The visual interpretation is loosely inspired by the stories in my book The Obstacle Is The Way about Grant’s siege at Vicksburg and Eisenhower’s turnaround at Normandy. To see each obstacle as an opportunity to practice some virtue: patience, courage, humility, resourcefulness, justice, and creativity.

Making certain that what impedes us can empower us.

So that setbacks or problems are always expected and never permanent. To act with “a reverse clause,” so there is always a way out or another route to get to where you need to go. What does this phrase mean? Well, in Marcus’s words is the secret to an art known as turning obstacles upside down. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. In this way, “The Obstacle Is the Way” limited edition print I’m producing is a reminder of the timeless wisdom that you can turn every obstacle into an opportunity, every trial into a triumph.

The form doesn’t matter-it can be a coin that reminds you of your mortality that you carry with you, it can be a quote taped on your screen, it can be a bust on your desk, or it can be a print above your working space. So you cannot run away from it, so you see it enough times that it becomes imprinted in your mind. You can also listen to this podcast that Tim and I did about the book (which tied with James Altucher’s podcast was one of the most fun and thought provoking interviews I have ever done).I am a big proponent of turning good advice and wisdom into a tangible physical object. And now here we are publishing a book together.Īnyway, enjoy. It was then that I realized I might be able to actually pursue this all as a career. Tim was the one who prompted me to write this post on stoicism for his blog in 2009, which resulted in my first inquiry from a book publisher. It’s all very fitting because Tim and I first connected over our love of Seneca back in 2007. As his May selection for the Tim Ferriss Book Club, The Obstacle Is The Way will get all sorts of new readers I could have never expected otherwise. This was an ideal collaboration because not only did Tim give excellent notes on the book that helped improve it, but his massive distribution network helps put the book in front of lots of new people. He liked it so much that he went straight to my publisher, Portfolio/Penguin and bought the rights for the audio edition. Tim and I spent some time in Amsterdam in 2013 when I was finishing the book and I showed him a copy of the manuscript. And there’s an exciting piece of news about it that I’ve kept secret until now: Tim Ferriss is publishing it. “Over the last 14 days, I have carried one book in my backpack to cope, all day and every day: The Obstacle Is The Way.” - Tim Ferrissįor the many of you who asked, I can now proudly announce that the audiobook edition of The Obstacle Is The Way is now available.

The obstacle is the way by ryan holiday