“We are saying that, on the whole, you are more likely to extend your business and have a fulfilled life if you have the attitude that there are always new customers out there waiting to be enrolled rather than that money, customers, and ideas are in short supply.“

<ol><li>Think of possibilities</li><li>Give up control</li><li>Stop being overly goal-oriented</li><li>Take the long view</li></ol>

4 mindset shifts to adopt an abundance mindset

“When you are oriented to abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks. You may give away short-term profits in pursuit of a bigger dream; you may take a long view without being able to predict the outcome. In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.”

Somehow, our mind always reverts to the following thinking pattern:<ul><li>If I don’t do x</li><li>then y will happen.</li></ul>X is always a certain small action, like sending some emails. Y is an outcome that fear will happen.This type of negative thinking happens when your mind is in a scarcity state. Just like the weather, our mind is constantly in a different state. Our task is to detect the mood so we can adjust.You must become a master of spotting scarcity thinking and turning it into abundance. Try to think in terms of possibilities. Say to yourself:<ul><li>If I keep doing this…</li><li>Maybe something good will happen</li></ul>

Think of possibilities

Stop trying to control everything in life. You honestly can’t plan for everything.And life certainly doesn’t go exactly as you plan. You have to give up your desire to control outcomes.This is an essential part of abundance thinking. Here is a better mindset to adopt instead: “If things go according to plan, great, if they don’t, let’s see what will happen!”Why do we get sad or frustrated when we don’t get exactly what we want? Isn’t that a weird thing to expect? The world is so dynamic and complex that it’s actually a small miracle when things go according to plan.

Give up control

Setting goals gives clarity and direction.When you set goals, you start moving towards them. But don’t get overly focused on them. Otherwise, you might do things that are not beneficial for you in the long term.If you have to get rich “at all costs,” you might just sell your soul or stab people in the back. Money is great, but it’s not worth your honor or character. Don't compromise your values or character just for the sake of achieving your goals. Be driven. Set goals. Work hard.And when you don’t accomplish your goals, set new ones. It keeps you busy.

Stop being overly goal-oriented

Think of all the things that could happen in your life if you’re on this path of positivity and possibility.You just have to be patient.Take my experience purchasing my first apartment <ul><li>I wanted an apartment but didn't rush into buying the first one I found.</li><li>I waited patiently for 18 months and told everyone I met I was looking to buy.</li><li>By chance, I ran into a former classmate who knew someone selling their apartment.This unexpected encounter led me to my dream apartment.</li></ul>Stay open to opportunities and always put yourself out there. You never know who you might meet or what situations may arise.

Take the long view

Life tends to reward us more when we approach it with an open mindset.It may sound abstract, but being generous actually leads to gaining more. Especially when it comes to money, if you don't become too focused on the financial outcomes, you are more likely to build long-term wealth.This is not only about material wealth, but also the richness of our experiences, relationships, and personal growth.Of course, there are no guarantees in this equation. Life, after all, is not a transactional experience where you can always expect to receive exactly what you give.

Approach Life with an Open Mindset

When we spread positivity, share what we love, and welcome others, we see the world become a better, richer place. And it all comes back to us.

The idea is that the more generous you are, the more generously you will be rewarded.

I used to have a scarcity mindset. I dislike empty positive talk, so it took time to develop an abundance mindset.

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

business

Business

startup

Startups

The Art of Possibility: Embrace Abundance and Let Go of Control

“The only constant in life is change.”

Change is inevitable in personal, societal, and global spheres, shaping our lives through events, choices, and evolving environments. While it may be unsettling, embracing change as integral to life's journey reduces stress and fosters growth. A positive outlook turns change into a stepping stone, offering valuable lessons for advancement. Inspired by figures like Socrates and Steve Jobs, strategies such as developing new skills and staying flexible become essential in navigating life's dynamic transformations.

1. The Reality Of Change

Embracing change fosters motivation and resilience. Adapting positively turns shifts into opportunities for self-improvement, allowing us to thrive beyond comfort zones. This openness deepens connections and promotes mutual growth in relationships. Letting go of rigid assumptions reduces resentment towards life's unpredictability. Sustained motivation comes from resetting goals to align with evolving situations. Accepting change equips us with wisdom and resilience for life's unfolding journey.

The Benefits Of Accepting Change

In contemporary culture, failure is often villainized, overshadowed by narratives of unbroken success. However, failure is guaranteed on the path to success. Accepting failure as integral to growth enables constructive responses. Shifting our perspective, we view failure as valuable data guiding us toward success, not permanent defeat. Failures highlight areas for improvement and offer pathways for desired outcomes. Reflecting on failures sparks inventive thinking and cultivates vital lessons, fueling our evolution.

2. The Reality Of Failure

There are constructive techniques for ensuring failures truly enhance rather than diminish our life journeys. Honest and thoughtful evaluations of ourselves and situations that did not manifest desired results are invaluable. Beneficial failure reflection questions include:1. What core lesson does this failure offer me about myself/my pursuits?2. How can I improve my strategy, skills, or mindset to overcome this type of setback next time?3. What limiting belief or assumption of mine does this experience disprove?4. Who can I learn from that has succeeded where I have yet to?

Learning From Failure

Seeking validation is inherent in our social nature, providing comfort but also opening us to the pain of rejection. Despite efforts to please everyone, universal likeability is impossible due to diverse personalities and preferences. Accepting this truth frees us from futile people-pleasing, alleviating needless suffering and irrational fears. Redirecting energy inward prepares us for more authentic, purpose-driven lives.

3. The Reality Of Not Being Able To Please Everyone

Liberation comes from freeing ourselves from others' validation, empowering self-confidence and esteem. Following our inner compass motivates us. Our worth isn't tied to societal standards; awareness of our talents instills motivation. No longer compromising for conformity brings immense fulfillment. As self-knowledge grows, outside opinions matter less. Inner security helps handle disapproval, aligning actions with inner truth sustains motivation. Seeking our approval and that of growth-nurturers sets us on a courageous, authentic life journey, fulfilling our potential.

The Benefits Of Self-Approval

● Change naturally arises in life regularly; embracing it with positivity, flexibility, and eagerness to learn unlocks growth.● Failure serves as a teacher, not a defeater; thoughtfully analyzing our mistakes clears paths ahead.● Pleasing everyone equally is impossible; focusing on self-approval guides us most authentically.● Accepting rather than resisting life’s unavoidable difficulties or disappointments motivates perseverance.● Maintaining the perspective that challenges provide opportunities to learn and improve builds resilience.

Key Takeaways

We all have dreams, goals, and ideals for envisioning our lives unfolding. But reality doesn’t always align with our plans and desires. Certain inevitable

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

books

Books

3 Life Realities You Must Accept

If you want to change the world: 1. Start off by making your bed2. Find someone to help you paddle.3. Measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flipflippers.4. Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.5. Don’t be afraid of the circuses.6. Sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head firsfirst.7. Don’t back down from the sharks.8.You must be your very best in the darkest moment.9. Start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.10. Don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

10 lessons for changing the world / dealing with life

Translation: Start your day with a completed task.Life is hard ⇒ days are long and filled with anxious moments ⇒ sometimes it seems that there is little you can do to affect the outcome of your day.Daily life requires a sense of structure ⇒ the simple act of completing a task can give you the extra pride / motivation you need to seize the day.

1. Start off by making your bed.

“Making my bed correctly was not going to be an opportunity for praise. It was expected of me. It was my first task of the day, and doing it right was important. It demonstrated my discipline. It showed my attention to detail, and at the end of the day it would be a reminder that I had done something well, something to be proud of, no matter how small the task. Throughout my life in the Navy, making my bed was the one constant that I could count on every day.”

Translation: Don’t go it alone.In life, you will face difficult tasks that require you to rely on others ⇒ this requires teamwork.It takes a team of good people to get you to your destination ⇒ Find someone to share your life with ⇒ Make as many friends as possible ⇒ Never forget that your success depends on others.

2. Find someone to help you paddle.

“I had numerous setbacks, and in each case, someone came forward to help me: someone who had faith in my abilities; someone who saw potential in me where others might not; someone who risked their own reputation to advance my career. I have never forgotten those people and I know that anything I achieved in my life was a result of others who have helped me along the way.”

Translation: Grit and determination trump talent.McRaven suggests that true success and impact in life are determined by the size of one's heart, referring to qualities such as kindness, empathy, integrity, and perseverance.

3. Measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of

“SEAL training was always about proving something. Proving that size didn’t matter. Proving that the color of your skin wasn’t important. Proving that money didn’t make you better. Proving that determination and grit were always more important than talent.”

Translation: Life is not fair; get over it.You will not always be rewarded for your hard work / performance.It’s easy to give up / stop trying when you think life is unfair ⇒ But life isn’t fair and the sooner you learn that the better off you will be ⇒ sometimes no matter how hard you try / how good you are, you will fail.

4. Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

Translation: Don’t fear failure; embrace it.Noone is immune ⇒ In life, you will face failure ⇒ and that failure will spiral ⇒ initial failures often compound into additional failures.Embrace this failure ⇒ it will make you stronger ⇒ for every failure, there will be hundreds of successes.

5. Don’t be afraid of The Circus.

Translation: Approach obstacles with a sense of boldness and determination.The metaphor of "sliding down the obstacle head first" signifies diving into challenges without hesitation, fully committing to them, and being willing to explore unconventional approaches.

6. Sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first

“Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential. Without pushing your limits, without occasionally sliding down the rope headfirst, without daring greatly, you will never know what is truly possible in your life.”

Translation: Stand up to bullies.Bullies are all the same in all phases of life (school, workplace, government) ⇒ they rule on terror; they thrive on fear and intimidation.Bullies gain their strength through the timid and faint of heart ⇒ like sharks that sense fear in the water and circle to see if their prey is struggling ⇒ they will probe to see if their victim is weak.

7. Don’t back down from the sharks.

Translation: Rise to the occasion when life gets hard.Your true character is revealed during times of adversity. Show strength, integrity, and courage when faced with tough situations!

8. You must be your very best in the darkest moment.

“There is no darker moment in life than losing someone you love, and yet I watched time and again as families, as military units, as towns, as cities, and as a nation, how we came together to be our best during those tragic times.”

Translation: Give people hope when times are tough.Hope is the most powerful force in the universe ⇒ it only takes one person to inspire it in others.

9. Start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

Translation: Never quit.Life is full of difficult times ⇒ but someone out there always has it worse than you do.Refuse to give up on your dreams.

10. Don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

“If you fill your days with pity, sorrowful for the way you have been treated, bemoaning your lot in life, blaming your circumstances on someone or something else, then life will be long and hard.”

If you want to change the world: 1. Start your day with a completed task.2. Don’t go it alone.3. Grit and determination trump talent.4. Life is not fair; get over it.5. Don’t fear failure; embrace it.6. Approach obstacles with a sense of boldness.7. Stand up to bullies.8. Rise to the occasion when life gets hard.9. Give people hope when times are tough.10. Never quit.

The 10 lessons, translated

"It is easy to blame your lot in life on some outside force, to stop trying because you believe fate is against you. It is easy to think that where you were raised, how your parents treated you, or what school you went to is all that determines your future. Nothing could be further from the truth.""Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential."

Quotes:

In the speech, Bill walks through 10 lessons he learned from basic SEAL training on how to change the world / deal with life. In the book, he builds on these 10 lessons in each chapter

Based on a Navy SEAL's inspiring graduation speech, this #1 New York Times bestseller of powerful life lessons "should be read by every leader in America" (Wall Street Journal). If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better. Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments. "Powerful." --USA Today "Full of captivating personal anecdotes from inside the national security vault." --Washington Post "Superb, smart, and succinct." --Forbes

productivity

Productivity

habits

Habits

Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) served with great distinction in the Navy. In his thirty-seven years as a Navy SEAL, he commanded at every level. As a Four-Star Admiral, his final assignment was as Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces. He is now Chancellor of the University of Texas System.

William H. McRaven

Make Your Bed

8 LIFE LESSONS TO LEARN FROM  THE BOOK IIKIGAI 

"Ikigai" emphasizes the importance of small acts of affection, meditation, affirmation, journaling, and gratitude for maintaining our connection to happiness hormones.

1.Don't Retire, Stay Active 

Ikigai and Joe Robinson both emphasize the importance of walking slowly for better habit formation, as it allows for the adjustment of new habits.

2.Take Your Time

The quote "Dinosaurs always roared and never laughed" emphasizes the importance of smiling and laughing in our lives, as it brings happiness and doesn't cost money.

3.Always Smile

Human preference for cities has increased condo rates, but connecting with nature recharges the soul's batteries and brings contentment through enjoying the seasons and their meanings since birth.

4.Reunite With Mother Nature 

Lavretsky and Newhouse suggest that excessive work can cause premature aging, and promoting "Ichi-go ichi-e," or living in the moment, can help combat this.

5. Live In The Present 

Ikigai recommends reducing food intake by reducing serving sizes by 20% and promoting proper digestion through walking. Experiment with different sizes and ratios to find the best balance.

6. Eat Just 80%

Daily plant watering, exercising, doing yoga, and engaging in gym activities are all essential for optimal oil function. They can help remove dirt, release happiness hormones, and keep us feeling refreshed and happy.

7. Maintain Fineness For Your Next Birthday 

Ikigai believes that everyone has a unique passion that can bring both simplicity and complexity, and finding it can lead to a fulfilling journey. It's the perfect blend of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.Follow these key principles to find your Ikigai:<ul><li>Reflect on what makes you truly happy.</li><li>Explore different activities and find your strengths.</li><li>Consider how you can make a positive impact on others and the world.</li><li>Find a way to turn your passion into a source of income.</li><li>Embrace your Ikigai and make it a central part of your life.</li></ul>

Follow Your Ikigai

There is no future, no past. There is only the present. The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.﻿

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • 1.5 MILLION+ COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE “Workers looking for more fulfilling positions should start by identifying their ikigai.” ―Business Insider   “One of the unintended—yet positive—consequences of the [pandemic] is that it is forcing people to reevaluate their jobs, careers, and lives. Use this time wisely, find your personal ikigai, and live your best life.” ―Forbes Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) to live longer and bring more meaning and joy to all your days. “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb   According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day?

mindfulness

Mindfulness

health

Health

timemanagement

Time Management

Hector Garcia was born in Spain in 1981 and has been living in Tokyo since 2004. During his spare time he writes aGeekinJapan.com, one of the most widely-read blogs in the world in Spanish and in English, as well as books about his experiences in Japan. He is the author of the bestsellers: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and A Geek in Japan. You can find more of Hector's musings at ageekinjapan.com

Héctor García

Francesc Miralles Contijoch is a Catalan writer, essayist, translator, and musician.

Francesc Miralles

Ikigai

"Monsters are real, ghosts are real too.They live inside us, and sometimes they win."

"I understand why people take flight from bridges, I understand why a girl holds a blade to her wrist,I understand why a grown man cries counting all his lists.What I wish for the world to understand is that in these fragile moments, patience and love are needed most."

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

"People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips."

"Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace."

“How do you spell ‘love?’ You don’t spell it, you feel it.”

" Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five. "

" If my eyes could show my soul, everyone would cry when they saw me smile. "

" We are so alone in this world;surroundedbut alone,held but not embraced,loved but not cherished. "

"Life is a balance between holding on and letting go."

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

10 Hard Hitting Quotes

Learn about a year-long journey of self-discovery and growth by Matt D’Avella. He embarked on 12 self-development experiments, adopting new habits and pushing his boundaries.The process taught him the importance of focusing on one habit at a time, listening to his body, and accepting that not all habits work for everyone.

Transform in One Year: 12 Habit challenges for Self-Development

Deprivation experiments like quitting caffeine or taking cold showers can increase appreciation for what one has and build resilience.These experiments can also help identify dependencies and promote healthier lifestyles.

Appreciating through deprivation

Facing failures and shortcomings can lead to mental and emotional growth.Strength is not a result of perfection, but of overcoming weaknesses and challenges.

Strength born from weakness

Unrealistic expectations of perfection can be detrimental to happiness and personal growth.It’s okay to fail and not always follow through on commitments.In fact, sometimes it’s better to quit and focus on things one is truly passionate about.

Releasing the burden of perfection

Having a community of supportive and respectful individuals can make the process of habit change easier and more enjoyable.Sharing experiences and learning from others can provide motivation and inspiration.

The value of a supportive community

Appreciating the growth and opportunities that come from self-development experiments can fuel motivation for future endeavors.

Gratitude for growth and opportunities

While open to suggestions for future experiments, it’s important to respect personal boundaries and not push oneself into uncomfortable or harmful situations.

Respecting personal boundaries

Some habits from the experiments, such as reducing sugar intake, meditating more often, and scheduling every minute of the day, have become part of the speaker’s routine, demonstrating that habit formation is a personal and variable process.

Habits that stuck

The only way to truly know if a habit will work for you is to try it yourself.Personal trials provide valuable insights and lessons that can guide future decisions and actions.

The importance of personal trials

Just get started. Use that motivation and inspiration, that initial spark to try something new, and then trust me, you will figure out those problems when you get to them. But that’s not for right now. Right now is to just take action.

Transform in One Year: 12 Habit challenges for Self-Development #atomicIdeas

problemsolving

Problem Solving

humanresources

Human Resources

Transform in One Year: 12 Habit Challenges for Self-Development

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

💡At any given time in life, we’re aspiring to something, we have achieved success, or we have failed.💡We must cultivate humility, diligence, and self-awareness if we are to remove ego.💡Maintain your own scorecard.💡Don’t fake it ’til you make it—make it.💡Always stay a student.

The Five Big Ideas

The book is structured as short essays split into three parts: Aspire, Success, and Failure. These being three phases that one invariably finds themselves in at any given moment, often alternating between them over the course of a life. As the book says, “Aspiration leads to success (and adversity). Success creates its own adversity (and, hopefully, new ambitions). And adversity leads to aspiration and more success. It’s an endless loop.”

Aspire, Success, Failure

In addition to these three phases, there are a few major themes running through each part of the book, as well as how people can successfully conquer their ego in each phase.

Three Key Themes From Ego Is The Enemy

Having purpose will help you accomplish life changing work. Holiday says the first thing you need to do is ask yourself, “why do I do what I do?” If you don’t have an answer to this question, you should take some time to figure it out.On the other hand, many harmonious and effective people have found that answering the following questions helped them live with purpose: Why do I do what I do? Who am I? What purpose am I serving?

1. Live with Purpose Not Passion

The Greeks used the word Euthymia for this which is a sense of our own path and how we can stay on it without getting distracted. Prioritize your goals with clarity and then follow through. True confidence comes from putting in the time; it comes from discipline and mastery. One important point to note is that critical work is not helped by passion. It requires deliberation, not blind emotion, otherwise it is subject to the delusions of ego.

People who are passionate will tell you all the things they are going to do, but they can never show you any progress, because there usually isn’t any. They talk a lot, but get little done. People who are driven by purpose don’t need to talk about their work because you will see the results.It’s okay to be passionate, but be passionate with discipline. Execute with excellence. Remain humble; know that you always have more to learn:

“The critical work that you want to do will require your deliberation and consideration. Leave passion for the amateurs. Make it about what you feel you must do and say, not what you care about and wish to be.”

Get to know your ego, but once you make the choice to manage your ego and pursue your purpose, be prepared for when people try to sabotage you.Our adversities likely pale but the only thing we can be sure of when we are embarking on an endeavor is that there will be adversity and we will very likely be treated poorly. In these situations, there are two things to remember: 1) It degrades others, not you, when they treat you poorly and unfairly2) Choose alive time over dead time.

When They Treat You Poorly 

Alive time is time when you are actively using your time usefully and improving; dead time is time you spend passive. We may not always be able to choose our circumstances, but we can always choose whether we want to make our time alive time or dead timeThe question the book leaves hanging:“…this moment is not your life. But it is a moment in your life. How will you use it?”

Choose alive time over dead time.

The greatest leaders and wisest thinkers have all been students of life. They possessed a unique curiosity about life and had the discipline to constantly be learning. Many people get overly confident in one area and forget that they know so little about everything else. The ego tries to build an identification with success, withholding you from learning moreThe book explains that when you are just starting out you need to remember: You aren’t as good as you think you are, you probably need your attitude readjusted, and the things you learned in books or school are out of date or wrong.

2. Always Be a Student

Many factors will determine the success you will reach as you’re starting out, one of them being your willingness to listen to feedback, especially critical feedback. The book discusses an amateur as being defensive to critical feedback, but a professional as delighted in being challenged to learn more.To become the best you can be, and to maintain that greatness you need to have a student mindset. You need to always be learning.

Everything in life has something to teach you, but ego gets in the way of opportunities you have had or will have. The ego tells you that you shouldn’t do an internship because you are overqualified for it. The ego doesn’t want to do the grunt work because it thinks it’s too good for that. People living with purpose look past this, and they focus on what is important, believing in what they need to do. Appreciate the opportunity. Take the internship. Put in the time and effort, and learn.

“Humility is what keeps us there, concerned we don’t know enough and that we must continue to study. Ego rushes to the end, rationalizes that patience is for losers (wrongly seeing it as a weakness), and assumes we’re good enough to give our talents a go in the world.”

The stoics used the word sympatheia for this state of mind, which means “a connectedness with the cosmos.” This connection makes you ask yourself: Who am I? What am I doing and why? The book elaborates on how material success can take you away from this perspective. Don’t let your ego convince you the world revolves around you. Intentionally seek out the cosmos and your purpose will be revealed to you over time, which is also a part of the stoic view: “Purpose deemphasizes the I. Purpose is about pursuing something outside yourself as opposed to pleasuring yourself.”

Find and follow your purpose, and then do the work. The book explains that you should make it so you don’t have to fake it: “Can you imagine a doctor trying to get by with anything less? Or a quarterback? So why would you try otherwise?” Be a lifelong student even after—especially after, your major accomplishments. Eliminate what isn’t necessary. Stay open-minded. Set goals and live on purpose.

When you begin to live with purpose instead of passion your ego will begin to lessen, and you will gain the quiet confidence the philosopher Seneca referred to as Euthymia: having a sense of your own path and not getting distracted by externals.

3. Talk & think less; do more

Talking is easy, everyone does it, but silence is rare in today’s world. Your ego tells you that you need recognition from others, but real confidence doesn’t need to talk, it produces work. Talking destroys action. Sit quietly and work. Let go of the distractions of social media and of the news, and focus on your work.

“So what is scarce and rare? Silence. The ability to deliberately keep yourself out of the conversation and subsist without its validation. Silence is the respite of the confident and the strong.”

Thinking too much can also lead you into living with a psychological term marked as “imaginary audience,” which is explained in the book. Many adolescents go through this and many adults hold on to it. It’s the idea that people are watching and thinking about you when they are not. It’s the teenager who misses a week of class because they are so embarrassed of spilling juice on their pants and think that everyone in the school is talking about it. They are not. This is the imaginary audience. People don’t think about you as much as you think they do, which is a relief.

Imaginary Audience

The ego loves the imaginary audience and thrives on it, so remember the bigger picture, let go of your wandering thoughts and bring yourself into the present moment:“Living clearly and present takes courage. Don’t live in the haze of the abstract, live with the tangible and real, even if—especially if—it’s uncomfortable. Be part of what’s going on around you. Feast on it, adjust for it.”

In short, the book says we must manage our ego or see it get the best of us.Be an eternal student, absorbing everything around you like a sponge, knowing that there is always more to learn. As well as living with purpose and remaining a student, focus on doing the work instead of seeking recognition, letting your confidence show with results.

💡 Ego is an unhealthy belief in our own importance.
💡 Ego is there undermining us on the very journey we’ve put everything into pursuing.
💡 Ego can be managed and directed.

The Book in Three Sentences

“Ego is the enemy of what you want and of what you have: Of mastering a craft. Of real creative insight. Of working well with others. Of building loyalty and support. Of longevity. Of repeating and retaining your success. It repulses advantages and opportunities. It’s a magnet for enemies and errors. It is Scylla and Charybdis.”

“Instead of pretending that we are living some great story, we must remain focused on the execution—and on executing with excellence. We must shun the false crown and continue working on what got us here.”

The Most Remarkable Quotes From Ego Is The Enemy By Ryan Holiday

“You must practice seeing yourself with a little distance, cultivating the ability to get out of your own head.”

The Power of Detachment

“What is rare is not raw talent, skill, or even confidence, but humility, diligence, and self-awareness.”

What Is Rare

“Your ego screams for people to acknowledge you. But you must do nothing. Take it. Eat it until you’re sick. Endure it. Quietly brush it off and work harder. Play the game. Ignore the noise; for the love of God, do not let it distract you.”

Wanting Attention 

The instant Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestseller “While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their image with sheer, almost irrational force, I’ve found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition.” —from the prologue   Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.   Ego Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to his­tory. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by con­quering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.   In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”

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Make Your Bed

Ikigai

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Martha