Although this book doesn’t deal with Anxiety directly, it’s got to be one of my biggest game changers in combating my own Anxiety ever since reading it shortly after it was published in 2014.

The Basic Premise of this Book

The basic idea of this book isn’t entirely rocket science: everyday we face obstacles, disadvantages, and other forms of plight that get in the way of our goals or simply living a comfortable and fulfilling life.  These obstacles include but aren’t limited to, say: financial difficulties, a horrible boss, anxiety, social isolation, being over or underweight, racial discrimination, being falsely accused of a crime, etc.  However, not everything that comes with a disadvantageous situation is to your detriment; some aspects might offer inherent advantages as well.  For example, if you live in the northern latitudes, you’re at a disadvantage when it comes to the cold climate but the lower risk of sunburn is also one of the inherent advantages.  Now, the advantage of a low sunburn risk may not outweigh the cold climate but it’s at least something you can exploit to the fullest by, say, being able to enjoy more time in the sun in the spring and summer months.

The author of this book, Ryan Holiday, teaches you this basic mindset: whenever you feel you’re at a disadvantage or in some bad situation, always try to find the silver lining within it and exploit it to the fullest.  This isn’t exactly a revolutionary concept although we haven’t really been conditioned to think this way from an early age.  That’s why Ryan uses numerous examples from history illustrating how people managed to turn their obstacles into advantages to come out ahead.  One of Ryan’s examples was from WWII: when the Allied forces were intimidated and decimated by the German tanks and forces with their Blitzkrieg tactic.  In the beginning, this threw the Allies off-guard with what seemed like a powerful and concentrated force ripping through their defenses like a spear.  Opponents often surrendered at first sight of the Blitzkrieg due to its psychological intimidation until Eisenhower found a weakness.  The Blitzkrieg formation left the sides and rears of the German forces exposed which led to heavy German casualties once the Allies exploited this weakness.

How This Book Helped with Anxiety

For much of my life, I didn’t handle obstacles very well, to be honest.  Every time a new obstacle appeared, I was the Allied army staring at the German Blitzkrieg like a deer in the headlights.  This often escalated into full blown panic attacks that left me sleepless at night and tired and unable to function the next day.  When first heard of this book from Tim Ferriss’s book club, I initially thought it gave some age-old cliche advice about turning obstacles into advantages.  However, since I had enjoyed Tim Ferriss’s blog and books, notably the Four Hour Work Week, for many years, I decided there was probably more to this book than what met the eye and bought it anyways.  And I never looked back once I was blown away with the way that the author taught this deceptively simple concept by example.

Would You Also Like to Read this Book?

Then please click the green button below to be taken over to Amazon.com where you can find a more detailed summary as well as the overwhelmingly positive reviews.  Also, you should definitely check out the inspiring Youtube trailer for this book as well!