The Obstacle Is the Way
Mentions in Episodes:
- Episode: Julia Baird On Building Resilience And The Strength Of Forgiveness
Podcast: The Daily StoicI've included phosphorescence in a ten-year anniversary edition of The Obstacle Is the Way, and I used one of your stories.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicWhat if we started with the understanding that many people resonate deeply with this book?
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicI was thinking about the obstacles way in my early 20s primarily as a means to overcome professional obstacles.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicIf someone thinks, 'Well, I've read that book,' why would they want the 10th anniversary edition?
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicWell, you know, I feel like I've read that book because I wrote it, and then I had this unique experience during the pandemic where I was reading some of it to my son, primarily to help him sleep.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicHaving to listen to the audiobook of The Obstacle is the Way, I barely recognized my own voice; that is a surreal experience.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicSo when I was writing The Obstacle is the Way, it was about popularizing and making interesting something many did not think was interesting.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicSo sure, if The Obstacle Is the Way had failed and been this embarrassing, painful, devastating thing, then yeah, The Obstacle Is the Way would have been a chance to practice stoicism.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicWas there anything when you went back through The Obstacle on this past read, and you're like, 'Oh, I forgot how I did that.
- Episode: Turn the Tables | Ryan Holiday Reflects on 10 Years of The Obstacle Is the Way
Podcast: The Daily StoicSo I did I think two versions of The Obstacle or two versions of Trust Me, I'm Lying; I think this is my—I’m getting this 10 years apart on The Obstacle Is the Way, and then I've obviously reread stuff that I've written even further ago than that.
- Episode: Coach Buzz Williams’ Playbook for Mentorship and Motivation
Podcast: The Daily StoicI said to my guy, 'Hey, why haven't I got Ryan's book? Can you look up when I ordered it, coach?','I ordered it on this day.
- Episode: How Ryan Holiday's New Book Completely Changed His View Of Stoicism (Ft. Billy Oppenheimer)
Podcast: The Daily StoicI mean, I have a weird relationship with my first book, which is like a version of myself that I don't see myself as anymore.
- Episode: Why everything is F*cked | Mark Manson
Podcast: The Daily StoicHe actually published the audiobook of The Obstacle Is the Way, so I've known Tim forever.
- Episode: Cal Newport: Take The Pressure Off Productivity
Podcast: The Daily StoicAs you’ve mentioned, obstacles away sold a great number of copies, but you received a modest advance. The publisher’s hesitance reflected the dynamic values you expressed earlier; it may not feel fair on the surface initially, but building on smaller wins has its benefits.
- Episode: Cal Newport: Take The Pressure Off Productivity
Podcast: The Daily StoicIn your case, truly the obstacles away sold incredibly well over time, closing the loop on the early takes of its career and growth.
- Episode: Financial Expert Morgan Housel On Rethinking Happiness And Money
Podcast: The Daily StoicLike with 'The Obstacle is the Way,' when 'The Obstacle is the Way' came out, first off, it didn't hit any bestseller list the week it came out.
- Episode: World Leading Performance Psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais On The Stoic Path To Mastery
Podcast: The Daily StoicOne of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius, which I actually remember thinking about when 'The Obstacle is the Way' came out, is as follows: 'We love ourselves more than other people, yet we care about other people's opinions more than our own.'
- Episode: Ali Abdaal On Stoic Productivity Secrets And Overcoming Procrastination
Podcast: The Daily StoicWell, you asked me about self-publishing earlier; I experienced this unintentionally and intentionally when The Obstacle is the Way came out. Uh, I’d already sold the sequel and so in one respect that probably cost me a lot of money because The Obstacle is the Way did, over the next year or two, start to do really well.
- Episode: Whitney Cummings on Stoicism, Creating Great Art, and Overcoming Addiction
Podcast: The Daily StoicThere's a story I tell in 'The Obstacle is the Way' about Phil Jackson.
- Episode: Tom Segura On Stoicism And The Craft Of Comedy
Podcast: The Daily StoicBut like I reread the obstacles away to my son at some point during the editing; he wanted to like read something I'd written, and so I read it to him, and I was like, this is fast; like I was like this is so short and tight and fast.
- Episode: Troy Baker On How Stoicism Helps Him Be A Better Actor And Father
Podcast: The Daily StoicAnd I think you even talked about this in, because the first one that I read, The Obstacle is the Way, it was the first one that I read.
- Episode: Ryan Holiday And Guy Raz On Using Stoicism To Improve Your Life
Podcast: The Daily StoicI sat down to write it like 2, and it was actually really great to talk about 'The Obstacle's Way.' It was this perfect reminder of like this is why I don’t start my day at 2.
- Episode: Ryan Holiday And Guy Raz On Using Stoicism To Improve Your Life
Podcast: The Daily StoicIf you, I would not recommend writing a book called 'The Obstacle is the Way,' a book called 'Ego is the Enemy,' a book called 'Stillness is the Key,' a book called 'Courage is Calling,' or 'Discipline is Destiny.' Because then people expect you to be all those things, which is of course impossible.
- Episode: Ryan Holiday And Guy Raz On Using Stoicism To Improve Your Life
Podcast: The Daily StoicI wouldn't say that comes naturally to me, but it is something that I am working on. There's actually a book about this called 'The Obstacle Is the Way.' And it's great because the obstacle has been the way tonight.
- Episode: Jeff Waldman on Craftsmanship, Memento Mori, and Developing Competence
Podcast: The Daily StoicIn 'The Obstacle', I tell this story about Edison when his Menlo Park laboratory burned down.
- Episode: Jeff Waldman on Craftsmanship, Memento Mori, and Developing Competence
Podcast: The Daily StoicThis summer is 10 years old; and actually, 'Obstacle,' came out eight years ago yesterday, which is also like insane to me when I read stuff that I wrote that long ago.
- Episode: Morgan Housel on Building Wealth and Happiness
Podcast: The Daily StoicSo, like you were asking me about having a job; one of the benefits—like when my publisher offered me what was not as much money as I would have hoped for The Obstacle Is the Way, I was like, ‘Sure, whatever,’ right?
- Episode: Morgan Housel on Building Wealth and Happiness
Podcast: The Daily StoicAnd there was this whole thing which I wrote about, and that happened the day that I ended the book tour for The Obstacle Is the Way.
- Episode: Morgan Housel on Building Wealth and Happiness
Podcast: The Daily StoicWhen I did The Obstacle is the Way, I've told this story before, but it wasn't that everyone rejected it.
- Episode: Steven Pressfield on Overcoming Resistance and the Value of Discipline
Podcast: The Daily StoicI remember I was working at American Apparel well after I'd written The Obstacle, come out.
- Episode: CrossFit Athlete Brooke Wells on Reaching Your Potential
Podcast: The Daily StoicAnd then I read, "Your Obstacles Away." That was a really good one. Let's see, "Atomic Habits."
- Episode: Ali Abdaal on the Keys to Productivity and Re-Defining Success
Podcast: The Daily StoicHonestly, I was thinking about that and all the stoicism-type stuff that I've been drinking the Kool-Aid off ever since I discovered The Obstacle Is the Way.
- Episode: Ali Abdaal on the Keys to Productivity and Re-Defining Success
Podcast: The Daily StoicI think one of the benefits for me when I was thinking about writing The Obstacle Is the Way, and I've talked about this before, is that my publisher offered me half what I got for my first book for what was supposed to be my second book.
- Episode: H.R. McMaster on the Power of Strategic Empathy
Podcast: The Daily StoicI was wondering, are you comfortable telling the story of how you ended up hearing about 'The Obstacle Is the Way'?