"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title. In the pages of this book, we fight to destroy it before it destroys us. It’s an internal opponent warned against by every great philosopher, in our most lasting stories and countless works of art, in every culture, in every age. It derails ambition, turns success into poison, and makes failure the most bitter taste of all.Įgo is the enemy-of what you want to achieve, of what you have, and what you’re struggling to overcome. It’s made adversity unbearable and turned struggle into shame. It’s evaporated great fortunes and run companies into the ground.
It’s wrecked the career of promising young geniuses. His company, Brass Check, has advised brands such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as multiplatinum musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. His work has been translated into over thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to Fast Company. RYAN HOLIDAY is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying The Obstacle Is the Way Ego Is the Enemy Conspiracy and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.” In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. At every stage, ego holds us back.Įgo Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult.
With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. “While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their image with sheer, almost irrational force, I’ve found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition.” -from the prologue The instant Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestseller