The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

Ryan Holiday

May 2014 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller

The Obstacle is the Way has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women around the world who apply its wisdom to become more successful at whatever they do.

Its many fans include a former governor and movie star (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a hip hop icon (LL Cool J), an Irish tennis pro (James McGee), an NBC sportscaster (Michele Tafoya), and the coaches and players of winning teams like the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Cubs, and University of Texas men’s basketball team.

The book 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. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” 

Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—have applied stoicism to overcome difficult or even impossible situations. Their embrace of these principles ultimately mattered more than their natural intelligence, talents, or luck.

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.

Ratings and reviews

This book, but it's own definition, had a very lofty goal: namely, the author attempts to show the reader how "to turn every obstacle into an advantage" through the interconnected steps of perception, action, and will. utilizing the key step to change there readers approaches to obstacles in the future: 1. see clearly, 2. act correctly, 3. endure and accept the world as it is. Aside from the actual content, I found this book was written well, and it avoided the common problem of authors rambling on - while also ensuring a quick read through the effective use of short, theme-specific chapters.

Making an effort to remain cool despite being in a bad situation resonated with me. Moreover, realizing that life is short, and as a result, we should make the best of it, helped me with staying engaged and moving forward no matter what.

its a good book, but personally having read books like war of art and essentialism, it didnt bring much new ideas forward. It works as a book, but it didnt feel as refined and original as 2 other books I mentioned. But overall still solid bookand again its my opinion and you might have different experience.

About the author

Ryan Holiday is one of the world’s bestselling living philosophers. His books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Stillness Is the Key, appear in more than forty languages and have sold over 10 million copies. He lives outside Austin with his wife and two boys ... and a small herd of cows and donkeys and goats. His bookstore, The Painted Porch, sits on historic Main Street in Bastrop, Texas.