Book Review 2024.11: EGO is the Enemy, The Fight to Master our Greatest Opponent, 159 pages, Paperback, 2016
The title, its bright red cover and its small size, in that order attracted me to this book. Under the mistaken belief that I can read it in a couple of days I picked it up, only to take a couple of weeks to finish it.
Designed as a self-help book, the author blends a strong portion of philosophy and interesting biographies to drive home the pitfalls of Ego. Vividly illustrating how Ego becomes the hurdle for individuals preventing them from becoming what they could have, and instead went down the path of suffering and disappointment. Equally strong cases are presented of individuals who by not letting their Ego get the better of them achieved notable success along with a sense of satisfaction and peace. The major handicap I had as a reader not well acquainted with American history and sports, is my inability to appreciate the true magnitude of what these individuals had achieved, but the context of the cases presented gave me a fair idea.
Organized in three parts, Aspire, Success and Failure, or as described more aptly in another part as Ambition, Achievement and Adversity, the author highlights what is needed to be done to prevent Ego from dominating our decision making with many interesting and well known ideas presented coherently to develop a positive framework useful to readers irrespective of their age, and the stage of their journey.
Peppered with interesting quotes and catch phrases, the book is an interesting read. It challenges a few ingredients of what is considered to be essential for success in the modern business and sports world like passion and audacious goals by placing them in the context of purpose and enduring professional cum personal success.
Recommend this book to all those planning ambitious ventures, or facing severe adversities to get a philosophical and historic perspective of enduring success or get the inspiration to overcome adversities. For the rare reader who at the peak of their success want to read this book, I can only say, you will see a reflection of what you are: Humble in aspiration, Gracious in success and resilient in failures.
Happy Reading
