The Obstacle Is the Way

The Obstacle Is the Way is Ryan Holiday's 2014 book on applying Stoic philosophy to everyday adversity. Building on Marcus Aurelius's line that the impediment to action advances action, Holiday argues that what stands in your way can become the way forward, and organises the book around three disciplines: perception, action and will.

Each section pairs the Stoic idea with stories of people who faced a problem and used it, drawn from politics, business, sport and history. The tone is practical rather than academic: it is written as a short, readable guide for anyone dealing with failure, delay or resistance, rather than as a study of Stoicism itself.