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

by Ryan Holiday

Perception, Action, and the Will.

apatheia. It’s the kind of calm equanimity that comes with the absence of irrational or extreme emotions. Not the loss of feeling altogether, just the loss of the harmful, unhelpful kind.

Where the head goes, the body follows. Perception precedes action. Right action follows the right perspective.

Our emotions Our judgments

Our creativity Our attitude Our perspective Our desires Our decisions Our determination

Our perceptions determine, to an incredibly large degree, what we are and are not capable of. In many ways, they determine reality itself. When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph?

We must be sure to act with deliberation, boldness, and persistence. Those are the attributes of right and effective action. Nothing else—not thinking or evasion or aid from others. Action is the solution and the cure to our predicaments.