The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage

by Ryan Holiday

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

Whatever we face, we have a choice: Will we be blocked by obstacles, or will we advance through and over them?

“The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”

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.

They can throw us in jail, label us, deprive us of our possessions, but they’ll never control our thoughts, our beliefs, our reactions.

if we have our wits fully about us, we can step back and remember that situations, by themselves, cannot be good or bad. This is something—a judgment—that we, as human beings, bring to them with our perceptions.

There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

The struggle against an obstacle inevitably propels the fighter to a new level of functioning. The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth. The obstacle is an advantage, not adversity. The enemy is any perception that prevents us from seeing this.

A clearer head makes for steadier hands. And then those hands must be put to work.

Simply do what you need to do right now. And do it well. And then move on to the next thing. Follow the process and not the prize.

The process is about finishing. Finishing games. Finishing workouts. Finishing film sessions. Finishing drives. Finishing reps. Finishing plays. Finishing blocks. Finishing the smallest task you have right in front of you and finishing it well.

The process is about doing the right things, right now. Not worrying about what might happen later, or the results, or the whole picture.

Everything we do matters

Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing and wherever we are going, we owe it to ourselves, to our art, to the world to do it well. That’s our primary duty. And our obligation. When

In every situation, life is asking us a question, and our actions are the answer. Our job is simply to answer well.

try hard, to be honest, and to help others and ourselves.

Think progress, not perfection.