Do you remember the Semisonic song lyrics from a few years ago -- “Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
It’s true.
Every ending is also a new beginning.
We celebrated an ending this past week on the Level Up Your Legacy Podcast as we recorded some final thoughts on the book we’ve been studying all year -- Ryan Holiday’s “Ego Is The Enemy.”
Integrity is a funny thing -- it's long earned and easily lost.
Breaches of integrity can trainwreck lives, families, and organizations.
Yet every day, you and I will choose to keep our integrity or not through the choices we make.
Maintaining integrity is even more difficult when you feel underappreciated, underpaid, or undermined by another.
Who is the most difficult person for you to lead? Can you guess?
It’s not complaining Karen or grouchy Gus. It’s not set-in-his-ways Sam or even forgetful Frank.
No, it’s not your spouse or even one of your children -- but you do live with this person. In fact, you get your first glimpse of them as you brush your teeth in front of the mirror each morning.
It’s YOU!
What do you really want?
When you’re unclear on what you want, you lose focus — chasing diversions from your true purpose and potential. And, when ego steps into that picture, it’s a disaster.
Holiday asserts, “All of us waste precious life doing things we don’t like, to prove ourselves to people we don’t respect, and to get things we don’t want.”
Most leaders I know desire to remain as sharp as possible.
That is why we talk a lot about the importance of reading books, attending conferences, spending time with mentors/raving fans, and other practices that encourage personal growth.
But one practice often gets overlooked -- probably because of how simple it is.
Have you ever been told to get out of your head? Or that you are too consumed with what other people think about you?
If that sounds like a piece of advice you’ve been given, then today’s #vlog is for you.
As a leader, it’s easy to get trapped in your own head -- to let your thoughts about yourself and what others think about you consume your attention. And when this happens, you begin living in what Ryan Holiday calls “passionate fiction” instead of actual reality.
Would your friends describe you as calm, cool, and collected -- or do you easily come unglued?
In other words, how well do YOU exercise restraint?
It’s hard enough to exercise restraint under the normal pressures of everyday life -- work duties, household management, social pressures, financial responsibilities, etc.
But how about when someone is actively trying to sabotage your success?
Trying new things keeps you sharp. They challenge you. They put you in new environments -- and new environments are conducive to new growth.
Instead of shooting a video to discuss the next chapter in Ryan Holiday’s “Ego Is The Enemy” this week, I tried something new.
Earlier today, on the Bill Cox Coaching Facebook page, my colleague, Paul Macosko, and I went live to discuss this chapter together.
Lao Tsu once said, "Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know."
Too many words can get you into trouble -- and it's often an abundance of words that build and sustain egos.
Today's video is on chapter two of Ryan Holiday's Ego Is The Enemy. The chapter is called "Talk Talk Talk," and it centers around the idea that your walk needs to talk louder than your talk talks.
Author Ryan Holiday says, “For everything you aspire to, ego is the enemy.”
Think about that statement for a second. How powerful -- and true it is.
Have you ever stopped to consider the link between your ego and aspirations?
How does your ego impact your aspirations?
Can you have both an ego and aspirations that are healthy?
Is your EGO unhealthy? And what can you do to keep your EGO in check?
We all have an ego -- and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A healthy ego affirms that you have value and worth -- which is good. However, an unhealthy ego is grown from an unrealistic picture of yourself. It comes from seeing yourself with inflated skills, abilities, intelligence, etc. An unhealthy ego (or inflated sense of self) can be a wildly destructive force in your life if left unchecked.
In this week’s video walkthrough of Ryan Holiday’s Ego Is the Enemy, I’ll be taking us through the book’s introduction and spending some time on Ryan’s definition of EGO. Feel free to check out my perspective on the definition of ego that Ryan outlines.
There are so many great books to read and so little time!
There are so many great books to read -- how do you know where to start? If you’re like me, going to Amazon to look for an excellent book is like opening up Pandora’s box. It’s like getting sucked into a black hole from which you fear you might not return. It can be overwhelming.
And “overwhelm” is one of the most significant challenges I tackle with my coaching clients. Heck! It’s one of the biggest challenges I face in my own life. Why? Well, when you feel overwhelmed and not sure where to start, you freeze. You assume the fetal position. You stay stuck. You retreat and choose to do nothing.
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