Stoic way to counter Ego

Homecoming

On my latest trip to snow-capped mountains, I was blessed with 13 hours of road journey on a semi-sleeper bus. I had no choice but to embrace it. And a person like me who gets a headache from watching Netflix seasons on a moving bus had no option but to resort to my favorite activity.

Reading.

Kudos to the second-hand publishers of famous books. I got the chance to re-read the book, which I loved a lot.

Just for a laugh - I might be committing a crime by appreciating second-hand books as these are the products of violation of copyright issues of someone’s work. But kudos to these book publishers as millions of penurious readers (like me) suck the immense ROI out of these low-priced books. Yes, I bought this 400 bucks book for only 150 bucks.

My favorite author and good friend, Ms. Shweta Maheshwari , recommended it. The book is “Ego is the Enemy”, written by a focused genius, Ryan Holiday . He is an American author who considers himself a modern Stoic. I am really impressed by this branch of philosophy. He has also hosted the popular podcast “The Daily Stoic” since 2020.

As I am reading this book for the second time, I can say the book is having its homecoming moment. This is really a great book and even though I am a speed reader, I take my own delight time to devour good books like this. ?

I agree the post would have been better if it had narrated my travel experience, but I regret disheartening the audience as it is about my companion – a great book by Mr. Holiday.

What is it about?

It gives a glimpse of Stoic philosophy with sheer simplicity and touches upon only one dangerous aspect of human personality – EGO. Ego can denote someone’s sense of self-esteem and self-importance. It highlights that ego is universal but a controllable aspect.

“Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, your worst enemy already lives inside you: your EGO.”

We may face it in the following three stages of our life –

1. Aspire – This is the first stage when we start our journey of doing something or excelling at something. This is the stage when we intend to make a dent in the universe through our deeds and ideas.
2. Success – The second stage is when we have achieved some remarkable success. This is where we start to feel that we are on the top of a mountain.
3. Failure – This is the stage where we get stuck due to non-planning and under estimation of required efforts.

But as ego is universal, we need to face it across all the abovementioned three stages. The need is to overcome it and embrace the path ahead. This is the sole crux of this book.

What is special about this book?

If I read a book twice, it means I have immensely loved it. It can also mean that the lessons of the book are quite relatable to me. For the benefit of readers, I would like to focus on a few of the good points of this book.

1.??? Starts with honest self-evaluation but ends with historical proofs

This book starts with the personal story of the author himself.

Very early in life, he became the youngest executive at a Beverly Hills talent management agency. He moved to work with rock bands and then supported authors on their books which sold millions of copies. At the age of 21, he became a strategist for a big apparel company. At 25, he published his first book which instantly became a bestseller. After all this, even a studio approached him to make a show about his life.

What else he could have asked for? It seems he got everything.

But this is just one side of the story. The above words seem very positive, but the reality has a pinch of negativity also.

His talent company and apparel company were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Because of his early success, he started feeling overworked and overstressed with very little freedom to do creative acts.

Even though he has mentioned that the concept of the book originated out of his personal story, he has substantiated every suggestion on this book with a series of anecdotes from the past. He has covered instances of Genghis Khan, Benjamin Franklin, Angela Merkel, etc. Their live success story puts up a strong case for the various recommendations of this book.

2.??? In synch with my personal philosophy

The second speciality of this book is that it seems as if the author holds the same philosophy as me.

There is one concept in the book titled “Follow the Canvas Strategy” which is my personal favorite. To understand this, let me take you back to the ancient Roman system. There was a role of anteambulo which means “one who clears the path”. These were the people who used to make way for their king and communicate messages on behalf of their king. Their sole purpose was to make the king’s life easier. This was not an easy endeavour because it is like giving credit to someone else for your own work.

“The person who clears the path controls its direction. Just as the canvas does for the painting.”

Let me narrate the story of Benjamin Franklin also who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the United States. In his early days, he used to write under pseudonymous names like Silence Dogood. His brother, who unknowingly used to publish the written papers, got really rich and famous because of Mr. Franklin’s work. Because of this, Mr. Franklin did not get the credit he deserved. It was his brother who was enjoying the fruits of his hard work.

Mr. Benjamin was busy playing the long game. He just wanted to feel the nerves of his audience, taking apt feedback on writing and improving his writing style accordingly which gave him even better returns.

In a nutshell, Mr. Franklin saw the constant benefit in making other people look good and letting them credit for their work/ideas.

I personally have the fortune of taking advantage of foregoing credit in the corporate world. With no intention to disclose this, I just want to convey that my deep bond and mutual respect is still with those people with where credit was just a token to flush in the dustbin. Kudos to my ex and current colleagues for being in my life. They all deserve credit for shaping my career growth. ?

3.??? Solve the real questions of life

This book provided wisdom in a real sense. For example, I have a big query on whether to follow a passion or not. I know the answer to this query might be YES. But I struggle because I am unable to find my passion even after surviving on this Earth for the last 32 years (not the exact age though!).

Thanks to Mr. Ryan who suggested “Don’t be passionate” in this book. I used to think that I was passionate about READING and WRITING. But just leave the rosy picture aside, it really takes a lot of effort and sacrifice to read and write.?

Even writing this newsletter on Saturday after office hours is a daunting task. It requires thinking about the topic, creating the outline, keywords, relevance, and personal touch and then weaving a story around all the pointers. And then at the end, there is a chance that no one is going to read this (oops! hidden pain revealed).?

For reading also, making a commitment to read at least a few pages every night is a tough act (at least for me). It has become easier now because of the regular commitment. Also, the plus point of reading every night is that it always results in a good sleep which I dearly cherish. ??

I agree that reading & writing have become less daunting tasks for me over a period of time due to diligently sticking to this habit.?

Therefore, there is nothing in this world like passion. We have to carefully carve our own interests into a skill. At least, that’s what I firmly believe.?

In a nutshell,

Richard Feynman famously said –

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool.”

So, let’s not fool ourselves and try to manage our egos.

Recommendations

This book holds a 15/10 score on the scale of reading recommendation.

I give 10/10 on the simple writing style. 9/10 for the brevity. 10/10 on the relevance. 15/10 on the practicality of real life.

This is a short but intense read. I would suggest everyone read this masterpiece this weekend.

(PS – The above expressions are personal.)