{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F2b1dfedf-f524-4863-8247-e268d96c68ba","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"<iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" title=\"#111 \u2013 The Ego Is The Enemy\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"clipboard-write\" seamless src=\"http://player.captivate.fm/episode/2b1dfedf-f524-4863-8247-e268d96c68ba\"></iframe>","title":"#111 \u2013 The Ego Is The Enemy","description":"Talent, ambitiousness, internal drive, potential and a chip on your shoulder. \u00a0These qualities have helped to shape the world we live in today. Behind every great invention, idea, man or woman, likely lies some of these traits. \u00a0<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nFortunately, people have said you share some of these qualities, haven\u2019t they? \u00a0That you have a natural talent for drawing. You\u2019re the young gun that everyone talks about at the water cooler or the ambitious, hard worker that has achieved impressive accolades. \u00a0You\u2019re Tiger Woods winning the 1997 Masters and taking the world by storm. <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nGreed, gluttony, cockiness, and ego. \u00a0Equally, these traits have shaped the world we live in today and have torn down amazing inventions, businesses, men, and women. \u00a0<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nUnfortunately for you, the abilities that you harbor mentioned above open themselves up to a destructive ego. \u00a0That confidence that helps you to conquer obstacles can just as easily transform to the cockiness that leads to your demise. \u00a0Pretty soon, you\u2019re the 2009 Tiger Woods, internationally known for a cheating scandal with his wife and have become a battered man. <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe Greek have a word, euthymia, that describes the process of staying on our path without looking at distractions. \u00a0You know what that feels like - you\u2019re up early, you\u2019re working out, feeling good, in a rhythm. Equally, you know how easy it is to get sucked into the distractions - bingeing social media, cheat \u201cdays\u201d that turn into weeks, and pure laziness. \u00a0<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nBelieving that we are on a path to success and fearing the distraction of ego, where do we turn? <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nRyan Holiday\u2019s book, The Ego Is The Enemy, breaks this process down. \u00a0Holiday defines ego, reveals its causes and how he and other historical figures have successfully and unsuccessfully defeated their ego. \u00a0Holiday also breaks down the ego into the three times of our lives (hint: always) that we are likely to come across it. As he puts it, the goal is to be \u201chumble in our aspirations, gracious in our success, resilient in our failures.\u201d \u00a0Let\u2019s explore. <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAspire <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n\u201cYou can\u2019t build a reputation on what you\u2019re going to do.\u201d - Henry Ford<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nBe humble in our aspirations - but how? \u00a0As they say, success leaves clues. \u00a0\u00a0<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAfter graduating from Wesleyan University, a young man joined the Baltimore Colts as an Assistant Football Coach, making $25 per week. \u00a0His strategy was simple: learn as much as he could and do the work that nobody wanted to do, in order to add value. In the football world, this means analyzing film. \u00a0Lots and lots of film. He would do session after session of watching film, arriving before others and leaving much later. <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAfter a while, not only did his work ethic garner respect, but it also improved his skill set enough to earn more money and be given additional responsibilities. \u00a0Funny how we can benefit when we spend less time talking and more time doing.<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nAfter countless film sessions, setbacks and four decades later, he became the most successful coach in the history of football - and possibly all of sports. \u00a0His name is Bill Belichick. <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn short, say less, do more. \u00a0Holiday argues that greatness comes from the grunt work that Belichick was willing to do, that may have been \u201cbelow\u201d his peers. \u00a0Greatness means \u201cyou\u2019re the least important person in the room - until you change that with results.\u201d <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nSuccess<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n\u201cEvery man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.\u201d - Ralph Waldo Emerson <br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\nBe gracious in our success - easier said than done, right?","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/84060626-235a-42dc-9a40-a1eead6830e0/eAA1TPwy9oTcEamuijU4gpev.png"}