The day has come. The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph is now out. I’ve written a ton of pieces about the book, I produced content and images to support the book and of course, there is already all sorts of press about the book. I want to use this post (which will be updated for the next couple weeks) as an archive of all of that—or as a place to get started if you’re new to me and my work.

Upcoming Events/Appearances:

5/5: Book signing @ Garden District books in New Orleans

5/7: Book signing @ Book People in Austin

5/14: Marking Rockstars Austria

5/18-20: Google Create UK

5/21: The School of Life Workshop London

5/28: Book signing @ Book Soup in West Hollywood

6/6: Vivid Sydney

Articles I’ve Written For The Obstacle Is The Way:

Huffington Post: How Dr. Drew Pinsky Changed My Life

Cracked: 7 People Who Overcame Huge Obstacles To Become Famous

Copyblogger: How I Wrote Three Books In Three Years

FastCompany: 7 Ways To Turn Your Opponents Into Opportunities

Art of Manliness: Finding the Opportunity Inside the Obstacle

Entrepreneur.com: Turning Crisis Into Opportunity: 5 Ways To Deal With Hardship

800-CEO-READ: The 3 Stoic Disciplines: How to Turn Your Obstacles Into Triumphs

Upstart Business Journal: Why Amelia Earhart’s 1925 Gamble Should Inspire Entrepreneurs

Thought Catalog: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything

Thought Catalog: Should I Drop Out of College?

Medium: Hey Millennials, It’s A Good Thing Things Are Bad

Psychology Today: The Importance of Negative Thinking

RyanHoliday.net: A Lesson From The World’s Worst Week

RyanHoliday.net: A Practical Philosophy Reading List

Beliefnet.com: Nine Ways To Turn Your Obstacles Into An Advantage

Interviews:

Forbes: Ryan Holiday: How Challenges Become Opportunities For Entrepreneurs

800-CEO-READ: Think In Residence: A Q & A with Ryan Holiday

Art of Manliness: The Obstacle Is The Way with Ryan Holiday

BoingBoing.net: American Apparel marketing director Ryan Holiday on Stoicism

Lewis Howes School of Greatness: The Philosophical Guide to Turning Trials Into Triumphs with Ryan Holiday

Big Think: Read Stoicism

Art of Charm: The Obstacle Is The Way

Bitehype.com: A conversation about obstacles and old books with Ryan Holiday

Intrepid Radio: The Obstacle Is The Way

The New Man: Ryan Holiday – The Obstacle Is The Way

Evidence Magazine: The Obstacle is the Way: A Timeless System for Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

The Phat Startup: How To Destroy Any Obstacle – Ryan Holiday Interview

A Closer Look Radio: Turning Trials Into Triumph with Ryan Holiday

Yo Pro Wealth: Create Your Future, Do What You Love – Ryan Holiday

Press About The Book:

Bittorrent: Every Obstacle Is Also An Opportunity

London Evening Standard: How to avoid a work crisis with a ‘pre-mortem’

Huffington Post: 9 Essential Habits Of Mentally Strong People

Huffington Post: 10 Reasons to Love the Obstacles in Your Life

Linked In: Do Bad Odds Help Us Perform Better?

Business Insider: The Simple Strategy Alabama Coach Nick Saban Used To Create A College Football Dynasty

Farnum Street: The Obstacle Is The Way — Turning Adversity Into Advantage

Small Business Trends: “The Obstacle Is The Way” Gives Unusual Advice for Success

Stoicism Today: “The Obstacle Is The Way” by Ryan Holiday

Medium: Resilience — The Obstacle is the Way

Uncollege: Review: “The Obstacle is the Way,” By Ryan Holiday

Slideshares:

P.S. You might also like The Obstacle Is The Way medallion which is available at DailyStoic.com. There, you can also find a summary of The Obstacle Is The Way as well as key lessons and quotes.

“Rehearse them in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck. All the terms of our human lot should be before our eyes.” – Seneca

A lot of bad stuff happened to me last week.

I know the philosophers say there is no such thing as good or bad events–that there are only our perceptions which make things one or the other.

But my week began with a near fatal car accident on a dark highway and ended with someone breaking into my new home, ransacking it and stealing most of what I own–and destroying what they left behind. For good measure, my pet chickens were later decapitated and disemboweled by an unknown animal.

Why this happened and who or what is to blame, I’m not sure. But I can tell you for sure where the biggest problem lay: I was not at all expecting it. Not at all. And so it felt terrible.

We can easily accept in the abstract that there is no good or bad, that we create definitions and categories for objective events outside of our control. Yet, when it happens to us in reality, particularly as a surprise, our very human side kicks in.

It’s bad. We feel bad. Real bad.

Over the last few years, I have noticed something strange. The more in my head my career has taken me, the more vulnerable I have become. In some ways this is good. Writing forces you to become more in touch with your emotions; writing is often inherently an empathic act, so practicing it makes you more empathetic. So does reading. In my relationships, this has all made for positive change.

But there is another part of this vulnerability. Sensitivity to loud noises, to temptations, to moods–these are increased the more in your head you get. For instance, it makes many of us addicted to our routines and leaves us exposed when that routine is interrupted.

I think when you manipulate your own mind and your work all day, it feels natural to assume the rest of the world is like this too. You need things your way, and need them to happen on your terms. This is most definitely a weakness. Vulnerability is a good thing, up until it becomes an entitlement.

Not all of us are artists, I understand, but the point stands for everyone else too. Inured from harsh realities humans once accepted as commonplace–from sudden and unpredictable weather to sudden and unpredictable death–we can forget how capricious events can be. We deliberately do not think of these possibilities because we don’t want to ruin our (delicate) moods or disrupt our routine.

Life does not tolerate this for very long.

Fate often lulls us into complacency before reminding us that life is wicked and unpredictable.

As Euripides put it: “Foolish is the man who delights in his good fortune, supposing it will never leave him.”

The mathematical law of the universe says it more clearly: Everything regresses towards the mean.

The mean in life, we must never forget, is punctuated bursts of violence and destruction and someone else’s whim.

In a second, it can all change.

An accident. A diagnosis. A news alert.

Tomorrow, someone could blow up our economy and you could lose everything you have. A dictator could move the world towards war. Or, someone could slam into you in an intersection. Or they could come through an upstairs window and make off with your most valuable possessions.

This is life. These things will happen. Or maybe they won’t. No, they definitely will–the variability lies only in the degree and the ETA.

In your reaction to such inevitable events, you will undoubtedly ask yourself a million questions. Most of them will be pointless. One of them truly matters. Ask yourself: If it happens again, are you better prepared?

I don’t mean what you think I mean. Not: did you buy a bigger safe? Or did you set up security cameras or run a practice drill for some calamity? (Though all those things are important and helpful). Because by “again” I don’t mean the exact same event. I mean fate, misfortune, unpredictable and unpleasant circumstances.

So: Are you now mentally prepared for a world you cannot control? Now do you finally understand how random and vicious the world can be? Did you learn from your last reminder?

Because, to come back to those philosophers from earlier (whose advice about responses is a little more practical), we have only one choice. That choice is acceptance. See, we don’t control what happens to us. No amount of technology or civilization will ever make a difference in that regard, except at the margins.

What is in our control? Well, after our biology and psychology run their course–like shock for instance–all that’s left is our response. We control how we act, we control the stories we tell ourselves afterwards.

We choose whether we will make ourselves vulnerable. We choose whether we will get soft. We decide if we’ll be delusional.

We can also choose to prepare ourselves for a savage world. To use philosophy as a weapon in our defense. Bad things will happen. They will knock us on our ass. But we have the choice now to dull the surprise in advance and quicken our recovery time.

It’s up to you whether you’ll take it.

This post originally ran on ThoughtCatalog.com. Comments can be seen there.

Here is the first of two trailers for The Obstacle Is The Way (done by Simplifilm). The second one, which is coming soon, is about the story of Ulysses S. Grant and the siege of Vicksburg.

Also there are three signings set for the book so far. All are welcome. I hope to see you there:

May 5th
Garden District Books
New Orleans, LA
7pm
Click here to RSVP

May 7th
Book People
Austin, TX
7pm
Click here to RSVP

May 28th
Book Soup
West Hollywood, CA
7pm
Click here to RSVP

I am also speaking at Marketing Rockstars Festival Austria, Google Create UK, and The School of Life Workshop – London in May and VIVID Sydney in Australia in June. Though these events may require tickets or conference entry.

Many, many articles on and from the book to come. I will post them here for your enjoyment. Thanks to everyone for their support and don’t forget to take advantage of the pre-order bonuses while you still can.

Also here’s a Slideshare preview from the book