It's Time to Choose, Your Ego or You?: Unraveling Humanity's Biggest Secret Paperback – August 28, 2020

I followed Trey on You Tube when he vlogged his AT thru hike. At the time I had weekend hiked a 20 mile AT section a few months before and was hooked on the trail. I am now a full blown AT section hiker with hundreds of miles under my belt with a hunger to thru hike. It will happen in this life!So when this book came out I wanted to read it because I loved following his AT Vlog. But honestly the first chapter or two was all the farther I got. I actually deleted from my Kindle.When I saw his next book out,Pushing North, I decided to try it anyway. Full disclosure, it was free on Kindle Unlimited. Well....it blew me away. I can't say enough how good it is.Immediately upon completing, honestly half way thru it, I knew I needed to try reading "It's time to choose,Your ego or you"again. I did and this time I was much, much more open to it. Honestly, the first attempt at reading it I think my ego literally panicked and convinced me it was not worth my time.Well, it was and then some.I am starting to read" Pushing North" for a second time because I know I will benefit from doing so.Trey, I have tried reading books on awareness, and mindfulness before but they just didn't click, it was like there was a wall I just could not get thru.Your writings, entwined with just enough trail talk to keep me interested early on, crushed thru that wall. Here I am, in my early 60's and in a way, I feel like a kid starting over. I am beyond excited to be on the journey I have started. Thank you

Wow, am I a mess...lol. Until I read this book, I had no idea how much my ego had control of my everyday existence. My husband and I are "gearing up" to hike the AT in 2028 so I am a junkie with the gear and youtube videos. Every time I watch a segment of someone hiking the AT I feel such a "freedom", I feel relaxed, happy. And until I read this book I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I believe my true self is gentle, caring and genuinely happy. I have become hard hearted and cranky, always in "protection" mode. I will get you before you get me sort of mindset. Reading this book as really opened my eyes to see that I am living in an ego driven reality, and I hate it. Thanks to ER's wonderfully written illustrations and stories I can now be conscious of my actions/reactions to situations and place myself on the balcony and ask "why am I doing this right now"? I've also become much better at telling others "no" instead of playing the martyr roll and taking on everything thrown at me in order to feed my ego who tells me this is what a wife and mother should do-work to the bone while husband and kids watch tv. On the the other hand, this book has also made me so much more sensitive to others struggles and to be able to see that their decisions are driven by their ego and therefor not take things so personally, which my ego loves to do. I love my balcony and find such freedom up there, thank you ER. I'm actually beginning to enjoy who I am now. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your experiences with us. This is a must read. I've read it through once, underlining like crazy. Now it's time to revisit my notes and dig even deeper. This is a book to be read multiple times.

Ever wonder WHY you have inner struggles? This book will let you in on a secret you have known about but that you didn't know affects all of us, the struggle with your ego. The author, I'll call him EarlyRiser because I watched his Appalachian Trail videos, gives the reader multiple examples of his ego taking over the task at hand and how to recognize when it is happening to you. There are so many examples given in the book that even if you weren't an AT thru-hiker, special Ops guy, or insecure teenager, you'll understand the struggle we all go through. Get a cup of java going, sit in your favorite chair and enjoy the eye-opening inner mind adventure.Update: I was 3/4 of the way through the book when I wrote the review above. ER's book is a lot like hiking the AT northbound, the last chapter or two are epic, like New Hampshire and Maine. Don't miss it!

ER's thru-hike vlog was one of the first I followed on YouTube. He was a bad ass who knocked out 20-30 miles a day, avoided humans (as best he could) and shared each step of the 2198 miles in 131 days with his followers. I jumped on it when I heard he'd written a book, but wasn't at all prepared for the journey that would take me on. I can't begin to articulate how I was touched by the honesty, the vulnerability and the insight that Trey shared in this book. It wasn't at all what I expected. Unplug from the drama, be still, get out in nature and break free from the matrix was my take away. Thank you for a great read and a clear path, Trey. Great message, excellent book. Blessings, brother.

I really enjoyed this book and felt like ER was writing it for or about me. I could relate to so many things he was saying in the book. My biggest fear is looking stupid and my wife says that is rediculous and nobody cares what I am doing anyway, but my ego says otherwise. This book begins to give me valuable insight into what the ego is and how it creates fear and a perceived reality that is false. Thank you ER for taking time to put your thoughts and research into writing this valuable book. Now I must download and read "The Second Mountain."

Great read and very insightful look at how one can learn to gain perspective and get control over their unconscious thoughts. I followed Trey (Early Riser 71) during his thru hike of the Appalachian Trail and was drawn to both his entertaining hiking journey, and his commentary on personal growth. In this book he shares some awesome stories of his life as an elite warrior and thru hiker and how those experiences led him to mentally step out of "the matrix" and gain control over his ego. As a man with some similar experiences, I found this to be extremely helpful and inspiring.