{Book Review} Ego is the Enemy

The book is written in 3 different parts, namely Aspire, Success and Failure. This is to remind the reader to be:

• Humble in aspirations
• Gracious in success
• Resilient in failure

This is attributed to his belief that everyone’s life has cycles of 3 stages and at any one point we are either aspiring to something, succeeding at something, or failing at something.
This book will not only teach you some invaluable skills, but it will make you consider your moral fiber. It will motivate you to improve yourself in every way, starting by conquering your ego.
A light and easy read that will make you think and ask questions and surely grow from the experience.

The Enemy Within

This book is centered around a single sentence; Ego is our biggest enemy. This is true whether we are still beginning our careers, successful in our careers or whether our careers are failing. It can prevent us from learning new things and developing our talents, and from reaching our potential. When we finally get a taste of success, ego can and will blind us to our own flaws. It distorts reality and our perspective changes. It will separate us from others and ultimately lead to our downfall. Ego makes failure even more devastating and will prevent us from recovery. This book will make you notice your ego, admit to having and ego and will give you the tools to disarm and disable it. I won’t lie it takes hard work and daily effort, but is so worthwhile.

The Truth Hurts

I must say reading the prologue of this book made me a bit skeptical about its validity. This man seems to have experienced nothing but success, yet talks about the failures of those he admired. How does this constitute as his failure and what gives him the authority then to talk about it and the ego? However, I was pleasantly surprised as I continued to the first chapter. He seems to truly understand the dangers and pitfalls associated with an inflated ego. It’s as if this book was written as a reminder to himself of where he may end up if not careful. I feel that it would be helpful for many people to read this, especially those in corporate environments, leaders and people in power. How easy it would be to dismiss the facts, because the truth is too hard to swallow. I can assure you that what I read in this book made me reevaluate myself. Sometimes ego is just thinking that you don’t have an ego. This book surely woke me up to this fact and I have tried harder to notice and accept my moments of weakness when I let ego infiltrate my choices. By accepting and admitting something, you are able to take note of it and work on the problem. A must read for every person who seeks to grow and follow a path towards enlightenment.

Great Examples

There are a few chapters that felt a bit repetitive, but I gather that those were important parts that the author felt he needed to repeat. I really enjoyed his use of quotes and the stories of historical figures, as well as modern examples. This helped one to relate and understand better what he meant. I especially enjoyed how he brought up some legends of the Metal genre of music as well, Thanks Ryan!

Become a Better Version of Yourself

This book was well and thoughtfully written by a man who obviously has a lot of experience when it comes to ego. His prologue discusses quite extensively how his aspirations, success and eventual failure paved the way for the ideas in this book. Ryan skillfully uses examples of historical figures, some who were successful and other who weren’t—to study the negative traits of ego. Through these stories we are able to gain a better understanding of how hazardous ego can be. He also provides clear guidelines on how one can suppress the ego and how this will create a happier and more fulfilling life. The writing is clear and engaging and well researched. I would suggest this book be read by anyone brave enough to challenge themselves. You will be pitted against your ego, you will succeed and you will make it to the other end as a better version of yourself.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?