Rating: Excellent
The Obstacle Is The Way blurb excerpt: The Obstacle Is The Way draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher. My opinion: If you're feeling frustrated, demoralized, or stuck in a rut, this book can help you turn your problems into your biggest advantages. And along the way, it will inspire you with dozens of true stories of the greats from every age and era. Equal parts of practical education and entertainment, this is definitely one of The Best Personal Development Books for those who value actionable insights.
Lessons from The Obstacle Is The Way:
See things for what they are.
Do what we can.
Endure and bear what we must.
What blocked the path now is a path.
What once impeded action advances action.
The Obstacle is the Way.
The book is presented in three parts:
Perception: Your attitude towards the problem. Our perception is how we interpret the objective events of life. It can be a source of strength or a source of weakness.
Action: Breaking problems down and turning them into opportunities.
Will: Cultivating perseverance that can overcome any difficulty.
Perception:
“You will come across obstacles in life — fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.” –Ryan Holiday
When facing obstacles, we need to;
Be objective - being objective means removing “you” from the picture.
Control emotions - when people panic they make mistakes.
Have perspective - having perspective is about reframing the situation and finding the opportunities in your obstacle.
Focus on what can be controlled - the most harmful addiction is believing that we can change things outside our control.
We should remember and follow the Serenity Prayer:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
You must fight the urge to succumb to emotions and focus only on the obstacle that needs to be overcome. Choosing alertness and introspection over emotions such as worry, fear, etc.
What are the things we can control? Our emotions, judgments, creativity, attitude, perspective, desires, and determination.
Action:
Think - Perceive - Act (observe is more powerful than perceive. It’s objective, not subjective).
Everything must be done in the service of the whole (aka the goal).
Putting in your full effort means you:
Practice persistence - being persistent means trying new methods and approaches.
Iterate - launch, test, adjust, repeat.
Follow the process - “The process is about doing the right things, right now. Not worrying about what might happen later, or the results, or the whole picture.”
Don’t worry about how you look; Focus on getting the results - results aren’t always achieved by moving forwards but often by going sideways, backward, or choosing to do nothing.
Get started early, even if the conditions aren’t perfect. Where there is a “why” there must be work and the sooner you start the better.
Will:
Having a strong will allows you to endure hardship along your journey.
To cultivate will, we need to;
Anticipate failure - stoic’s meditated on what might go wrong so that they’re not surprised if it happens. (See Gary Klein pre-mortem).
Accept what’s outside your control - once we accept what’s outside our control, we can fully focus on what is in our control.
Love everything that happens - the next step after acceptance is changing our view from “I must to this” to “I get to do this”.
Persevere - persistence is being determined to solve the problem in front of you. Perseverance is the determination to overcome all obstacles on your path, until the very end. One of the ways to increase your perseverance is by meditating on your mortality. By thinking about our death, we can gain clarity on our priorities and gain the energy to act on them.
Prepare to start again - obstacles are not singular, they are many. Always be prepared for the next obstacle.
Assorted Key Concepts:
Take pride in the path you are on now. Whatever your job, do it well. Everything is a chance to do and be your best.
You don’t convince people by challenging their beliefs, you find common ground and work from there, creating leverage. Alternatively, you create so much support from others that they voluntarily change their views to align with the social norms.
External factors can influence the path, but not the direction. The direction is always forward towards the goal.
The Obstacle Is The Way Best Quotes:
“There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.”
"Those that attack problems with the most initiative and energy usually win."
"Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”
"Focus on the moment, not the monsters that may or may not be up ahead.”
"If an emotion can't change the condition or the situation you're dealing with, it is likely an unhelpful emotion. Or, quite possibly, a destructive one."
"To argue, to complain, or worse, to just give up, these are choices. Choices that more often than not, do nothing to get us across the finish line.”
“We blame our bosses, the economy, our politicians, other people, or we write ourselves off as failures or our goals as impossible. When really only one thing is at fault: our attitude and approach.”
“Consider this mindset:
Never in a hurry
Never worried
Never desperate
Never stopping short.”
“It’s okay to be discouraged. It’s not okay to quit. … It’s supposed to be hard. Your first attempts aren’t going to work. It’s going to take a lot out of you- but energy is an asset we can always find more of. It’s a renewable resource. Stop looking for an epiphany, and start looking for weak points. Stop looking for angels, and start looking for angles.”
"In life, we also have weaknesses. Some people use those weaknesses as an excuse for why they can’t achieve their goals. Others accept their unchangeable weaknesses so that they can fully advance their strengths."
"Perspective is the sum of context and framing."
"There is good in everything if only we look for it "
"Genius is persistence in disguise. Working at something works"
"Nothing can ever prevent us from trying"
What Next:
If you are interested in this book, you may want to check out our list of reviewed Personal Development Books.
My personal recommendation for those who loved this book - Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday or The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
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