The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday is a feel-good self-help book that doesn't make you feel all that good once you've finished it. A very interesting read in some parts, with interesting quotes by Marcus Aurelius sprinkled every so often; it makes me wonder why I didn't read the original stoic writings instead.
The teachings of this book can be summed up in a single sentence: the obstacle can become the way when you overcome it, making you resilient and daring and proving you can achieve the unachievable. However, most examples of historic figures or famous people suffer greatly from selection bias or confirmation bias and aren't applicable to everyday people. To be honest, I don't really care what generals did in war or what rich white men did to overcome obstacles.
I suppose this book is one for people who don't have any survival issues (e.g. poverty, hunger, immigration, chronic illness) and are suffering only from lack of motivation to reach their full potential. Not once did Holiday mention obstacles like hunger, because, apparently, people who suffer from hunger aren't his target audience. Acknowledging the difficulties many people face daily, along with systemic issues, would have made this book a tiny bit easier to read. But instead, he focuses on simple, superficial issues that don't apply in my own life, or the lives of people I know well. This book certainly isn't for everyone.
And sure, perspective is important, and perseverance, and all the things he briefly touches in the book, but there is no practical advice in it. It's a self-help book that doesn't do much to help you help yourself. It's all too theoretical and shallow.
After having some bad experiences with self-help books, I wonder why I still bother. I had a goal of reading one non-fiction book each month in 2022 to get motivated to finish my PhD and move forward in my writing career, and now I have to go back and remove all the self-help books from that list.
Have you read The Obstacle Is The Way? Do you agree with me?
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