Have you ever had something in your way that felt like a big wall, and you just didn't know how to get past it? Ryan Holiday's book, "The Obstacle is The Way," is all about turning those barriers into bridges. It's like a guide on how to turn bad situations into good ones.
The main message of the book is that every challenge or problem faced can become an opportunity to learn, grow, and become a better version of yourself. So, whenever there is a challenge, see it as a puzzle waiting to be solved.
Holiday built the main idea of the book on ideas from ancient Roman and Greek philosophy, especially from "Stoicism." Stoics were like modern day life coaches who believed that life presents different situations and for this reason we should focus on having the best reaction regardless of what the situation is.
He suggests a process that can be used to overcome challenges broken down in three steps.
The first step is about your perception, how do you see your situation. Instead of seeing a problem, see instead a challenge that you can solve.
The next step is to follow up the right perception of the challenge with an action or actions. This is where you would execute the solution or work toward it. Sometimes you must regroup or take on another task that would prepare you to better tackle the first challenging situation.
The final step involves having that inner strength and determination to not give up regardless of what the challenge may be.
I learnt a lot from Holiday relaying different life stories of famous people who faced their own challenges and managed to overcome them. For example, there's a story about Thomas Edison, the famous inventor who reacted by his workshop being burned down by saying it was a chance to start fresh and rebuild an even better workshop which he did.
