Why Ego Is Your Enemy

One of the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous defined ego as “a conscious separation from.” From what? From everything and everyone, including our own nature. When we are in the sway of ego, we are arrogant, selfish, shortsighted. We are mean, we are superficial, we are insecure, we are fragile. In short, we are everything a Stoic is not supposed to be. “It’s impossible to learn that which we think we already know,” Epictetus said. That’s why we avoid ego. Marcus talked about avoid the stain of “imperialization”--the ego that would come from being emperor and having power. He talked about the foolishness of trying to make yourself remembered for a thousand years or of thinking you’ll live forever. Both these wise and successful men, were doing constant battle against their egos, as all Stoics have tried to do through the centuries. We can’t work with other people if we’ve put up walls. We can’t improve the world if we don’t understand it or ourselves. We can’t take or receive feedback if we are incapable of or uninterested in hearing from outside sources. We can’t recognize opportunities—or create them—if instead of seeing what is in front of us, we live inside our own fantasy. Without an accurate accounting of our own abilities compared to others, what we have is not confidence but delusion. How are we supposed to reach, motivate, or lead other people if we can’t relate to their needs—because we’ve lost touch with our own? The Greeks knew that hubris—ego by another name—was the ultimate enemy. That it must be conquered. That humility and self-awareness were were true strength lies. We need to remember the same. That’s why we do this work and do this reading. Ryan Holiday’s Ego is the Enemy is a $1.99 ebook in the US this week. If you haven’t read it, give it a shot. It might change your life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  Why ego is your enemy. One of the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous defined ego as "a conscious separation from." From what? From everything and everyone, including our own nature. When we are in the sway of ego, we are arrogant, selfish, and shortsighted. We are mean. We are superficial. We are insecure. We are fragile. In short, we are everything a stoic is not supposed to be. "It is impossible to learn that which we think we already know," Epictetus said. That's why we avoid ego. Marcus talked about the stain of imperialization, the ego that would come from being emperor and having power.

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  He talked about the foolishness of trying to make yourself remembered for a thousand years, or of thinking you'll live forever. Both these wise and successful men were doing constant battle against their egos, as all stoics have tried to do through the centuries. We can't work with other people if we've put up walls. We can't improve the world if we don't understand it, or ourselves. We can't take or receive feedback if we are incapable of or uninterested in hearing from outside sources. We can't recognize opportunities or create them if, instead of seeing what is in front of us, we live inside our own fantasy. Without an accurate accounting of our own abilities compared

• 1:51Ryan Holiday?

  to others, what we have is not confidence, but delusion. How are we supposed to reach, motivate, or lead other people if we can't relate to their needs because we've lost touch with our own? The Greeks knew that hubris, ego by another name, was the ultimate enemy, that it must be conquered, that humility and self-awareness were where true strength lay. We need to remember the same, and that is why we do this work and do this reading. You can check out my book, Ego is the Enemy. Right now, it's actually $1.99 as an ebook online, anywhere that books are sold. This is only going to go until, I think, the 20th or the 21st of October. But in the meantime, you can get it for $1.99 as an ebook.

• 2:34Ryan Holiday?

  Or if you've liked it, you can give it as a gift to someone else. If you haven't read it, I hope you give it a shot. It might change your life. I think it's one of the best things I've ever written, and I hope you like it. That's Ego is the Enemy, and it's $1.99 as an ebook on Amazon right now.