Ego is the Enemy
Ryan Holiday uses a myriad of stories to paint the picture of how a person's ego has the power to derail the train of personal growth.
Author: Ryan Holiday
Audiobook listen time: 5 hours 34 minutes (6 hours 56 minutes with the additional content besides the book)
Rating: 2/5
The word ‘philosopher’ typically takes the mind a few centuries in the past, if not a few millennia – Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, and if slightly recent times are considered, Frederick Nietzsche. A lot of them are quoted in movies and TV shows, and one of my most fond sitcom clips referencing a philosopher is from The Big Bang Theory.
Philosophers offer profound views on a variety of things in the world, and even if you don’t agree on it all, a lot of times their thoughts tend to challenge your beliefs. So I was intrigued to hear Ryan Holiday’s (@RyanHoliday) thoughts on his book ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ when he appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast (JRE#1836). Ryan can be thought of as a modern day philosopher, who is a believer of stoicism. I really enjoyed the conversation, which led me to listen to one of his most popular and highly rated books, ‘Ego is the Enemy’.
Sadly, the book was not nearly as interesting as I had expected. It is structured into three parts – ‘Aspire’, ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’. Each part has small chapters ranging from somewhere around 5 to 15 minutes (if you listen to the audiobook), and each chapter is a principle conveyed through a story, which all leads to the conclusion about how ego is the enemy. The issue is, not only does it get repetitive, but some of the stories seem cherry picked and analyzed from a very specific viewpoint to fit the narrative.
Let me give an example. There is a chapter called ‘Don’t be Passionate’, in which the author makes the point that passion leads to ‘goal idiocy’ while purpose and realism is what makes the advances towards the goal. He talks about Elenor Roosevelt, who wasn’t driven by passion, but by reason. He then goes on to say George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were passionate about invading Iraq. No they weren’t! They were fueled by greed, and a disregard for human life. I get the point Ryan tries to make, which is passion without direction takes you nowhere. But passion isn’t the enemy, and is definitely not akin to ego. It is the source of ignition in your car’s engine. In what direction you drive the car after ignition is important, but so is starting the engine.
Another one is of the Byzantine commander, Belisarius, who saved Western civilization on three different occasions with his military exploits. In return, he was publicly humiliated by the same emperor he served. Apparently for Belisarius, it was enough to know that he had done his duty. Now translate this scenario into a modern day work environment. You put in heaps of effort into multiple projects which gets a lot of acclaim for your company, only to have your boss take all the credit and shame you in front of your colleagues – is there any chance in the world that you would be okay with that, just by knowing you put in your best effort and did your job?! Anyone who does is either devoid of emotion or ascended to a mental state mostly ascribed to monks.
The book does have some positives to offer – the stories do make you question your beliefs, and even though you may end up disagreeing with the author, it is a good mental exercise. A lot of the stories are interesting, and a story I may not find too compelling might impact someone else in a completely different way. I spoke with a friend of mine who read the book a few years ago, and he found it extremely beneficial. He was at a point in life where he needed an inner voice telling him to pull back and stop ego from impacting his decisions.
Now it is definitely easy to hit back on the criticism of a book titled ‘Ego is the Enemy’ by making the point that the reason I can’t appreciate the book is because of my ego! I don’t disagree with everything Holiday says – I am just of the opinion that it isn’t a straightforward answer. Human beings are complex creatures and while being driven only by ego can never lead to a positive outcome, having the right amount of it in the mix can prove to be beneficial. A lot of the successful people have a hint of ego (sometimes, may be more than a hint) in them – Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Donald Trump. Not that I like any of their personalities, but they are people who have had a major impact on the globe. What every person needs to be conscious about is how much that ego controls you, either through introspection or through the opinions of close friends and family.
This was probably the first philosophical book I read, and although it doesn’t come all too close to a self-help book, it reiterated why I’m not the biggest fan of these sorts of books – because they are highly subjective. I listened to Ryan’s conversation with Joe Rogan twice, and both those listens were seamless. The book, who’s listening time was less than two podcast listens put together, was much more difficult to get through. But that doesn't mean I won’t give Ryan Holiday’s books another try. He is a popular author because he resonates with a lot of readers, and I am hoping ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ will be a much more interesting read/listen.
As a final thought, here is another clip from one of my favorite TV shows – Family Guy – that highlights the importance of philosophers in society! 😉