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Ryan Holiday

The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage Hardcover – 1 May 2014

by Ryan Holiday (Author)

250 customer reviews

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We give up too easily. With a simple change of attitude, what seem like insurmountable obstacles become once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Ryan Holiday, who dropped out of college at nineteen to serve as an apprentice to bestselling 'modern Machiavelli' Robert Greene and is now a media consultant for billion-dollar brands, draws on the philosophy of the Stoics to guide you in every situation, showing that what blocks our path actually opens one that is new and better.

If the competition threatens you, it's time to be fearless, to display your courage. An impossible deadline becomes a chance to show how dedicated you are. And as Ryan discovered as Director of Marketing for American Apparel, if your brand is generating controversy - it's also potentially generating publicity.

The Stoic philosophy - that what is in the way, is the way - can be applied to any problem: it's a formula invented more than 2,000 years ago, whose effectiveness has been proven in battles and board rooms ever since. From Barack Obama's ability to overcome obstacles in his election races, to the design of the iPhone, the stoic philosophy has helped its users become world-beaters.

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Product details

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Profile Books; Main edition (1 May 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1781251487
ISBN-13: 978-1781251485
Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 2.4 x 18.1 cm
Average Customer Review: 250 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 302,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10056 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy
- #17608 in Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Self Help
- #20990 in Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Self Help

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Review

A book for the bedside of every future - and current - leader in the world. (Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery)

Ryan Holiday is part Machiavelli, part Ogilvy ... this whiz kid is the secret weapon you've never heard of. (Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Work Week)

The Obstacle is the Way decants in concentrated form the timeless techniques for self-mastery as employed to world-conquering effect by philosophers and men of action from Alexander the Great to Marcus Aurelius to Steve Jobs. Follow these precepts and you will revolutionize your life. As Mr Holiday writes, "It's simple, it's just not easy." Read this book! (Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of 'The War of Art and Gates of Fire')

An absolute must-read. A kind of user's manual for life, you will turn to it time and time again and learn to tear through any obstacle and resolve any conflict. (Jimmy Soni, managing editor of Huffington Post, author of Rome's Last Citizen)

Praise for Trust Me, I'm Lying:

'A playbook for the dark arts of exploiting the media

(Robert Greene The 48 Laws of Power)

An astonishing, disturbing book (Financial Times)

Book Description

In business and marketing, Ryan Holiday has done it all, seen it all, and now he's here to show you ... the way.

A modern guru who shows the way to turn problems into opportunities.

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Neil Lucock

Best avoided, buy something better

8 February 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This had lots of good reviews and was recommended by a Stoic site, but I don't think it is worth having. I've read about half up to now and I'm losing interest, I doubt I'll finish reading it. Lots of heartwarming examples of people who were not actually Stoics but exhibited some form of Stoic behaviour don't really convince me that the author had anything useful to say. The book feels like he padded it out to make the word count, there's little in the way of original insights or things you didn't realise. The fact that he uses a lot of stories from American sports is something I personally find tedious, I have no idea who the people are or what he's writing about. I really dislike chapters that are three pages long. I also found his use of English was poor, it's not fluid, you constantly notice how he's expressed himself, rather than what he's said. Good English should be unobtrusive and flow from the page to the reader's mind without you noticing it.

He does explain the basics, so it's not a bad book to read if you have never encountered Stoic ideas before, but he doesn't seem to cover the subject in any depth. I'm waiting for him to introduce concepts like Eudaimonia and Apatheia, but this book reads too much like a self-help book for my taste. He's constantly offering military insights, not all of them accurate (The German attack on Poland in 1939 was a series of Kesselslachen, not Blitzkrieg). Lots of them are about American generals, quite a rich field where you can find many good examples, but after a quick introduction of Sherman (for example), he briefly discusses his personal qualities and he then moves on. Sherman wasn't a stoic (He was a Catholic as an adult), it's as if the author is trying to find things that can be used to support his views. Sherman was mired in controversy several times in his life and had a nervous breakdown in 1861. He was an effective general but not a good choice to support the book's narrative. This book is more like a magazine article or an essay written by someone who knows nothing about the subject but has researched it well on-line.
There are a lot of better books to read on the subject that offer more depth and better insights. I'd not recommend this book to anyone who showed any interest in the subject.

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Pragmatic Engineer

4* for the novice, 3* for experienced readers

1 November 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I had high expectations for this book which it didn't quite live up to. Ryan Holiday opens this book and bases his narrative around a quote by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which indicates there are 3 critical steps to overcoming an obstacle: (i) perspective, (ii) action and (iii) will/perseverance.

The book is then subsequently sectioned into 3 parts on (i) perspective, (ii) action and (iii) will/perseverance. Each part is divided into roughly 8-10 sub sections. Each sub section is several pages long and offers one key insight. e.g. perspective can be objective/subjective or perspectives create opportunities etc etc.

The book uses anecdotes of successful historical figures to validate ideas which includes the use of Politicians (Lincoln, Roosevelt), Athletes (Hurricane Carter), George Clooney to name a few. There is also many references to Stoic philosophers (Epictetus, Demosthenes, Marcus etc).

Overall I agreed mostly with the proposition of the book. I didn't however believe that the anecdotes supply sufficient reasoning to argue these points. It felt that the author cherry-picked case-studies to fit his narrative.

I also tended to find the writing style was slightly awkward and a lot of sentences were of this nature: "leadership requires determination, energy and courage" which by itself often seemed irrelevant. The author also feels the need to use 2 descriptive words at all instances, e.g. "It's easier to persist in our efforts and actions than to endure the uncomfortable or the painful"

Furthermore, if the reader has read about Stoicism before (e.g. The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by Irvine) then much of the Stoic ideas are recycled. For an introduction to Stoicism with logical arguments I would recommend Irvine (5* read).

To conclude I feel the overall idea is good. This book will be useful for anyone who has to deal with adverse circumstances. It will appeal to people who prefer anecdotes over reasoning.

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Jorge Zuazola

This book is God's gift to US

11 August 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is God's gift to US where US =Unity Over Self. The obstacle is an advantage, not adversity. The enemy is any perception that prevents us from seeing this. Demosthenes locked himself away underground - literally - in a dugout he’d had built in which to study and educate himself. To ensure he wouldn’t indulge in outside distractions, he shaved half his head so he’d be too embarrassed to go outside. When he did venture out, it was to learn even more. Every moment, every conversation, every transaction, was an opportunity for him to improve. Marcus Aurelius and his meditations are still read by US and Chinese Presidents daily. Obstacles and adversity are no different. Though it would be easier to sit back and enjoy a cushy modern life, the upside of preparation is that we’re not disposed to lose all of it—least of all our heads—when someone or something suddenly messes with our plans.
It’s almost a cliché at this point, but the observation that the way to strengthen an arch is to put weight on it—because it binds the stones together, and only with tension does it hold weight—is a great metaphor.
“The path of least resistance is a terrible teacher. We can’t afford to shy away from the things that intimidate us. We don’t need to take our weaknesses for granted.

3 people found this helpful

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