Turn Obstacles into Opportunities: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
This book will help you see opportunity in crisis, overcome adversity, and deal with whatever life throws at you.
Life can be challenging at times for the best of us. It rarely if ever plays out exactly the way we plan it. All of us face different challenges at different points in our lives: be it in our careers, our health, our finances, or our relationships. But hidden within every challenge is the seed for positive change; an opportunity to improve our lives and to grow as a human being. ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ is a fantastic guide based on Stoic philosophy about taking whatever life throws our way, and turning it into an opportunity, and emerging stronger, wiser, and better as a result of our challenges.
The book starts off with a beautiful phrase from Marcus Aurelius in his seminal book Meditations:
“Our actions may be impeded…but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
— Marcus Aurelius
These beautiful words serve as a guide to overcoming adversity, and turning challenges into opportunities. The book describes a 3 part formula to overcoming challenges in life: The discipline of Perception, the discipline of Action, and the discipline of Will. Let us look at each of these steps now:
- The Discipline of Perception:
The first step to overcoming adversity is to realize that we don’t always control what happens to us, but we are in control of how we respond to events in life. When things don’t go our way in life, we can panic, get anxious, feel depressed and lost, OR we can calmly respond to events, see situations objectively, and not get caught up in our emotions. The way we respond to events ultimately decides the kind of results we get in life.
Perfecting the skill of perception also involves realizing there is no such thing as good or bad in life, there are just the judgments and labels that we place on events. This is perfectly captured in the following quote by William Shakespeare:
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
— William Shakespeare
It is also important for us to realize that when an event happens in our life, we are often not aware of the long-term consequences of the event in the larger scheme of our life. To illustrate this, there is a beautiful Zen parable about the Farmer and his Horse. The story goes as follows:
There was once a farmer in ancient China who owned a horse. “You are so lucky!” his neighbors told him, “to have a horse to pull the cart for you!” “Maybe,” the farmer replied.
One day he didn’t latch the gate properly and the horse ran off. “Oh no! What a disaster!” his neighbors cried. “Such terrible misfortune!” “Maybe,” the farmer replied.
A few days later the horse returned, bringing with it six wild horses. “How fantastic! You are so lucky,” his neighbors told him. “Now you are rich!” “Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The following week the farmer’s son was breaking in one of the wild horses when it kicked out and broke his leg. “Oh no!” the neighbors cried, “Such bad luck, all over again!” “Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next day soldiers came and took away all the young men to fight in the war. The farmer’s son was left behind. “You are so lucky!” his neighbors cried. “Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The wise farmer in the story doesn’t immediately judge an event after it happens, because he knows it is impossible for him to know the long-term consequences of an event in life. Like him, we too can learn to stay calm, not get caught up in the fray.
We can also learn to recognize the hidden gifts in every challenge or adversity life throws at us. Every problem or challenge or adversity contains the seed for positive change — For example, if you lose a job, it may put you on a path to find a more suitable job or career path. If you go through a break-up or a divorce, it may put you on a path to finding a healthier, better relationship in the future. It is up to us to take what life gives and make the best of it.
2. The Discipline of Action:
The second step to overcoming adversity is to use our new perception of the situation to take suitable action. This step involves being decisive, being strategic, planning, executing, acting aggressively, and being persistent until you are able to overcome your problems.
There is a quote by Coach Nick Saban, the head coach for the University of Alabama football team- one of the most successful college football teams of all time:
“Don’t think about winning the SEC Championship.
Don’t think about the national championship.
Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment.
That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.”
This quote perfectly encapsulates how to approach obstacles in life- You don't need to have everything figured out. Your journey might be one of 10000 steps — But just take one step at a time, one day at a time. Be patient, be persistent, and you will see results eventually.
3. The Discipline of Will:
The third step to overcoming adversity is to realize that there is only so much you can control in your life. The most intelligent thing to do in any situation is to focus on what we can control, and let go of whatever is outside our control.
In the words of the famous Greek philosopher Epictetus:
The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.
— Epictetus
The world is a vast, unpredictable and at times chaotic place, and you don’t always get to control how things turn out. While one part of life is about working hard and doing the best you can, the other part of life is about accepting the things you cannot change. And by accepting what you cannot change, you stop wasting huge amounts of mental energy worrying about things you cannot really control, and you can reclaim your peace of mind and well-being.
The book also mentions the philosophy of “Amor Fati” by the great German philosopher Frederick Nietsche, which means the love of fate. It means to not just accept what happens to us, but to love it. Nietsche considered it his formula for human greatness, which is
That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.
-Friedrich Nietsche
This means to take everything life throws at us with acceptance, to work with life, and to use everything that happens as an opportunity for growth and for learning. And in this way, we can find lasting peace. This part can also be perfectly summarized by the famous Serenity prayer, often used in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step recovery programs:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Conclusion
The triad of Perception, Action, and Will can be used to overcome any challenge that life throws at you, and emerge stronger as a consequence of your challenges. The whole book can be summarized by the following quote from Marcus Aurelius from Meditations:
Objective judgment, now, at this very moment.
Unselfish action, now, at this very moment.
Willing acceptance — now, at this very moment — of all external events. That’s all you need.
-Marcus Aurelius
And that’s all for today folks! I really hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, and I hope it will inspire you to check out the book, and act as an anchor in times of adversity and crisis. If you liked this post, please give me a few claps, and subscribe to my profile for more such ideas that could help change your life!
