabilities, and don't succumb to the allure of fame.
  
  This wouldn't be so bad—though I wonder who among those who would read a book with this title needs such lessons—but the confusion over what the ego is leads to many mistaken pieces of advice. An example of this is the bizarre admonition to not let passion motivate you in achieving your goals. Emotions emanating from the ego are apparently always uncontrollable, irrational urges for Holiday, so it's impossible for passion to be based in reality and rational values.
  
  
  Ego Is the Enemy is full of improper conflations, false dichotomies, and general confusion. If you want the antidote, read
  The Fountainhead. There, you'll see what a real egoist looks like, and what ego-denial consists of and leads to.
  
  More thoughts later:
  
  Holiday treats the ego like a medieval monk treats sex.
  
  There is no shortage of things related to sex that are bad: promiscuity, STDs, nymphomania, unwanted pregnancy, pornography addiction, etc. But a rational person does not look at these problems and counsel chastity to the general public. That’s because sex is not bad. Confusions, errors, psychological disorders — these are bad.
  
  Holliday wants you to fight your ego at every step because some people make errors, have delusions, and are immoral when it comes to how they view and conduct themselves. This advice is as mistaken and dangerous as the monk’s. And will lead to as miserable a life.
• 
  Emma Sea

  2021: I've read it three times now, so it must be speaking to me more than I thought it did the first time. 3.5 stars.
  
  2019: 3 stars. I liked it more this time. Now onto Stillness is Key.
  
  2017: 2 stars: I'm entirely unsure why this is getting such glowing reviews. It's fine. It's a perfectly good book. My rating reflects me going in after all the hype, expecting new insights, and finding none. Is the idea of embracing humility and beginner's mind really so refreshing?
• 
  Lucas Carlson

  This book is absolutely full of amazing anecdotes loosely tied together in three sections: Aspire, Success, and Failure. If you are looking for inspiration to get you through a pit of despair, and can't stand empty platitudes, this book is for you. This will go on my shelf to re-read for sure.
• 
  Krystal

  This was SUCH a great read, and so easy to digest!
  
  

  And then Boyd concluded with words that would guide that young man and many of his peers for the rest of their lives. "To be or to do? Which way will you go?"

  
  
  There are so many brilliant words of wisdom backed by the lives lived by many famous people throughout history and through to today. All of these ideas are so relevant and adaptable to every story.
  
  The notion is simple: The only thing holding you back from being great is your Ego.
  
  I love the way this book talks about greatness and purpose - how you don't have to have great ideas, you don't have to be a genius, you don't have to be inspired to change the world. You just have to find what YOUR purpose is. If your purpose is being an accountant, go for it - but do it to the best of your ability, and embrace everything that comes with it. Do things for the right reasons. At the core of everything, be a good person.
  
  It will be hard to swallow for some - particularly super successful people having trouble getting out of their own way. To be honest, this is another one of those books where the people who don't appreciate what its saying are the people who probably need it most.
  
  This book just sums everything up so intelligently. I want to talk about what the ego is and why its our enemy to give you an idea, but this book does it so well that my paraphrasing would hardly do it justice.
  
  I loved reading this. I loved challenging my own thoughts and actions. I loved thinking about the ways I could overpower my own ego and further grow myself. I loved sharing paragraphs on Instagram (lol).
  
  This was a mind-expanding book. I loved every second of it.
  
  It's relatively short, too, and the chapters are brief, to the point, and use brilliant, interesting anecdotes to highlight some very insightful points.
  
  Highly recommend, and likely to be a 2021 fave.
• 
  Valeria Lipovetsky

  Listened to the book on Audible! This was a best-seller and loved by many but I just couldn’t get into it. Let’s start with what I did like: exposure to certain people throughout history who’s stories I didn’t know..that’s it 😅. I think if you’re very new to the concept of ego and want to learn how it manifests itself in different people (high ranked, successful, entrepreneurs)- this book can be for you but you definitely won’t learn anything new...I feel like the examples he gives are things that hopefully you know about already (humility, respect etc) . I personally didn’t feel I got any fresh perspective on the subject and was put off by the manner he presented it..Its a 2/5 ⭐️ for me.
• 
  Simon Eskildsen

  Ego Is The Enemy starts off with a strong testament: The type of people who tend to succeed early, tend to be the same kind of people who are in danger of ego taking the predominant voice in their actions. As your body of accomplishments grow, your ego may follow, installing itself in you as an arrogance. Arrogance is often confused with power and self-confidence, both by the person, and by people around them. Ego is a soothing voice. It's comforting. Pursuing great work, in arts, business or sports is a terrifying endeavor. Ego will justify not doing so, reminding us of our past great accomplishments. Replacing our uncertainty with self-absorption. It will tell us exactly what we want to hear, when we want to hear it. This is extremely dangerous. Instead of sitting with our heads down, and getting work done, the ego will lead us in the direction of the work that is more public. More easily recognized. It will take all the short term leaps it can.
  
  But what does ego know? The ego was built by accomplishments that predated the strong ego. It doesn't know anything about accomplishing success. Instead, it provides us with a great recipe for how to ruin it. Ego is what causes Kanye to go from the medium that built his ego, music, to fronts he's convinced he can succeed in. Fashion. Arguably one of the most competitive, chaotic industries in the world. Kanye is convinced he can succeed here, but he is not. He is letting his ego carry from one accomplishment, to the other. It is not the rational, heads-down, humble, self-aware self that is driving this, it's the ego. Talent, skill and confidence is not rare. Humility, diligence and self-awareness are.
  
  When let the ego subdue, you will fall into traps of accomplishment. Research shows that goal visualization is important, but at a certain point our brains start to confuse it with actual progress. When I read this, it terrified me, because I am working on a project that has high complexity, high risks and high uncertainty. I spend a lot of time talking with people, collecting information, but how much am I confusing the action of explaining my goal, talking with people, with actual progress? How do I know the difference between the two? Am I talking to them because I want to show them this great project I will do? Am I having the meeting for validation of the ego, or am I having it because I legitimately need information?
  
  Ego actively prevents us from getting better. We know about unknown-unknowns, we know about known unknowns, we know about known-knowns. What people often leave out, are the unknown-knowns. These are our assumptions. Our stereotypes. Our biases. This is our most dangerous vice. The ego completely ignores this. How will we turn anything upside down, if we cannot question our assumptions?
  
  Holiday describes the dangers of passion. There is a survival bias present in the world of passion, where we see all the successes that come from it, but not the order of magnitude of failures that lie behind each success. They are invisible. It doesn't surface when someone takes a loan in their house, maxes our their credit cards and uses all their SO's savings to chase an idea. It surfaces when that succeeds, but never when it fails. This is the other side of the medal of passion. The ego loves passion, because it's a blindfolding tool it can use.
  
  The book touches on the issue of money: by default, we will always want more. If we don't set ourselves a target, getting more is the easiest path forward. But money comes with significant downsides. You may accumulate habits on the hedonic treadmill that causes you to not rely on this money. This means you may have to say yes to things in the future that you don't actually want to do. You need targets and metrics, not constant accumulation of money, which usually follows from increasing accumulation of expectations from other people. At this point, you've said yes to money over your own freedom. Find poise, not pose.
  
  What is the ego? Holiday is not referring to the Freudian ego. He uses the term to describe the part of you that is always striving for recognition. The part of you that always has an excuse. The part of you that prevents you from getting done what you need to get done. It's not a power that corrupts, that would be too simple. Instead, it is a force that fragments. It closes options. It mesmerizes. It clouds your mind, and puts blindfolds on you. It decreases your perspective. It makes you see what you want to see. Ego is the default choice, because it's soothing. That is precisely why we must be cognizant of it, and counter-balance it. In every situation, ask yourself who is acting. Is it you, your goals, your vision, your long-term accomplishments, and your confidence? Or is it your ego?
  
  Ego is the enemy. That is a sentence I'll repeat to myself after reading this book. This is an extremely important book that I believe I read at the right time. I'm extremely grateful for this book, which is only something that happens every 20-40 books I read.
• 
  Josh Steimle

  I don't have any tattoos and never will, but I can easily understand why Ryan Holiday has "Ego is the Enemy" tattooed on one forearm, and the title of his last book "The Obstacle is the Way" tattooed on the other. Words mean things, and when certain words are committed to memory and are repeated in certain types of situations they change behavior, and thereby can change the course of a life. If you read a book and don't remember anything about it, its effects are muted. Ryan has made sure the lessons he's learned writing these books won't be forgotten, and I'm doing my best to "tattoo" these words onto my brain, because those words, along with the context of the books backing them up, is benefitting my life.
  
  Perhaps this book is especially appealing to me because I'm a Mormon, and we Mormons are constantly admonished by our leaders to beware of pride (see
  https://www.lds.org/general-conferenc...). Reading Ryan's book was a bit like listening to a talk at my church, albeit without so many spiritual references, instead referencing statements by stoics and other philosophers, although one thing Ryan and Ezra Taft Benson both have in common is that they both quoted C.S. Lewis.
  
  Ego is the enemy because when you think you know everything, you can't learn. If you can't learn, you can't improve and you're stuck where you are, or in the language of the Bible, you're damned. Damnation is little more than a lack of progression, and the only thing that keeps us from progression is ego, or pride. We might think other people keep us from progressing, but Ryan shows how some of the greatest thinkers progressed the most while in the most debilitating circumstances, like Viktor Frankyl whose famous ideas expressed in his book Man's Search for Meaning were developed while he was being starved and tortured in a Nazi concentration camp.
  
  Yes, ego is the enemy, and this book is a good start to arm yourself for the battle.
• 
  Youghourta

  رغم أن كلمات العنوان قليلة (والتي يُمكن ترجمتها إلى "الأنا هو العدو”) إلّا أنها تحمل معاني كبيرة.
  
  الكتاب يُحاول تسليط الضّوء على المخاطر التي ستحدّق بك بسبب الأنا، كيف تتجنّبها، وكيف تنهض من جديد إن تمكّن الأنا منك وتمكّن من إيقاعك أرضًا.
  
  هذا ثالث كتاب أقرأه لرايان هوليداي، تقريبًا يتّبع نفس أسلوب الكتاب السّابق* (العقبة هي الطريق)، أحيانا يبدو لي الأسلوب غير مُناسب، بحكم أنه عبارة عن فصول صغيرة نسبيًا بدون ترابط مباشر (أو تسلسل منطقي واضح) فيما بينها. يعني قد تتساءل وأنت في مُنتصف الكتاب "ما الذي قرأته أو ما الذي أتذكّره من بداية الكتاب" دون أن تجد إجابة واضحة في ذهنك،ما لم تكن تدوّن ملاحظات (على الأقل عناوين الفصول) لدى قراءتها.
  الكتاب جميل ومفيد، من حيث أنه "يغمرك" بأدلة وأمثلة حول حالات لعب فيها الأنا دورًا سيّئا في حياة بعض الشّخصيات.
  قد لا تتذكّر كل حرف (أو كل فصل) قرأته في الكتاب، وقد لا تستذكر جميع أفكاره بعد الفراغ منه، لكن سيؤثّر فيك داخليًا (إن سمحت له بذلك) وسيساعدك على تقييد جماح الأنا (إن كنت ترغب في ذلك).
  
  
  
  *: The Obstacle Is the Way
• 
  Krishna Chaitanya

  As I've mentioned on one of my other review's on Ryan Holiday's books, it's more beneficial if the reader gains knowledge on one subject matter rather than reading small tidbits of information sprinkled all over the self-help book on various issues or concerns. Ryan Holiday's previous work I've read focused on Obstacles and this one focuses on Ego and how to overcome it, work with it or much worse how to avoid getting consumed by it.
  
  The book is divided into three parts: Aspire, Success and Failure. Ego is always in us in every stage of our life either dormant or active and this book teaches us to be,
  1 - Humble in our aspirations
  2 - Gracious in our success
  3 - Resilient in our failures
  
  Each chapter is filled with experiences of famous people (or notoriously famous people) and celebrities, how they battled in tough situations and didn't give in to Ego and in few other scenarios how Ego tore an individual into pieces and monstrously laughed at their downfall in career and family alike.
  
  The take away is that, these experiences help us in learn from their and our mistakes and work with ego by being a humble student and constant learner without taking pride in small successes and not letting Ego take over.
• 
  Lusius

  “While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive, visionary geniuses who remade the world in their image with sheer, almost irrational force, I’ve found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition.” – from the Prologue
  
  Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.
  
  The Ego is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures like Howard Hughes, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, all of whom reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.
  
  But why should we bother fighting ego in an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion? Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”
• 
  Ahmed Zaki

  I was gifted this book by a friend. Though not a fan of the self-improvement genre, this book came strongly recommended, thus, encouraged by the raving reviews, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try.
  
  In a book which allegedly addresses egocentricity, I could not but see the irony with its prelude in which the author talks in length about his achievements! In any case, he proceeds to guarantee an insightful read, merged with insightful historical subtext and a tinge of mythology. Perhaps I have been mistaken, maybe I should not tar a whole genre with the same brush.
  
  To my dismay, it turned out to be anything but substantial. The messages are articulated superficially with extremely poor prose and an agonising flow between the chapters. The incorporation of history very badly juxtaposed, I felt like I was being spoon fed ideas which only a person devoid of any common sense would not have reached.
  
  Alas, at just past the quarter mark, I decided to spare myself and drop this
• 
  Paul

  I had trouble reading this book. I quit a couple times, thinking that there was something fraudulent about the book, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
  
  After finishing the book and reading a little about the author, I had a sense that it carried the enthusiastic voice of a fundamentalist preacher, a salesman, or a college football coach at halftime. First of all, he never defines the word "ego," which makes the fundamental interpretation of the book subject to an enormous variety of subjective definitions.
  
  I looked up ego in the Oxford English Dictionary, and even that is somewhat vague about exactly what it is. It could be defined in the Freudian sense as the arbiter of id and superego, but I don't think the word's popular definition is the Freudian one. I'm guessing that Holiday's definition is the equivalent of pride, hubris, or some word in that area.
  
  The best quote I could find in the OED was from J.D. Salinger in Franny and Zooey: "Y0u keep talking about ego. My God, it would take Christ himself to decide what's ego and what isn't."
  
  As I read it, the book is like a latter-day Elbert Hubbard: pithy aphorisms about ego, each illustrated by a bad historical character (its presence in) or a good one (its absence in). It's a little too pat for my tastes: little homilies about good and bad people and how the presence or lack of ego was instrumental in their success or failure. One early example in history is Belisarius, the highest ranking commander of the Byzantine Empire under Justinian, who "saved Western civilization on at least three occasions." Unfortunately he acquired the wrath of the paranoid Justinian, who relieved him of his command and named him Commander of the Royal Stable. Evidently he couldn't shovel fast enough because he was stripped of his wealth, blinded, and forced to beg in the streets to survive. But he didn't complain; he was just doing what was right. He had one last sh0t at greatness when his honor was restored and he again saved the empire as a white-haired, blind man. Yet he was again wrongly suspected of plotting against the emperor and ended up impoverished and disabled. Yet in the famous(?) Longfellow poem he said, "This, too, can bear;--I still am Belisarius."
  
  This wasn't much of a reward for his lack of ego. It sounds like "I am Spartacus," or Frank Sinatra singing "I did it my way," which sounds like the antithesis of humility.
  
  Later, the author quotes the Rev. William A. Sutton, who said "we cannot be humble except by enduring humiliation." He left out the quote from Sutton's possible descendent Willie Sutton, the moderately infamous bank robber of the 1930s, who, when asked why he robbed banks, said, "That's where the money is."
  
  By the time I finished the book, I wanted to get in there and score the winning touchdown--even though I've never played organized football in my life.
  
  So, though I agree with him that ego, as he defines it, is a bad thing and should be stamped out whenever it raises its hideous head, I still felt like I had just sat through a long Sunday School lesson. Even though the author claims to be a Stoic, I think he could fit nicely in any number of business self-help seminars or moderately Christian gatherings. The kind where you rush out afterwards with some tchotkes and a new outlook on life, awaiting him to sell you his next book.
• 
  Ayush

  Do you feel 'your work' is better than others when there is evidence to the contrary ?
  Do you think grunt work is for 'small people' and you should always be the one producing 'big ideas' ?
  Do you often chalk out grand future plans in your mind without paying due respect to the present ?
  Do you tell yourself stories to cover up your faults so that your ego is not hurt ?
  Are you passionate to the extent that its a crime to expect anything less than perfection ?
  Do you believe you are a 'know all' and jump on every slight opportunity to correct others ?
  Do you believe power, fame and control is always greater than love and peace ?
  Do you uncritically feel jealous at other's success and believe that they had it easy ?
  Do you even have your definition of success or is it all dependent on others validation ?
  
  If you are afflicted and have doubts about any of the points above, then Ryan Holiday's : Ego is the Enemy should be your first go-to book. This book at 170 odd pages is simply too sumptuous to miss and has the potential to alter your perception of yourself and life forever. Atleast, it did for me. Often, we readers and writers live too much in our heads, imagine and perceive scenarios that are not grounded in reality . With others(both friends and enemies) hesitating to correct us so as to not offend, it becomes a a lost cause and worse, a permanent trait in you that continues to hold you back. Ryan, (who I must point out at just 31 has already had a heck of career) tackles this egotistic tendency head - on by elucidating instances of egotistic failures and blunders at the highest order by the some of the most regarded and famous personalities ranging from former presidents to Military Marshals to workaholic CEO's to legendary conquerors. He clearly brings out the universality of the Ego, on how it intoxicates everybody from those who achieve early success to those who delude themselves and has a word of advice for each phase of your life. But, with so many interpretations of historical events and journeys flying around, its easy to question how did these personalities reach to the top in the first place with their massive egos ? Was it ego that actually helped them achieve their success in the face of daunting early troubles or were they simply outliers who got away. For one thing, this books does not philosophize on dualities and stays grounded in pragmatics by relying on anecdotes, historical interpretations and personal wisdom to drive home a somewhat Gita-esque and stoic vision of life, advocating constancy in the face of both failure and success and embracing the beauty of one's presence, hardwork and actions among the infinity of existence. Yes, this book's points will feel as an amalgation of Greek meets ancient Indian wisdom, but its not a random recipe because it contains the aroma of Ryan's learning and the flavor of your own life's experience.
  
  Highly Recommended!
• 
  Emmkay

  For some reason, I hadn’t realized this was a self-help book geared towards success in business when I came across it, and to be fair that’s not a genre I lean towards. In some ways, its message - that hubris and excessive self-regard, or whatever configuration of characteristics the author calls ‘ego’ gets in the way of accomplishment - is a good corrective to the mess of rah-rah, manifest-your-greatness books out there. But it wasn’t for me. The author leads off with a summary of his own accomplishments (I was reading a book by the former director of marketing for American Apparel?!), and then embarks on a whistle stop tour of Great Lives (lots of generals and football coaches), Great Quotes, Great Truths.
  
  Most striking was the determined lack of awareness of how racialized and gendered the message was. The author cites 3 examples of men of colour said to represent his message - two for rising above and not retaliating when faced with overt discrimination and racial harassment and one for knuckling under and educating himself when rightly sentenced to prison. I’m not disputing that Jackie Robinson, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X were remarkable men, but really, white guy writing this book? That’s the ‘sublimate your ego’ message you think black men should take from their lives? And there’s a chapter called ‘Follow the Canvas Strategy’ extolling the virtues of helping others get ahead - “Find canvases for other people to paint on...Clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself,” with helpful suggestions like “coming up with ideas to hand over to your boss.” With NO recognition that this amazing new white-guy strategy for getting ahead is, um, exactly what women have often been stuck doing in offices for decades. 1.5.
• 
  Kaysha

  Although I agree with the general premise of this book (I find the title extreme), I found this book unbearable. It felt like it was written for other people, maybe for Ivy League elites, Donald Trump, or Antonio Garcia Martinez (author of Chaos Monkeys), all people that need a dose of reality and who could bear taken down a few notches, but certainly not for the average person, and definitely not for minorities or people who are middle-class or lower. Were there useful nuggets? Sure, a few, thus the one star, but for the most part, Holiday picked and chose select bits of random information about historical figures and blindly applied them to try to prove his point. It didn't work for me. I found it a huge insulting waste of my time, and I am clearly not as important as his intended audience is, so I am shocked by the number of decent reviews this book has received. Add to this book the clearly perplexingly large ego of the author in the foreword and call me thoroughly annoyed. If I could write books like this to become rich, would I? No, my ego and lust for money aren't big enough (and clearly, it wouldn't be published because I am not important enough)!
• 
  Alex Gluchowski

  Hugely important messages, very poor arguments. Having read
  https://sivers.org/book/EgoEnemy I was rather disappointed. If you have that humble mindset, the book is just a reminder. If you don't yet, barely will it convince you.
  
  Read the Sivers' summary instead.
• 
  Hawraa

  I'm giving it a 5 not because of how great this book was, but because regardless of its some confusing aspects, it helped me cultivate and understand some things more than ever.
  
  Although, I wasn't impressed much by the connection between these historical examples and ego, it almost seemed like the author put a little too much effor to reconcile, but there were a lot of lessons here and there that made me rethink and reevaluate my life, my decision and myself.
  
  It's a good book, it will get you somewhere at the end, it will help you see somethings better, it will make you wiser, so it's a great choice overall. But don't expect it to be a life-changing experience.
  
  I needed something to remind me of self discipline, of how important it is to keep working and practicing, of how delusional a person can get. I needed all that.
  but man did I hate the way the speech shifted into a motivational tone, which I think is deluding itself.
  
  You will finish this book in no time, and it will be an enjoyable experience. take the lessons, leave what you hate, learn some humility.
• 
  Vance

  Ego can certainly be your enemy. It's important to remain humble while being confident in your daily activities.
  
  I heard the author discuss the book on EconTalk and I thought I would enjoy it. However, it's more of a self-help book than one where you can really learn new ways to worry less about your ego and find new avenues to grow as a person.
  
  I was looking more for the latter which is why I gave it two stars, though you might like it.
• 
  Ajith Ashokkumar (WordShaker)

  Ego is the true enemy, the author points out the consequences which occur in our life because of Ego.  Everyone experiences success and failures, those who face life with arrogance after success will definitely receive setbacks caused by Ego.  The one's who accept success with a humble attitude like normal, can only defeat ego and repeat the success again in his/her life.  
  
  “Success is intoxicating, yet to sustain it requires sobriety”
• 
  Alex Linschoten

  Maybe 3.5. I'm always left a little disappointed by
  Ryan Holiday's books. The promise is huge but the payoff is less than expected. Nevertheless, there was a lot in this book that I found useful, even just as a reminder. Not all of this book will be relevant or useful to you, and I felt at points that this was a book that Holiday felt he needed to write for himself; he has said as much in recent interviews. If you liked his last book,
  The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage, you'll enjoy this. 'Obstacle' was about external things that hold you back from doing the work you need to be doing. This latest volume, 'Ego is the Enemy' is all about the ways we internally sabotage ourselves.
• 
  Muhammad Abdullah

  Ego is the Enemy is a great book written by Ryan Holiday. This book taught us the three stages at which ego attacks almost every individual that is going through them. These three stages are:
  
  1) Aspire
  2) Success
  3) Failure
  
  The book opens with a quote from the world's famous physicist, Richard Feynman, which says,
  
  

  "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself —and you are the easiest person to fool."

  
  
  
  
  Ego is the most dangerous weapon that every person carries with them. So, before the ego hijacks the driving seat of our life, we need to suppress it. And the simple rule to do so is described by the author in three simple but impactful sentences.
  
  1) Humble in our aspirations
  2) Gracious in our success
  3) Resilient in our failures
  
  
  Continue...