Ego Is the Enemy
Ryan Holiday's 2016 book arguing that our biggest obstacle is often our own ego.
At a glance
Key ideas
The enemy within, Ego defined, Ego is not confidence …
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- Holiday argues that our biggest problems often come not from other people or circumstances but from our own attitude and self-absorption.
- He means ego in the everyday sense, "an unhealthy belief in your own importance", not Freud's.
- He separates ego from confidence, and prescribes humility, self-awareness, purpose and realism.
- He draws on stories of figures such as George Marshall, John DeLorean, Steve Jobs and William Tecumseh Sherman.
Why it matters
- It followed The Obstacle Is the Way, about external obstacles, by turning to the internal one; it became a USA Today and Publishers Weekly best-seller.
Key facts
- Author
- Ryan Holiday1
- Published
- 14 Jun 20161
- Place in his work
- His fourth book1
- Recognition
- NPR's Book Concierge guide to 2016's great reads; best-seller lists of USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and Publishers Weekly1
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