Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your

most important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical

wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Where is your ego getting in the way?

We live in a world awash with ego. We see it every day. We see the ego of our boss and how it has turned the office against them. We can see ego in politicians and professional athletes. We can see it in our kids' teacher, perhaps when they get in some pissing match with another parent or are threatened by a precocious student.

As they get older, we can even see ego on our own kids, thinking they can ace a test without

studying or advanced in sports without practicing. The laundry list of out-of-control egos is easy to

write, but it's interesting to think that putting it together may in fact be our own ego distracting us

from ourselves. Because by focusing on the problems, other people's egos are causing,

we excuse ourselves from looking in the mirror at our own. Today and everyday dad should take a

moment to just think about where ego is holding them back. Is the power struggle with

your teenager actually over anything important, or is this just you demanding to be in control?

You can't learn that what you think you already know, Epictetus once said. Well, what are the

things you are holding yourself back from learning because you're a know-it-all. That pissing contest you got into

with the teacher, that pissing contest you're still in with your own dad, the hours you work, the money

you spend, the car you drive, is there ego tied up in any of these? Any chance it's warping your

priorities? Any chance it's getting you into trouble? Ego is the enemy, always, of everything,

but especially of the things that really matter in this life, happiness, a family that gets along,

improving contentment, forgiveness, stillness. You know it, so stop thinking about other people

and work on yourself. Of course, I'm a little

biased when it comes to ego, but I do recommend my book. Ego is the Enemy, which is published

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