SDS 028: Pride and humility

So I’m reading this book now, it’s called “Ego is the Enemy”, by Ryan Holiday. And if you’re looking for a new book to read, then I highly recommend this one and you’ll find out just now from this one example from the book. And there it talks about pride, and how when we do work, when we create something or accomplish something in our careers or at work or in our lives, we are often proud of our accomplishments. And when you think about it, there’s nothing wrong with being proud about something that you accomplish. Not even just boasting about it, but just being inside yourself, internally, being proud about it. And that’s what I always thought, that hey look, if I’ve done something, if I’ve created something, if I’ve completed some work, or some project, I have the right to be proud about it, I have the right to feel good about it.

But what Ryan Holiday says in his book is, he says that, very interestingly, pride can actually cloud your mind. It can put this haze over your mind, and I love this quote from the book, where he says that “pride takes a minor accomplishment and makes it feel like a major one.” So how deep is that thought? That you’ve created something, or you’ve completed a project at work. And because you get into this spiral of being proud of yourself, or of feeling good about what you’ve accomplished, and you constantly think about it, that oh yes, I completed this project, it’s such a great accomplishment, great feat. It starts to feel that it’s this huge world-changing thing that you’ve accomplished.

But at the same time, what he’s saying is not that it’s not a major thing in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it is. It might be a huge thing. You might have helped somebody out, you might have helped a whole community of people out. But what he’s saying is that this is a minor accomplishment in the grand scheme of things that you can accomplish. That you have the power to accomplish. And by thinking constantly of how great you did yesterday, or whether it was a week ago, or a month ago, you are constantly delaying your next project. You’re delaying moving on to the next big thing that you can accomplish. And the longer you feel proud about your previous accomplishment, the further away will your next accomplishment be.

And when you think about it, it’s a very interesting concept. And it’s actually — I find it very true, that sometimes when for instance I’ve created a course, or I created a video explaining something about data science, and I feel proud about it, and I constantly think oh wow, I wonder how much feedback I got for this video today, and what people said about it, or how many views it got, and so on. But that is taking up my mental energy, which I could be using to do something better.

So if you agree with me on this, then I challenge you to test this out next week. So probably you’re going to have hopefully a nice and relaxing and fun weekend, and then when you get back to work and back to whatever you’re doing and however you’re contributing to society, I challenge you to look back at your most recent accomplishment and instead of being proud of it, just acknowledge that you did a great job, you’ve done something fantastic, you’ve maybe created something, or you’ve helped somebody out, and leave it at that. And then just move on to your next project. And try not to think about your accomplishment that has just occurred. See if that will free up your mind for new, even greater things.

And I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. I really appreciate you coming on to the show and listening and supporting us. This is what drives us forward. And hopefully I’m able to share some valuable insights with you. If you’re listening to the podcast for the first time, then make sure to subscribe. Because I can’t wait to see you next time. And until then, happy analyzing.