Why Ego Is Your Enemy

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

Education, Daily Stoic, Society & Culture, Stoic, Stoicism, Self-improvement, Business, Stoic Philosophy, Philosophy, Ryan Holiday

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2018

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:13.6	Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life.
0:23.3	Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.
0:36.3	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.
0:50.3	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, Astoeic, is not supposed to be.
1:05.3	It is impossible to learn that, which we think we already know, Epictetus said. That's why we avoid Ego.
1:11.3	Marcus talked about 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.
1:26.3	Both these wise and successful men were doing constant battle against their egos, as all Stoke have tried to do through the centuries.
1:34.3	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.
1:48.3	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.
1:59.3	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.
2:11.3	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.
2:21.3	We need to remember the same. 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 199 as an ebook online anywhere that books are sold.
2:35.3	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 199 as an ebook. If you've liked it, you can give it as a gift to someone else.
2:44.3	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 199 as an ebook on Amazon right now.
2:55.3	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily stoic early and ad free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today or you can listen early and ad free with Wondering Plus in Apple podcasts.

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.