Is your ego really your enemy?

[Geoff-Allen]

Hope you are all well!

You’ve probably heard it before: Ego is the enemy.

Ryan Holiday even wrote a best-selling book about it (and it’s really good).

But what exactly is ego?

According to the Cambridge dictionary, ego is “your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance or ability”.

Successful women and men throughout history have discussed their battle with ego, and the trappings of money and fame. Some celebrities believe an inflated ego to be the most addictive substance in the world, others believe it comes hand-in-hand with paranoia, suspicion, and mistrust.

When we gain a little success, ego soars above us, patting us on the back, whispering about our greatness in our ear, about the lesser humans beneath us, egging us ever forward.

When we experience a setback, ego goads us on, sometimes pushing us further into our despair, or even, conversely, demanding of the world: Do you know who I am?!

Read the full article here - warning the image is a little suggestive? So if you are easily-offended give it a miss!

On Ego: If You Want to be Wildly Happy, Do This One Thing

Enjoy your day!

 

[Vinayaka]

I don't think it's your enemy, in an 'us versus' them sense. I do think it's a limiter or inhibitor. It limits what you can do, or learn from others. You're too busy dealing with the trinity of me, myself, and I.

 

[The Hammer]

Hope you are all well!

You’ve probably heard it before: Ego is the enemy.

Ryan Holiday even wrote a best-selling book about it (and it’s really good).

But what exactly is ego?

According to the Cambridge dictionary, ego is “your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance or ability”.

Successful women and men throughout history have discussed their battle with ego, and the trappings of money and fame. Some celebrities believe an inflated ego to be the most addictive substance in the world, others believe it comes hand-in-hand with paranoia, suspicion, and mistrust.

When we gain a little success, ego soars above us, patting us on the back, whispering about our greatness in our ear, about the lesser humans beneath us, egging us ever forward.

When we experience a setback, ego goads us on, sometimes pushing us further into our despair, or even, conversely, demanding of the world: Do you know who I am?!

Read the full article here - warning the image is a little suggestive? So if you are easily-offended give it a miss!

On Ego: If You Want to be Wildly Happy, Do This One Thing

Enjoy your day!

We should be masters of our egos, not a slave to it. Embrace it's positive aspects (creation, perseverence, hard work, empowerment), while minimizing it's negatives, (Arrogance, jealousy/insecurity, nihilism).

 

[Hockeycowboy]

Philippians 2:2-3 fits well. And we should find it “necessary to think” something of ourselves, to have some self-worth. Romans 12:3.

Nice article.

 

[sun rise]

The ego is to me part of the pattern of life after life. It will go when the right time dawns. So I agree with most of the article outside of the assertion that it will always be with us.

 

[SigurdReginson]

I don't think i've lived long enough to have input that's useful. Maybe after I go through a midlife crisis I'll have more to say on the subject.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I don't think i've lived long enough to have input that's useful. Maybe after I go through a midlife crisis I'll have more to say on the subject.

I am past my mid-life

Any input would be valid - just one person't perspective on how to handle the ego. A big problem for the majority of humankind - it's only a mattter of degree with most of us.

Wishing you all the best!

 

[SigurdReginson]

I am past my mid-life

Any input would be valid - just one person't perspective on how to handle the ego. A big problem for the majority of humankind - it's only a mattter of degree with most of us.

Wishing you all the best!

I guess for me just when I think I have myself figured out, I discover something else that causes me to reassess those conceptions of myself. I don't think this is a bad thing at all. It helps me feel that I'm being as intellectually honest with myself as I can be, and I think that's pretty great - Intellectual honesty seems to have become the thing I value most as time goes on.

As for how I feel about my ego at this moment, I'd say it works as more of a framework for me. A first person perspective. I tend to want to look at the world with more of a bird's eye view, and my ego keeps my feet planted squarely on the ground. What happens around me is important, but so do those personal experiences that make me the person that I am.

As time goes on, though, I do find that I like more the person I am becoming, so I must be doing something right.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I guess for me just when I think I have myself figured out, I discover something else that causes me to reassess those conceptions of myself. I don't think this is a bad thing at all. It helps me feel that I'm being as intellectually honest with myself as I can be, and I think that's pretty great - Intellectual honesty seems to have become the thing I value most as time goes on.

As for how I feel about my ego at this moment, I'd say it works as more of a framework for me. A first person perspective. I tend to want to look at the world with more of a bird's eye view, and my ego keeps my feet planted squarely on the ground. What happens around me is important, but so do those personal experiences that make me the person that I am.

As time goes on, though, I do find that I like more the person I am becoming, so I must be doing something right.

Sounds like you are on the right kind of "path" - thanks for sharing.

 

[j1i]

Hope you are all well!

You’ve probably heard it before: Ego is the enemy.

Ryan Holiday even wrote a best-selling book about it (and it’s really good).

But what exactly is ego?

According to the Cambridge dictionary, ego is “your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance or ability”.

Successful women and men throughout history have discussed their battle with ego, and the trappings of money and fame. Some celebrities believe an inflated ego to be the most addictive substance in the world, others believe it comes hand-in-hand with paranoia, suspicion, and mistrust.

When we gain a little success, ego soars above us, patting us on the back, whispering about our greatness in our ear, about the lesser humans beneath us, egging us ever forward.

When we experience a setback, ego goads us on, sometimes pushing us further into our despair, or even, conversely, demanding of the world: Do you know who I am?!

Read the full article here - warning the image is a little suggestive? So if you are easily-offended give it a miss!

On Ego: If You Want to be Wildly Happy, Do This One Thing

Enjoy your day!

mostly
ego is like a human that satan blew in his brain

ego is more a sign of humiliation than pride.

this is what in my mind

 

[Straw Dog]

I believe ego can be healthy as long as it’s grounded in reality rather than grandiose, has a shared emotional life, genuinely values others and their opinions rather than exploiting or abusing them, can follow through with plans, and consistently commits to real values.

Treating ego as an enemy more often than not leads to a cognitive dissonance and possibly delusional thinking. “Ego death” is a reactive rather than proactive project.