Later, Holiday goes on to explain that we need a purpose,В вЂњPurpose is about pursuing something outside yourself as opposed to pleasuring yourself.вЂќ InВ вЂEgo is the EnemyвЂ™ Holiday beginsВ by explaining about the ego and uses a Freudian definition to describe it as вЂњan unhealthy obsession with the selfвЂќ. Ego is the Enemy вЂ“ Related book reviews Art and Fear book review So when I saw his book,В вЂEgo is the EnemyвЂ™В I knew I wanted to read it. In HolidayвЂ™s previous book,В вЂObstacles the WayвЂ™В I discovered HolidayвЂ™sВ deep interest in the lessons that can be learnt from Stoic philosophy. Luckily, I have come across the excellent author, Ryan Holiday. I am very mindful that I donвЂ™t allow my focus to lead me to be self-absorbed and egocentric. However, I donвЂ™t want my confidence to turn into arrogance. As an artist, at times I can get overly focused on my work, like most people who enjoy what they do. When I come across people like this, they always rub me up the wrong way.

People who seek the attainment of superiority and ascendancy above making a real difference to others in this world. People with massive high opinions of themselves. He gave a short summary during our interview: вЂњ Lives of the Stoics is about what the Stoics did, who they were as people, what does the life of a philosopher look like and what we can learn from their actions and their struggles.We have all come across people who appear cocky and arrogant. The farm that I own now has a mortgage that is cheaper than the flat I had in New York cityвЂќ.Д¬heck out Ryan's latest book - Lives of the Stoics.

A lot of people optimise for their career and then you ask them what would you do if you made a million dollars? And they say, 'well I would leave' and you reply 'so you are living day to day in somewhere you don't like for the future hope that you can make a change to something you do like?' That's strange. рџ”Ґрџ”Ґрџ”Ґ Some Key Quotes рџ”Ґрџ”Ґрџ”Ґ 'As a writer, if you are not also writing for yourself as an audience, you're probably performing more than you're actually putting anything valuable out there' вЂњOptimising for what you want your life to look like is really important. It forces you to write, reflect and articulate your goals and principles into maxims and aphorisms that you hold yourself to. In the way that Buddhism and meditating are the same, journaling and Stoicism are the same. Journaling and Stoicism are inextricable concepts. The more you do or produce whatever it is that you are making, the more information or data you'll collect that allows you to de-couple statistical results from personal satisfaction and genuine quality. It's harder to sit with your thoughts and think about whether you did what you set out to do. Metrics and numbers are a really easy way to outsource success but thatвЂ™s not optimal. Many people are simply trapped on the hedonic treadmill, moving the goalposts all the time. They live thinking about regrets towards the past or anxiety for the future.

We know that our environment shapes many things, not just our happiness but the quality of the output of the work that we do and so to not optimise our living space for that means that we're leaving a lot on the table. Where we're going to spend our time should be the most important thing we should optimise. It becomes a refraction of a refraction of a refraction вЂ“ readers need to be engaged and itвЂ™s fresh content or an innovative connection between disparate topics that will enable greater engagement. Many contemporary books fall down because they repeat the same studies that theyвЂ™ve read in other books of the same genre. To write effectively you do have to go to the actual source material. It's the interactions and the chance encounters with the material which creates the connections and embeds the key messages. Just because youвЂ™ve read a book doesnвЂ™t mean itвЂ™s magically in your brain.

Making notecards from material that you are reading helps to reinforce key points and produce more connections. If you donвЂ™t have the structure you have no idea whether you have material, no idea if you actually did what you were setting out to do. ItвЂ™s not just important in terms of the finished product but itвЂ™s also a key part of the process. Structure is everything when it comes to writing a book. If you do identify more with the craft rather than the shiny side that the public see, then that's a better way to do it. If you think of yourself as an author that implies some sort of focus on the results and writer implies more of a focus on the process. Here are some of the highlights from our discussion: In this conversation, we talk about his writing process, how we should measure success and Stoicism. He has sold over 2 million books with his work translated into over 30 languages. Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Conspiracy and other books on Stoicism, culture, marketing and the human condition.

Ego is the enemy or obstacle is the way