Ego Is the Enemy

When we remove ego, we’re left with what is real. What replaces ego is humility, yes—but rock-hard humility and confidence.

Ego is the enemy every step along this way. In a sense, ego is the enemy of building, of maintaining, and of recovering.

It was his ego and the disorganization that resulted from it that prevented the ingredients from coming together—just as they do for so many of us.

“He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a living man,” Seneca once said. Alter that: He who will do anything to avoid failure will almost certainly do something worthy of a failure.

A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. —C. S. LEWIS

Humble in our aspirations Gracious in our success Resilient in our failures

“Act with fortitude and honor,” he wrote to a distraught friend in serious financial and legal trouble of the man’s own making. “If you cannot reasonably hope for a favorable extrication, do not plunge deeper. Have the courage to make a full stop.”

The ego we see most commonly goes by a more casual definition: an unhealthy belief in our own importance. Arrogance. Self-centered ambition.

What humans require in our ascent is purpose and realism. Purpose, you could say, is like passion with boundaries. Realism is detachment and perspective.