The Obstacle is the Way

‘The Obstacle is the Way’ – Average Joe, This Book’s For You

‘The Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan Holiday is a great text for all Average Joes and Janes who are in the pursuit of getting better at basketball.

There’s this one section in SLAM magazine called Vaguely Literary that I enjoy reading.

It’s where one of the magazine’s authors would recommend a book to an NBA player.

The book would be a story about a journey similar to that of the player’s. It would also include lessons that the player can potentially learn from.

It’s an entertaining read and since I’m a copycat, I wanted to copy it. That’s why I’m writing this article.

However, I’m going to change it up a bit and recommend both fiction and non-fiction books that I think will help the Average Joe and Jane on their journey to becoming better basketball players.

So, let’s get to it:

Average Joe, This Book’s For You

The average Joe and Jane’s quest to improve their basketball skills is long and arduous.

There will be days when everything clicks. You will pick up the fundamental skills (or moves) quickly. You will understand the strategy easily. Your conditioning workouts will feel light.

But then there will be days when everything is difficult. Matter of fact, most of the days will be hard, especially if you are new.

You’ll feel like you aren’t improving at all. Or you’ll think that all the progress you’ve garnered is gone.

You can’t make a single shot, you keep messing up the footwork, and you just feel like you suck. You’re going through the motions, but every motion feels like it’s wrong.

What are you going to do about it?

How This Book Will Help

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday will help you trudge through those days that feel longer than they should be.

In it, Holiday teaches the principles of an ancient Western philosophy called Stoicism.

This philosophy discusses the techniques that can be used to help one endure the struggles of life (or the struggles of scoring a basket).

He uses the lessons from ancient philosophers, former leaders, actors, and athletes to demonstrate how the practice of Stoicism helped them overcome strife.

In the book, he breaks down the three steps of overcoming obstacles:

  1. Perception – How you should perceive the struggle
  2. Action – The things you have to do to overcome the obstacle
  3. Will – The actions you have to do to prepare yourself for the next obstacle

These steps will help you change your frame of mind and believe that if you just believed in yourself and kept on going, kept on persisting, you will achieve your goal.

It’ll show that giving up will hurt more than working harder.

Additionally, it’ll also teach you how to bulletproof your mind from future obstacles (because, boy, there will be other obstacles).

Final Thoughts

The Obstacle is the Way is a fantastic read for anyone on a quest for mastery.

Problems and complications will always arise. And so the need for tools to get through them will always be necessary.

Click here to grab a copy of the book from Amazon to start strengthening your mind.

To be totally transparent, this article includes affiliate links. What that means is that if you use it to buy something from the site, I will get a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

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