Originally published on LinkedIn (reformatted for zahradnik.io / Medium)
You cannot have ego and clarity at the same time.
Over the years, I noticed a pattern:
when someone’s ego is loud, their perception becomes distorted — internally and externally. It becomes harder to see reality as it is.
I’ve seen it manifest in many forms:
- A scientist who spent 10 years on a research path that went nowhere, but can’t let go — because the ego refuses to start from zero.
- A researcher who subconsciously filters out contradictory data to protect their preferred conclusion.
- A founder who believes they were “chosen” to build something — not from love for building, but because their ego needs a role to act out.
None of this is clarity.
It’s ego wearing a mask.
I could reference ancient philosophy here, but instead I’ll point to someone contemporary: the writer known as T.F. Monkey.
In one of his reflections on ego death, he gives an example I’ll paraphrase:
A wretched-looking homeless man walks past two people.
One says: “He should get a job.”
The other says: “It’s his fault he ended up like this.”
And the homeless man simply keeps walking.
That’s the lesson.
Ego death isn’t dramatic.
It’s quiet. Silent. A subtraction.
It’s the moment you stop performing for the world — and stop projecting meaning onto everything around you.
And when that happens, clarity appears.
With ego gone:
- You can discard a failed project because truth matters more than pride.
- You build a company because you love building, not because you need a mythic destiny.
- You stop caring about what others think — realizing most “judgment” is just a projection of their own insecurity.
I went through ego death myself. It wasn’t sudden. It took years.
I never had a big ego, but I still had one — and when it dissolved, my thinking shifted.
Not louder. Clearer.
Many confuse confidence without ego with confidence driven by ego.
Outwardly they look similar.
But the difference is internal — it’s in the force that moves you forward.
If you ever reach a point where you move like that homeless man — simply walking, not reacting, not performing, not proving…
…congratulations. You’ve made it.
And if you’re curious, that book might help you on the path.
Follow the wisdom, not the author.
