Trump might have been afraid of the COVID -19 virus, but there was something he feared more, the appearance of being vulnerable. He didn’t want to show the world, that he was afraid of the virus. Thus, instead of modelling safety and protecting himself, he gave into his huge ego. Although people were becoming discontent, due to some of his decisions during his presidential term, we all know the thing that threw him off the edge is his mishandling of the covid situation.
According to Ryan Holiday, the author of the book “Ego is the Enemy”, Ego is an “unhealthy belief in your own self-importance”. Ego is a false inflated self-image. Ego is the need to be recognized, become more, have more than others.
We can see this in Donald Trump, who considered wearing a mask as a sign of “weakness” and chose to risk not wearing the mask and risked himself contracting the virus.
People often confuse between self-esteem and ego. Ego and Self-esteem can never be the same. Individuals having a big ego, think they are building their self-esteem. However, the exact opposite is happening. The more the ego, the lesser the self-esteem, and vice versa. Self-esteem is a feeling of acceptance with self as it is. A person with high self-esteem accepts himself/herself as they are, with all the strengths and weaknesses. They don’t create a false self-image about themselves, they accept whoever they are in reality while seeking to better themselves.
A huge ego brings out a lot of unwanted changes in us such as converting self-confidence to arrogance and self-image to obsession. Therefore, ego is the enemy, of whatever you want to do. You can never master any skill, with a huge ego.
Where ego destroys, self-confidence builds.
Source: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
Riya Tharakan
Personal development Coach at Young Mastermind Brainciti. Psychology and communication double major student at University at Buffalo.