The Obstacle is the Way - Turn Your Trials Into Triumph (Body Mind Empowerment Short #2)

Siim Land (0:00)

How do you deal with the challenges of life? Do you crumble after reaching a wall, or do you climb over it?

Are your failures failures, or do you use them as the stepping stones to your success? That's the theme of Ryan Holiday's book The Obstacle is the Way, The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph. The title is based on one of the most renowned stoic philosopher kings of the Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius. He wrote in his personal diaries, The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. The main idea of Ryan Holiday's book is that obstacles don't stop success, but they actually create it. It doesn't mean that failures can't cut you down. They will if you allow them to. It all depends on how you perceive the situation and how you choose to act in spite of them. Perception is the way we see and interpret the world around us. It's how we derive meaning from what happens to us. This is so important to remember because the way we perceive outside events dictates our internal experience.

William Shakespeare said, Nothing is neither good or bad, but thinking makes it so. There's the event itself and the story we tell ourselves. Here's what you need to do to control your perception. Look at the events objectively. You need to control your emotions and choose to see the good in any situation. It requires you to stay calm under pressure and ignore what others see as limiting or disturbing. The most important thing is to focus on the things you can control, which are your thoughts and your actions. There are so many things you can't control in this world, such as the weather, asteroids, how your body responds to certain stimuli, but what you can do is still act in spite of them. You can always choose to do the right thing in any situation, and you can always control your perception. You just need to put it into a bigger perspective, put it in the right context, and then frame it according to your individual perception. The ability to see opportunities in obstacles and to see success in failure requires self-discipline. But first and foremost, it's a matter of logic and meta-awareness. If you're aware enough to recognize yourself in the midst of chaos and not be overtaken by your emotions, then acting in search of the best solution is the natural thing to do. Controlling your perception is critical for creating your entire life. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many good opportunities you see unless you actually go and take action on them. But it's not only about just taking action. Just taking action may cause you to go off in a random direction. It's about taking the right action. If you've unraveled the situation as you choose with your perception, peeled through it with the sword of your consciousness, then you've identified the right course of action. All that's left to do now is act.

Where most people fail is waiting for the right moment to act. The perfect moment will never come.

What I've learned from my own experiences is that it doesn't matter where you're going, as long as you keep going. As long as you keep moving forward, magical things will happen and you'll figure it out along the way. You could spend an eternity waiting for the perfect thing or the perfect time to hit you, but the truth is nothing is perfect. Nothing is perfectly perfect. The Stoics say, don't go expecting Plato's Republic. You shouldn't count on just creating a genius masterpiece with your first try. There will always be something to work on and improve. You will always remain a diamond in the rough, but what you can do right now is simply begin. The second component to taking massive action is consistency. Discipline is what gets you started, but consistency is what keeps you going. This means doing something daily that moves you closer to your goals and what you want to accomplish. And when it comes to obstacles and challenges, then you can't be discouraged by some haters or your own failures.

Ryan Holiday said, it's okay to be discouraged, but it's not okay to quit.

Unless your priorities change, don't continue doing certain things because you don't want to look like a loser, like a quitter. If something's not moving closer to your goals, then drop it. But if it's a quintessential component of your meta-achievement and life's purpose, then you have to plant your feet to the ground and keep going. Your vision needs to be stronger than the desire to quit. I haven't even preconceived the idea of quitting because I know what I want and I know what I need to do.