The 80/20 Librarian: Focusing on the 20% that matters

Below I have cited my favorite quotes from Ryan Holiday’s  The Obstacle is the Way: Turning Trials into Triumph

“We decide what we will make of each and every situation. We decide whether we’ll break or whether we’ll resist. We decide whether we’ll assent or reject. No one can force us to give up or to believe something that is untrue (such as, that a situation is absolutely hopeless or impossible to improve). Our perceptions are the thing that we’re in complete control of. They can throw us in jail, label us, deprive us of our possessions, but they’ll never control our thoughts, our beliefs, our reactions. Which is to say, we are never completely powerless. “ (Page 21)

“An entrepreneur is someone with faith in their ability to make something where there was nothing before. To them, the idea that no one has ever done this or that is a good thing. When given an unfair task, some rightly see it as a chance to test what they’re made of-to give it all they’ve got, knowing full well how difficult it will be to win. They see it as an opportunity because it is often in that desperate nothing-to-lose state that we are our most creative. Our best ideas come from there, where obstacles illuminate new options.” (Page 52)

“We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given. And the only way you’ll do something spectacular is by using it all to your advantage. “ (Page 69)

“We talk a lot about courage as a society, but we forget that at its most basic level it’s really just taking action-whether that’s approaching someone you’re intimidated by or deciding to finally crack a book on a subject you need to learn.” (Page 75)

“We will not be stopped by failure, we will not be rushed or distracted by external noise. We will chisel and peg away at the obstacle until it is gone. Resistance is futile.” (Page 77)

“Like any good school learning from failure isn’t free. The tuition is paid in discomfort or loss or having to start over. Be glad to pay the cost. There will be no better teacher for your career, for your book, for your new venture.” (Page 84)

“When it comes to our actions, disorder and distraction are death.” (Page 89)

“Some problems are harder than others. Deal with the ones right in front of you first. Come back to the others later. You’ll get there.” (Page 92)

“Everything is a chance to do and be your best.” (Page 94)

“To whatever we face, our job is to respond with: hard work, honesty, helping others as best we can.” (Page 95)

“Right action-unselfish, dedicated, masterful, creative-that is the answer to that question. That’s one way to find the meaning of life. And how to turn every obstacle into an opportunity.” (Page 96)

“But if you’ve got an important mission, all that matters is that you accomplish it.” (Page 100)

“Part of the reason why a certain skill often seems so effortless for great masters is not just because they’ve mastered the process-they really are doing less than the rest of us who don’t know any better. They choose to exert only calculated force where it will be effective, rather than straining and struggling with pointless attrition tactics.” (Page 106)

“Ordinary people shy away from negative situations, just as they do with failure. They do their best to avoid trouble. What great people do is the opposite. They are their best in these situations. They turn personal tragedy or misfortune-really anything, everything- to their advantage.” (Page 120)

“To be great at something takes practice. Obstacles and adversity are no different. Though it would be easier to sit back and enjoy a cushy modern life, the upside of preparation is that we’re not disposed to lose all of it-least of all our heads-when someone or something suddenly messes with our plans.” (Page 137)

“The next step after we discard our expectations and accept what happens to us, after understanding that certain things-particularly bad things- are outside our control, is this: loving whatever happens to us and facing it with unfailing cheerfulness.” (Page 152)

“We don’t get to choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we feel about it. Any why on earth would you choose to feel anything but good? We can choose to render a good account of ourselves. If the event must occur, Amor fati (a love of fate) is the response. “(Page 154)

“There are more failures in the world due to a collapse of will than there will ever be from objectively conclusive events.” (Page 158)

“Shared purpose gives us strength.” (Page 164)

“Whatever you’re going through, whatever is holding you down or standing in your way, can be turned into a source of strength-by thinking of people other than yourself. You  won’t have time to think of your own suffering because there are other people suffering and you’re too focused on them.” (Page 165)

“Compassion is an option. Camaraderie as well.” (Page 165)

“Help you fellow humans thrive and survive, contribute your little bit to the universe before it swallows you up, and be happy with that. Lend a hand to others. Be strong for them, and it will make you stronger.” (Page 166)

“But thinking about and being aware of our mortality creates real perspective and urgency. It doesn’t need to be depressing. Because it’s invigorating. And since this is true, we ought to make use of it. Instead of denying-or worse, fearing-our mortality, we can embrace it. Reminding ourselves each day that we will die helps us treat our time as a gift. Someone on a deadline doesn’t indulge himself with attempts at the impossible, he doesn’t waste time complaining about how he’d like things to be. They figure out what they need to do and do it, fitting in as much as possible before the clock expires.” (Page 170)

These are my favorite passages from The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

“If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with junk food, cosmetic surgery, and infotainment businesses, not to mention pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct , as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage, and dandruff.”

“Fear that we will succeed. That we can access the powers we secretly know we possess. That we can become the person we sense in our hearts we truly are. This is the most terrifying prospect a human being can face…” (Page 143)

“We come into this world with a specific personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it. Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it. If we were born to paint, it’s our job to become a painter. If we were born to raise an nurture children, it’s our job to become a mother. If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance and injustice of the world, it’s our job to realize it and get down to business.”  (Page 146)

“But the artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life. The artist must operate territorially. He must do his work for its own sake. To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.” (Page 151)

“Here’s another test. Of any activity you do, ask yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it? If you’re all alone on the planet, a hierarchical orientation makes no sense. There’s no one to impress. So, if you’d still pursue that activity, congratulations. You’re doing it territorially. If Arnold Schwarzenegger were the last man on earth, he’d still go to the gym. Stevie Wonder would still pound the piano. The sustenance they get comes from the act itself, not the impression it makes on others.” (Page 159)