The Obstacle Is the Way

ENImagine you are standing in front of a giant mountain.

ENIt is cold.

ENIt is dark.

ENAnd you are terrified.

ENYou want to go home, but you cannot turn back.

ENThe path behind you is gone.

ENThe only way is forward, but the mountain is blocking your path.

ENThis is not just a story about a mountain.

ENThis is a story about your life.

ENWe all have mountains.

ENMaybe your mountain is a difficult boss who yells at you every

ENday.

ENMaybe it is a bank account that is empty.

ENMaybe it is a broken heart.

ENOr maybe it is the English language itself, which feels like a wall you cannot climb.

ENMost people, when they see the mountain, they freeze.

ENThey cry.

ENThey wait for someone to save them.

ENBut there is a secret group of people who do not freeze.

ENThey look at the mountain and they smile.

ENWhy?

ENBecause they know something you don't know.

ENThey know

ENthat the mountain is not the problem.

ENThe mountain is the solution.

ENWelcome to your English toolbox.

ENI am Martin.

ENAnd I am Julia.

ENToday, we are going to give you the map to climb any mountain.

ENWe are exploring the incredible book The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.

ENThis is not just a book summary.

ENNo. This is a training session for your character.

ENBy the end of this episode, you will learn how to turn your

ENworst days into your best advantages.

ENWe are going to cover 50 powerful ideas, organized into three disciplines.

ENPerception, action, and will.

ENAre you ready to change how you see the world?

ENLet's climb.

ENPart Two The Discipline of Perception, The Story We Tell Julia, let's start with the first discipline, perception.

ENThis is the most important part because it happens in your head.

ENRyan Holiday starts with a quote from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

ENMarcus said, The impediment

ENto action advances action.

ENWhat stands in the way becomes the way.

ENThis sounds like a riddle.

ENIt does.

ENBut the meaning is simple.

ENAn obstacle is not a stop sign.

ENIt is a directional arrow.

ENIt tells you where you need to go next.

ENBut to see this arrow, you need objectivity.

ENThis is our first major concept.

ENObjectivity means seeing things exactly as they are, not as you fear them to be.

ENMartin, let's give a real-life example.

ENOkay, imagine you send an important email to a client.

ENAnd they do not reply.

ENOne day passes.

ENTwo days pass.

ENWhat happens in your brain, Julia?

ENOh, my brain goes crazy.

ENI start thinking.

ENThey hate me.

ENI made a mistake in the email.

ENI am going to get fired.

ENI will lose my house.

ENExactly.

ENThat is the story you tell yourself.

ENBut what is the objective reality?

ENThe reality is you sent an email.

ENYou have not

ENreceived a reply.

ENThat is it.

ENThat is the only fact.

ENEverything else is your imagination.

ENThe book teaches us to separate the event from the interpretation.

ENRyan Holiday says, There is no good or bad without us.

ENEvents are neutral.

ENA rainstorm is not bad.

ENIt is just water.

ENIf you are a farmer, the rain is good.

ENIf you are having a picnic, the rain is bad.

ENThe rain didn't change.

ENYou changed.

ENSo the first step is

ENto control your emotions.

ENYou have to stop the panic.

ENPanic is natural, but it is not helpful.

ENWhen we panic, we make mistakes.

ENWe lose our breath.

ENWe stop thinking clearly.

ENYou must be like a rock.

ENThe waves crash against the rock, but the rock does not move.

ENThis requires nerve.

ENNerve is the ability to keep your pulse slow when everyone else is running around screaming.

ENIt is a superpower.

ENAnd you can practice it.

ENNext time

ENsomething breaks or you miss a bus or someone is rude to you, freeze.

ENTake a breath.

ENAsk yourself, what is the fact and what is my story?

ENCut the story.

ENKeep the fact.

ENPart 3, the perspective shift and the present moment.

ENOnce you are calm, you can do the next magic trick.

ENThe perspective shift.

ENThis is where you choose how to look at the problem.

ENWe often look at problems with tunnel vision.

ENWe only see the

ENdarkness.

ENWe only see what we have lost.

ENBut you can choose to look at what you still have.

ENOr what you might gain.

ENLet's talk about Steve Jobs.

ENEveryone knows he was fired from Apple, the company he created.

ENMost people would see that as a tragedy.

ENIt was a public humiliation.

ENBut Jobs shifted his perspective.

ENHe realized that being fired freed him.

ENHe didn't have the pressure of running a giant company anymore.

ENHe could be creative

ENagain.

ENHe started Pixar.

ENHe started Next.

ENHe became a better leader.

ENWhen he returned to Apple, he took it to the moon.

ENThe obstacle, getting fired, was the necessary step for his greatest success.

ENHe didn't just survive it.

ENHe used it.

ENThis brings us to the idea.

ENEvery negative situation contains a hidden advantage.

ENThis is hard to believe sometimes.

ENEspecially when you are in pain.

ENBut it is a law of nature.

ENIf you lose your job,

ENyou gain time.

ENIf you get sick, you gain a new appreciation for health.

ENIf an enemy attacks you, you gain a chance to test your defense.

ENYou have to hunt for the good.

ENIt is like a treasure hunt.

ENThe gold is buried under the mud.

ENYou have to dig for it.

ENAnother crucial part of perception is focusing on what you can control.

ENThis is the central pillar of Stoicism.

ENDraw a circle in your mind.

ENInside the

ENcircle is your actions, your words, your attitude, your decisions.

ENOutside the circle is the economy, the weather, the traffic, the past, the future, and other people's opinions.

ENMost of us spend 90% of our energy worrying about things outside the circle.

ENWe scream at the traffic.

ENDoes the traffic care?

ENNo. We worry about the future.

ENDoes worrying change the future?

ENNo. It just ruins the present.

ENSpeaking of the present, that is our next point.

ENThe present moment.

ENObstacles often feel huge because we add the weight of the past and the future to them.

ENImagine you have to wash a mountain of dirty dishes.

ENIf you look at the whole pile, you feel tired instantly.

ENYou think, this will take forever.

ENBut if you just pick up one plate.

ENJust one.

ENAnd you focus on washing that one plate perfectly.

ENIt is easy.

ENThen you pick up the next one.

ENLife is just a series of present

ENmoments.

ENIf you stay in the now, the obstacle is manageable.

ENIt is only when you mentally travel to the scary future that you get overwhelmed.

ENMartin, I think this applies to English learning perfectly.

ENOh, 100%.

ENStudents worry about, will I ever be fluent?

ENWill I pass the exam next year?

ENThat is future thinking.

ENIt creates anxiety.

ENThe stoic student thinks, I cannot control the exam next year.

ENI can control this sentence I am reading right now.

ENI can control this podcast I am listening to.

ENFocus your energy like a laser beam on the present moment.

ENA laser can cut through steel because it is focused.

ENLight that is spread out like a lamp cannot cut anything.

ENBe a laser, not a lamp.

ENPart 4.

ENFlip the script and prepare for the worst.

ENBefore we move to action, we need to talk about two advanced perception techniques.

ENThe first is thinking differently.

ENSometimes the front door

ENis locked.

ENAnd we bang on it for hours.

ENWe get bloody hands.

ENBut we forget to look sideways.

ENMaybe the window is open.

ENMaybe the back door is unlocked.

ENMaybe we can climb onto the roof.

ENOr maybe we don't need to go inside the house at all.

ENThis is about creativity.

ENDon't just look at the problem.

ENLook around it.

ENLook through it.

ENAnd finally prepare for the worst.

ENThis sounds pessimistic, but it is actually a defense

ENmechanism.

ENIf you are surprised by a problem, you are weak.

ENYou are shocked.

ENBut if you expect the problem, you are ready.

ENBefore you start a project, ask yourself, what could go wrong?

ENWhat if the computer crashes?

ENWhat if I get sick?

ENWhat if the money runs out?

ENDon't be afraid of these questions.

ENAnswer them.

ENMake a plan B.

ENAnd a plan C.

ENThen, when the bad thing happens, and it will happen, you can smile.

ENYou

ENcan say, I knew you were coming and I am ready for you.

ENYou flip the script.

ENYou turn the tables.

ENThe obstacle thought it would crush you.

ENBut instead you use it to show how prepared you are.

ENPerception is the foundation.

ENIf your mind is weak, your actions will be weak.

ENBut if your mind is strong, clear, objective, focused, then you are ready to move.

ENYou are ready for the second discipline.

ENThe discipline of action.

ENBut

ENremember, perception is not passive.

ENIt is an active choice you make every second.

ENYou are the director of your own movie.

ENYou decide if this is a tragedy or an adventure story.

ENSo, Martin, we have set the scene.

ENOur mind is clear.

ENOur emotions are under control.

ENWe see the opportunity.

ENNow, what do we do?

ENWe move.

ENLet's talk about action.

ENPart five.

ENThe discipline of action.

ENMoving forward.

ENSo, you have the right mindset.

ENBut a

ENmindset without movement is just a daydream.

ENNow we enter the discipline of action.

ENRyan Holiday is very clear here.

ENIt does not matter how you feel.

ENIt matters what you do.

ENThe first rule of action is start moving.

ENJust start.

ENAction is the cure for fear.

ENImagine you are standing on a high diving board at a swimming pool.

ENThe longer you look down at the water, the scarier it gets.

ENYour legs start to shake.

ENYour heart

ENpounds.

ENBut the moment you jump, the moment you take action, the fear disappears.

ENYou are in the air.

ENYou are dealing with reality, not imagination.

ENMany of us are waiting for the perfect conditions.

ENWe say, I will start my diet when work is less stressful.

ENI will start speaking English when I know more grammar.

ENI will launch my business when the economy is better.

ENMartin, tell them the hard truth.

ENThe conditions will never be perfect.

ENNever.

ENIf you wait for perfect, you will wait forever.

ENYou must practice pragmatism.

ENPragmatism means do what works.

ENDon't worry about being elegant.

ENDon't worry about the correct way.

ENIf you need to cross a river and there is no bridge, you swim.

ENIf you can't swim, you build a raft.

ENIf you can't build a raft, you walk until you find a shallow part.

ENYou just solve the problem with whatever tools you have.

ENThis leads us to the

ENconcept of persistence.

ENBut be careful.

ENPersistence does not mean doing the same thing over and over again if it isn't working.

ENThat is just stubbornness.

ENTrue persistence involves iteration.

ENThink of a startup company in Silicon Valley.

ENThey release a product.

ENIt has bugs.

ENIt fails.

ENDo they close the company?

ENNo. They look at the data.

ENThey say, Okay, users didn't like the red button.

ENLet's try a blue button.

ENThey try again.

ENFail.

ENLearn.

ENAdjust. Try again.

ENThis is the scientific method applied to life.

ENFailure is just feedback.

ENThis is a huge idea, Julia.

ENIf you stop calling it failure and start calling it data, you become fearless.

ENA scientist isn't sad when an experiment fails.

ENShe is interested.

ENShe says, Now I know one way that doesn't work.

ENI am closer to the answer.

ENYou must treat your English like this.

ENYou tried to say a sentence and the other person didn't understand.

ENThat is

ENnot a personal failure.

ENThat is data.

ENIt means pronunciation needs adjustment.

ENAdjust and try again.

ENAnother key to action is the process.

ENWe talked about this briefly, but let's go deeper.

ENThe process is about breaking big things into tiny things.

ENNick Sabin is a famous American football coach.

ENHe tells his players, Don't think about winning the championship.

ENDon't even think about winning this game.

ENJust think about this one play.

ENJust do your job for these five

ENseconds.

ENIf you do that perfectly and then do the next one perfectly, the score takes care of itself.

ENWhen you focus on the process, the pressure drops.

ENYou can breathe.

ENYou just have to do the next right thing.

ENSometimes the right thing is to use the obstacle against itself.

ENThis is the judo metaphor.

ENIn judo, you don't block a punch.

ENYou pull the person who is punching you.

ENYou use their own momentum to throw them on

ENthe floor.

ENGandhi used this strategy.

ENHe faced the British Empire, a massive military power.

ENHe didn't have guns.

ENHe didn't have an army.

ENIf he had tried to fight them with force, he would have been crushed in one day.

ENSo what did he do?

ENHe used nonviolence.

ENHe used civil disobedience.

ENHe made the British look like bullies.

ENHe used their own power to shame them and eventually defeat them.

ENHe turned their strength into a weakness.

ENWhatever

ENis blocking you has energy.

ENCan you use that energy?

ENIf your boss is aggressive, don't fight him.

ENUse his aggression to show how calm and professional you are.

ENLet him tire himself out.

ENAction requires creativity and focus.

ENDistraction is the enemy.

ENYou cannot solve a difficult problem if you are checking your phone every five minutes.

ENYou need deep work.

ENYou need to attack the problem with all your mental resources.

ENAnd remember, do your job.

ENSometimes action

ENis not exciting.

ENSometimes it is boring.

ENSometimes it is cleaning the floor.

ENSometimes it is memorizing irregular verbs.

ENIt is not glamorous.

ENBut it is necessary.

ENJust do it.

ENWrite action right now.

ENPart 6 The Discipline of Will The Inner Fortress Okay, Martin.

ENWe have seen clearly.

ENPerception.

ENWe have acted bravely.

ENAction.

ENBut what happens when the problem is still there?

ENWhat happens when you do everything right and you still fail?

ENWhat happens when you are

ENin prison or you have a terminal illness?

ENThis is where we need the third and final discipline.

ENThe Discipline of Will.

ENWill is not just willpower, like saying no to a cookie.

ENIt is something deeper.

ENIt is resilience.

ENIt is endurance.

ENIt is the ability to accept what you cannot change.

ENWe need to build an inner citadel.

ENThis is a fortress inside your soul.

ENThe world can take your money.

ENIt can take your freedom.

ENIt can

ENeven hurt your body.

ENBut it cannot enter your inner citadel unless you open the gate.

ENThis is where your values live.

ENThis is where your character lives.

ENAbraham Lincoln suffered from terrible depression.

ENHe had a difficult marriage.

ENHe lost elections.

ENHe presided over a country that was tearing itself apart in a civil war.

ENBut he had an inner citadel.

ENHe had a quiet strength that allowed him to endure when others collapsed.

ENHe learned the art of

ENacquiescence.

ENThat is a fancy word.

ENIt means acceptance.

ENBut not passive acceptance.

ENActive acceptance.

ENThe Stoics have a phrase, amor fati.

ENLove your fate.

ENDon't just tolerate it.

ENLove it.

ENImagine you are a boxer.

ENYou are in the ring.

ENYou get hit in the face.

ENYou can complain, hey, that's not fair.

ENI didn't want to get hit.

ENOr you can say, I am a boxer.

ENGetting hit is part of the game.

ENI love the game.

ENSo

ENI love this hit.

ENEverything that happens to you is fuel.

ENIf your life is easy, you become soft.

ENIf your life is hard, you become strong.

ENSo love the hardship.

ENIt is making you into a masterpiece.

ENAnother powerful tool for the will is memento mori.

ENRemember death.

ENWhy should we think about death, Martin?

ENBecause it creates urgency and humility.

ENWhen you realize you could die tomorrow, you stop caring about petty arguments.

ENYou stop being afraid of

ENembarrassment.

ENWho cares if you make a grammar mistake?

ENYou are alive.

ENIt clarifies what is important.

ENAnd it reminds us that our time is short.

ENWe must use it well.

ENWe must also realize we are part of something bigger.

ENYou are not alone.

ENWhen you suffer, you feel isolated.

ENBut suffering is the most common human experience.

ENEveryone suffers.

ENBy suffering, you are connecting with every human who has ever lived.

ENAnd your struggle can help others.

ENThis

ENis turning weakness into strength.

ENIf you overcome an addiction, you can help other addicts.

ENIf you survive a tragedy, you can comfort others who are grieving.

ENYour pain becomes your credential.

ENIt gives you empathy.

ENIt gives you wisdom.

ENSo don't waste your pain.

ENUse it to leave a legacy.

ENFinally, we must be ready to start again.

ENThe cycle of perception, action, and will is a circle.

ENYou overcome one obstacle.

ENYou feel good.

ENAnd then a new

ENobstacle appears.

ENThat is life.

ENWe don't solve life.

ENWe live it.

ENWe just get better at playing the game.

ENWe get faster at correcting our perception.

ENWe get bolder in our actions.

ENAnd we get stronger in our will.

ENThe obstacle never goes away.

ENBut neither do we.

ENPart 7.

ENConclusion Martin, this has been a deep journey.

ENWe have climbed the mountain.

ENWe learn to see clearly with perception.

ENTo act correctly with action.

ENAnd to endure willingly

ENwith will.

ENStoicism is not a religion.

ENIt is an operating system for your mind.

ENAnd like any software, you have to install it.

ENYou have to practice it.

ENThis week, when something goes wrong, and it will, remember this episode.

ENDon't say, why me?

ENSay, the obstacle is the way.

ENSmile at the problem.

ENAnd then attack it.

ENIf you found value in this episode, please write a small comment before you go.

ENYour comments show the platforms that

ENour community is real, active, and growing.

ENThis support is crucial for us to continue creating new episodes every week.

ENTell us which of the three disciplines, perception, action, or will, is the hardest for you.

ENDo you want to be part of our slow English community?

ENWe need your comments because your voice is more important than ours.

ENYour voice and comments will show us the right path.

ENThank you for listening.

ENStay strong.

ENAnd keep climbing.