This latter offered powerful quotations, fresh anecdotes, and insightful commentary on the wisdom of Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. This book will help you understand how your obstacles can be an opportunity for growth, creativity, and innovation.The Daily Stoic Journal: Ryan Holiday has led the popular revival of stoicism since 2014, with his acclaimed bestsellers The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and - in partnership with Stephen Hanselman - The Daily Stoic. The situations that seem beyond our control, the obstacles, and the never-ending challenges, all have embedded within them an opportunity to co-create the life we have asked for. The story of the king and his subject represents the way opportunities are presented to us in lives sometimes. The impediment to action advances action. The mind adapts and converts to its own purpose the obstacle to our action. but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. This book is inspired by stoic philosophy. What To Take Away From The Obstacle Is the Way

To this poor man, the obstacle that stood in his way became his way out of poverty. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. He found a large sum of money and a personal note from the king that read: After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally came up with a creative way to dislodge this massive rock that stood in his way.Īnd what he found underneath the boulder changed his life. Instead, he was determined to enter the city. He saw the boulder in his way but he did not turn away. Some attempted to push the boulder out of their way, but after a few unsuccessful attempts, they gave up and walked away.įinally, a poor man approached the city. Many of his subjects approached the city, saw the boulder, complained and cursed the king, and left. He hid nearby to observe how his subjects would react to the boulder that stood in their way.

To do this, this king placed a huge boulder at the gate of his city to block the main entrance to the city. There was a king who wanted to test the resolve of his subjects and teach them a lesson in the process.

Ryan Holiday tells the story of an ancient king who conducted an experiment on his subjects to illustrate this point: What if the obstacle is the way-the path to the life that we have asked for? How Can TheObstacle Become The Way? What if what impedes us can actually empower us to do and become who we want to become. But what if embedded within these obstacles are opportunities specifically designed for our benefits. Oftentimes, these obstacles illicit within us feelings of fear, frustrations, confusion, anger, helplessness, and depression.

Stoic obstacle is the way