Andrei Hamor's Key Ideas from The Obstacle Is the Way
by Ryan Holiday

1. The Discipline of PERCEPTION
2. The Discipline of ACTION
3. The Discipline of the WILL

Perception is how we see and understand what occurs around us—and what we decide those events will mean. To prevent becoming overwhelmed by the world around us, we must, as the ancients practiced, learn how to limit our passions and their control over our lives. We will see things simply and straightforwardly, as they truly are—neither good nor bad.

Learning how to only see with our observing eye: only seeing what is there and not adding our own interpretations. Shifting our perspective and seeing things objectively as supposed to our subjective understanding.

As a discipline, it’s not any kind of action that will do, but directed action. Step by step, action by action, we can dismantle the obstacles in front of us. With persistence and flexibility, we can act in the best interest of our goals. Action requires courage, not brashness—creative application and not brute force. Our movements and decisions define us: We must be sure to act with deliberation, boldness, and persistence. Those are the attributes of right and effective action. Nothing else—not thinking or evasion or aid from others. Action is the solution and the cure to our predicaments.

If action is what we do when we still have some agency over our situation, the will is what we depend on when agency has all but disappeared. Placed in some situation that seems unchangeable and undeniably negative, we can turn it into a learning experience, a humbling experience

We must prepare for adversity and turmoil, we must learn the art of acquiescence and practice cheerfulness even in dark times. True will is quiet humility, resilience, and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised by bluster and ambition. See which lasts longer under the hardest of obstacles.

Mastering these three disciplines are the tools to flip any obstacle upside down. Learning how to see opportunity in the darkest of places. We are able to direct our actions with energy and persistence.

In short, we can:

• See things for what they are
• Do what we can
• Endure and bear what we must