People usually tell you to listen to your heart. Listening to your heart is good, yet listening to your ego is bad, and learning to differentiate between the two voices is the key.
I once worked for an employer yet every day coming to work I always just wanted to do things the way I want and took what I was told to do for granted. I kept disagreeing and rationalizing that whatever I saw was right. Perhaps I could be right but I accidentally ruined a relationship with some people in the organization by doing so. I failed to make them feel that they are important and valuable as much as I am.
My ego kept feeding me that “I am right, and they are wrong”, until one day my employer could not stand me anymore and they had to let me go. That was a terrible day in my life. It was a painful breakup, it stopped me from doing what I was doing. I naively thought that I would be free since then but all I got were guilt, shame, and demotivation. At some points, I could not lift myself up given I was surrounded by family and friends.
It was when I picked up the book Ego is the enemy book by Ryan Holiday. I decided to give it a try and to reflect on what I did. The failure brought me to the lowest point in my life. After a month, I could still not acknowledge what I did wrong. The ego is still there. Ryan said in the book that “Whatever you are going to do next, the ego is the enemy”. Ego is not self-love. Too much of ego can stop you from achieving what you want. Too much ego takes you away from the reality and puts you in a fantasy. As it was mentioned by Haemin in The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down book: “If you keep your head low, you will never hit anything”.
Yet, in this modern day, social media and technology keep giving us space to acknowledge how great we are as individuals. To a point where we forget to look around to see other people and to take in their perspectives. The moment we think we are the most important people on earth, it is the end of our interdependent nature.
What is the point of being great and being the only man left on earth?
