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943 reviews for:
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
Ryan Holiday
3.86 AVERAGE
943 reviews for:
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
Ryan Holiday
3.86 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This guy can bring stoicism down to an applicable level. LOVE this book. Great lessons and has improved my outlook immensely.
This is a good little primer on the Stoics. You are not going to get any kind of indepth academic analysis of their philosophy, but as a jumping off point, or gentle reminder of the basics this is not a bad place to start. Ryan Holiday writes in a pretty accessible manner and it is clear that he does believe in the subject he is writing (he is not detached about his writing). This was a quick read, so if you are looking for a quick Stoic refresher this might me a good choice (although 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius, isn't a much harder read, and is direct from the source so to speak).
Vapid and repetitive, The Obstacle Is The Way reads like one long BuzzFeed post.
Save yourself the time and skip the excess of platitudes, typos, and disjointed sentence fragments that Holiday has tried to pass off as a book. Back to reading Seneca for me.
Save yourself the time and skip the excess of platitudes, typos, and disjointed sentence fragments that Holiday has tried to pass off as a book. Back to reading Seneca for me.
The advice given in this book will probably not give you any revelations that will instantly transform you into a better person, but it might inspire you to work toward doing so. It's certainly not the life hack type of self-help that people seem to prefer these days, but I don't believe such wisdom can or should be reduced to a checklist. It takes practice and requires work to develop a practice of stoicism.
This book will not replace stoicism, and Holiday specifically states that it is not intended to. It's merely a starting point - a gentle introduction to stoicism coupled with a series of anecdotes that serve as examples that the practice works. It's supposed to inspire and interest you in the philosophy of stoicism. Holiday is especially fond of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius but also recommends Epictetus, Seneca, etc. as well as biographies of Ben Franklin, John D. Rockefeller, and others for further reading.
One of the criticisms of this book is that it seems to suggest a sort of worship towards those featured in the anecdotes. In an interview by Tim Ferriss, Holiday makes it clear that these were real people who had their own problems rather than heroes deserving of worship, but I don't believe this was explicitly stated in the book. By the way, the interview contains some extra tidbits of helpful info, such as recommended books and documentaries, tips on daily routines, advice on how to get into writing, etc., so I recommend listening to it. The audiobook includes it at the end but I believe it's just a copy of The Tim Ferriss Podcast, Episode 4: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/05/06/the-tim-ferriss-podcast-episode-4-ryan-holiday/
I found the anecdotes to be a bit fluffy and a little boring at times - I skimmed over a few of them. It's a pretty short read - those new to stoicism might want to read slowly and digest the information, but it can also be finished in a matter of hours for those more familiar. I would recommend it to those new to stoicism as well as those already familiar with stoicism that need some inspiration to put it into practice.
This book will not replace stoicism, and Holiday specifically states that it is not intended to. It's merely a starting point - a gentle introduction to stoicism coupled with a series of anecdotes that serve as examples that the practice works. It's supposed to inspire and interest you in the philosophy of stoicism. Holiday is especially fond of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius but also recommends Epictetus, Seneca, etc. as well as biographies of Ben Franklin, John D. Rockefeller, and others for further reading.
One of the criticisms of this book is that it seems to suggest a sort of worship towards those featured in the anecdotes. In an interview by Tim Ferriss, Holiday makes it clear that these were real people who had their own problems rather than heroes deserving of worship, but I don't believe this was explicitly stated in the book. By the way, the interview contains some extra tidbits of helpful info, such as recommended books and documentaries, tips on daily routines, advice on how to get into writing, etc., so I recommend listening to it. The audiobook includes it at the end but I believe it's just a copy of The Tim Ferriss Podcast, Episode 4: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/05/06/the-tim-ferriss-podcast-episode-4-ryan-holiday/
I found the anecdotes to be a bit fluffy and a little boring at times - I skimmed over a few of them. It's a pretty short read - those new to stoicism might want to read slowly and digest the information, but it can also be finished in a matter of hours for those more familiar. I would recommend it to those new to stoicism as well as those already familiar with stoicism that need some inspiration to put it into practice.
The second of the Holiday books for me, this is another one that I think could change the way I live my life.
Full of examples and specific instances of how people have transformed their lives by seeing things differently. By taking a terrible situation and owning it. Making not only the best of it, but thriving because of it.
Excellently researched, plainly written, and well worth a read for anyone looking to challenge themselves to better action.
Full of examples and specific instances of how people have transformed their lives by seeing things differently. By taking a terrible situation and owning it. Making not only the best of it, but thriving because of it.
Excellently researched, plainly written, and well worth a read for anyone looking to challenge themselves to better action.
2020 update: reread and not as good as I remember. Comes off a little preachy and not very practical on how to actually implement these (good) ideas and mindsets.
Everyone should read this book. Great reminder to not take things so seriously. ;)
Everyone should read this book. Great reminder to not take things so seriously. ;)
This book is full of practical advice that I found to be useful. I enjoyed the book and would recommend.
"Is our perspective truly giving us perspective or is it what's actually causing the problem? That's the question."
If you've read any Robert Greene, you probably don't need to read this.
If you've read any Robert Greene, you probably don't need to read this.
It’s “fine”. The author has a love affair with Stoicism which he makes no attempt to hide. Of the 200 pages there were maybe 10 that I felt were new ideas or useful for my life. The sentiment of the book was “shit happens but you gotta keep going” which is nice but also how many different ways can you say the same thing?