Ego

There was a boy, a boy with a very attractive physique, that boy going around the woods one day ran across a lake. He looked into the lake and fell in love with what he saw, as he had never seen it before. His reflection. Realizing he could never have the one he saw in the water, he took his own life from sorrow. This is the legend of Narcissus (a simplified version), and from this story, the boy's name is now a trait used to describe people with high vanity and arrogance: narcissism. In this post, we’ll be discussing what ego is, how it’s the enemy, and some principles to destroy it.

Narcissism is not simply a character trait, it’s actually a personality disorder, NPD (narcissistic personality disorder), in which a person believes themselves to be superior to others, and along with that, they can be destructive to themselves and others. The narcissists most people talk about are people with low self-esteem who make a vision in their head of themselves being better than others. In this post, we’re not exactly discussing narcissism. We’re discussing ego, also known as pride, ego is a force within people, that conveys an unhealthy amount of self-importance and self-centered ambition. The bigger your ego, the better you think you are. Ego causes people to get angry when they’re corrected, even when they are wrong. Ego is often what causes embarrassment, and makes people react to

situations even when they’re in the wrong, and often they know they’re in the wrong, but it doesn’t matter because pride is what matters.

Now, in the words of Ryan Holiday, “ego is the enemy.” Ego has destroyed many careers, a notable one being Steve Jobs, who rose up once more after humbling himself. This doesn't, though, mean that you shouldn't have ambition, while there is nothing wrong with ambition, people with ego are consumed and destroyed by their own self-centered ambition. Ego is a force which makes you bite off more than you can chew, ego will cause you to overestimate your abilities and self. This gives you a false sense of superiority and causes you to do things that will harm you or others. Ego will cause you to lose relationships and will likely cause you to be misinformed because you refuse to accept that you’re wrong. Ego is a force that will bring you harm, a force that will kill your dreams, and leave you unable to handle adversity that you foolishly got yourself into.

To give you principles to help destroy your ego, I will pull from the book Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday. While Ryan has 25 ways to kill the ego(read here), I will be using a few I find most prominent. First, adopt a beginner's mindset; learn, take Socrates saying and ingrain it in

your mind, "know that you know nothing." Second, stop talking and start doing; don't show words, show results. Third, know your values and stick with them; know your goal, know what you want, and stay with it, achieve one before you set another, take it step by step. Fourth, forget credit; recognition doesn't matter, do things, accomplish your goals for you, forget about validation and receiving credit. Fifth, connect with nature and the universe; go outside, observe the universe, you'll see the beauty and your part in this universe, there is no ego standing on cliffs and under trees. Sixth get out of your own head; your brain controls your memories, your brain controls how you think about yourself, be mindful of your memories, they may be nice to look back on, but they're not always accurate. Seventh, let go of control; you don't need to control everything in your life, let go sometimes. Place the mission above yourself; find a work you love, and realize this work is greater than yourself. Eighth, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging; when you're wrong, when something doesn't go right, don't hold onto it, let go, accept, learn, and evolve. Ninth, drop entitlement; you're not entitled to anything, you get what you earn, keep working, and you will get what you deserve. Tenth, choose love; don't hate, hate from your side is just that, from your side, love, and keep yourself humble.

Sorry that was such a long paragraph, however, you'll be glad to know that it's over. Thanks for reading, I hope this has helped explain ego, show you why to rid yourself of it, and some ways to do so. I hope you like the new blog layout, I can't color the words or change the font anymore, however, so that sucks, but italics exists, and this is still readable (text boxes are also not being very compliant). I like the look, we'll see how it goes. Anyways, thanks for reading, have an amazing week, I'll see you the next, peace.

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