Hi there, it's Phil Smy again.
This time I'm doing something a little different.
A lot of you have asked me especially after
the Tai Lopez things like what books am I
reading.
Cause Tai is big on reading books and I said
I was big on reading books.
So I'm going to start to do, I'm going to
try once a week, little book reviews about
some of the books that I've read and either
really liked or really didn't like.
Things that sit in the middle, who cares about.
So the first book I'm going to do is this
one which is 'The Obstacle is the Way' by
Ryan Holiday.
Now if you want me to talk about Ryan Holiday,
I can't.
I don't know anything about the guy.
And I don't think it's important.
When you read a book, or certainly things
like the Tai Lopez series, you have to separate
the message from the messenger.
So what Tai Lopez is saying, it doesn't matter
who Tai Lopez is.
What Ryan Holiday is saying, it doesn't matter
who Ryan Holiday is.
So I'm just reading the book, don't know anything
about the guy.
Now that we have that out of the way.
'The Obstacle is the Way'
When I started reading this book I went out
with a friend of mine and he said oh that
sounds like another one of these power of
positive thinking, new age bullshit books.
And at the beginning I kind of thought he
was right.
It starts out in this pretentious way talking
about Marcus Aurelious and this and that and
the Romans.
And the thisis and the thats.
It seems like a bunch of crap but the interesting
this is that this book has one guiding principle
which is really the hallmark of a good book
of this type.
One guiding principle and that is 'We don't
control what happens to us, but we can control
how we react and respond to it'.
Again I'm going to say that.
'We don't control what happens to us, but
we can control how we react and respond to
it'.
That's the guiding principle of this book.
There.
Done.
You can stop watching.
About a minute in.
But if you want to go on.
So this book starts out, as I say, with quotes
from Marcus Auerlious and some little story
about Marcus Aurelius writing in his daily
journal or whatever he did.
Couple key lines here from Marky.
'The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way'.
And I think those two lines are not only profound
but also show that there was drug use back
in the romans.
To that end there is no so thing as an obstacle.
But simply, and perhaps they are bloody difficult,
but simply opportunity.
If you can switch your way around it.
You know the world is unpredictable.
And in this book Holiday talks about people
like Edison, Amelia Erhart, Ghandi, some Rockefellers,
Steve Jobs, Ulysses S Grant.
Ulysses S Grant again I don't really know
anything about him but the fact that he wasn't
born with that name.
His name was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant.
And he changed it.
And S stood for Sam, his nickname.
Those people, they used their problems as
opportunities.
They grew through their problems.
Which is really what this is all about.
So hopefully you don't have the same level
of problems that somebody like Ulysses Grant
had, fighting a civil war, but that you too
can grow through your problems.
And you get over the blaming part of it and
of course you're going to have feelings.
Fear, frustration, anger for these things
that are happening.
But they're outside of you.
So now you can look at what's inside.
And this book kind of founds itself on the
concepts of the Stoics.
And the Stoics are a bunch of guys who sat
around in togas a couple thousand years ago.
They had three disciplines.
And these three disciplines were Perception,
Action and Will.
So I want to talk about those disciplines
and that's really the key of this book.
So the first one is the discipline of perception.
And this is how do you choose to see things.
There's a space between an event and how you
evaluate it.
And in this gap, that's where the magic happens.
That's what this is all about.
And in that time you can choose to be objective,
first of all.
Being objective is key.
You can choose to control your emotions.
And you can choose to get perspective.
Perspective is all about what's the picture
and what's the frame that the picture is in.
Perception is key.
Action.
Action, of course, you have to do things.
Otherwise you're just one of these people
that I hate that talk and don't do.
So you can use your creativity, be persistent,
be ingenious.
In otherwords just do the shit that needs
to get done.
Forget about your emotions and your ego.
So yes, persistence.
Never give up.
The process.
This famous IBM saying that just because 1
woman can have a baby in 9 months doesn't
mean that 9 women can have a baby in 1 month.
The process is the process.
Be skillful in that process.
And remember that there's no such thing as
'the right way'.
The right way is the way that works.
So if someone says that you have to do things
like this, tell them no, I'm going to do things
in a way that I think will accomplish the
goal.
And if you accomplish your goals then to hell
with them.
They were wrong.
And most importantly, expect failure.
Not everything works.
Few things work.
Again go through the cycle.
When you fail, that's an obstacle, take an
opportunity and learn from it.
Quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald 'Genius is
the ability to put into effect what is in
your mind.
There's no other definition for it'.
So that's the thing, action.
The third discipline of course is 'the will'.
So we can't control other people.
But we can build inner strength.
You know, life sucks, get on with it.
So stay calm, train yourself, don't panic
- thank you Douglas Adams - panic screws up
everything.
Plan for the worst, hope for the best, and
as Maya Angelou said, be unsurprised by anything
in between.
There's a difference between giving up and
acceptance.
I accept this situation for being this, but
it's not going to stop me in my ways.
Personally, I do meditation every day.
I have found that meditation has greatly changed
my ability to focus like this.
So you can be calm, or more calm.
You can panic less.
I recommend meditation but whatever.
Sometimes it helps to work on a project that's
bigger than you.
Bigger than your bank book or bigger than
your ego.
I think that helping the world not only sets
you on a right path morally but it also gives
you a north star that you can follow.
And maybe stay the course a bit better.
Stop trying to reduce the problems in your
life.
I mean ok take yourself out of problem situations
but stop trying to influence those things
on the outside.
Influence yourself.
I'm saying it over and over again because
like I say there's one guiding principle in
this book.
I'm going to finish this off with a quote
from Marcus Aurelius of course.
"Objective judgment, now at this very moment.
Unselfish action, now at this very moment.
Willing acceptance—now at this very moment—of
all external events.
That’s all you need."
I hope you like these little book reviews.
I liked this book.
It started off I was a bit 'eh' but at the
end of it I thought it was very powerful.
It's very simple in its principles.
It does give you some examples.
But it's just the principle that you need.
You can't control the outside.
You can only control the inside.
At best.
Ok thanks.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
I'm Phil Smy.
See you soon.
