Afterpage · week card
The Obstacle Is the Way
Ryan Holiday
Key ideas
- See it clearly.
- Ask what is up to you.
- Act, and keep acting.
- Follow the process.
- Prepare and accept.
The week
| Day 1 | Read the summary. Five key ideas and where the book overreaches. |
| Day 2 | Describe the obstacle plainly. Write down one obstacle you're facing in two or three plain sentences, with no judgment words. Bad day: Write one sentence describing your problem with no adjectives. |
| Day 3 | Split it into yours and not yours. Divide the obstacle into the parts you control and the parts you don't. Bad day: Name one part of your problem that is fully up to you. |
| Day 4 | Take the next small step. Do one small, concrete action on the item you circled yesterday. Bad day: Spend two minutes on the first piece of that step. |
| Day 5 | Find the opportunity. Write down one way this obstacle could help you, or one thing it lets you do that wasn't possible before. Bad day: Write one sentence starting “This lets me…” |
| Day 6 | Plan for what could go wrong. Spend ten minutes listing what could go wrong with your plan and how you'd respond. Bad day: Name the one thing most likely to go wrong and one way to handle it. |
| Day 7 | Begin again. Review the week, accept what didn't change and choose the next step. Bad day: Write tomorrow's single next step on a sticky note. |
Free week by email at getafterpage.com/books/the-obstacle-is-the-way