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Hey AI Explorer,

Welcome back to the latest edition of your weekly newsletter “Solve with AI”.

28 years ago on this day, I met with a major accident and almost lost both of my legs.

A few months before my accident, I was excited to join my undergrad school. This was my first time leaving my parent’s house to start my career journey. The university campus was in a small town 2 hour drive from the city I lived.

I was excited and nervous.

My parents and I decided the dorm was the best place for me to live in a new city as it had security and a better cafeteria.

The dorm was located about a mile walk from the college campus.

Every afternoon, my friend and I used to go back to the dorm during lunchtime to grab lunch because the lunch on campus was not that good.

Two roads connected the campus and the dorm.

The front road was a dirt road running parallel to a major freeway. The back road went through the town and it used to get filled with water during monsoon (rainy season).

We used to take the back road because the front road was risky due to highway traffic

It was raining heavily that afternoon and unfortunately, the back road was filled with knee-deep water.

My friend and I decided to take the front road.

Half a mile down the road something hit me hard from behind.

I thought the sky had fallen.

For almost 10 seconds, I didn’t understand what was happening.

Once I put myself together I realized my right thigh was under the back wheels of an 18-wheeler.

I immediately reacted “Why did this happen to me?”.

My classmates who were walking behind me started yelling and asking for help. The 18-wheeler driver left the vehicle and fled from the scene.

It was chaotic!

Finally, a bunch of students and town residents pushed away the huge truck from my legs.

I noticed that my right femur bone is completely shattered and I cannot feel my knee.

The left leg was a different story and I don’t want to share the gory details.

Long story short, I spent 6 months in the hospital, went through half a dozen surgeries, and lost a year of college.

During the recovery period, I was depressed and I used to think that this was a sign I was on the wrong path.

I initially saw it as a personal failure and blamed myself and everyone around me.

My father was my mentor and kept encouraging me to look on the bright side.

It is not easy to look on the bright side when suddenly you cannot walk, play soccer or cricket with friends, go to movies, or do your daily chores.

After the surgeries, I had to relearn how to walk. I constantly considered myself as a lost cause.

But then I realized this failure wasn’t the end, it was a chance to learn. I shifted my focus from blaming myself to asking, ‘What can I take away from this?’ This change in mindset turned a failure into a stepping stone.

What I didn’t realize back then is that there is a word for this and it’s called Stoicism.

It was the age of dial-up internet so information was not as prevalent as it is today.

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that originated in Greece and later became influential in Roman thought, particularly through figures like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus.

It teaches you how to control the only thing you truly can i.e. your response. While the world throws chaos your way, you can always control your mind, your actions, and your emotions.

Everything else? Let it go.

Stop trying to control the uncontrollable.

Simple, right? Maybe.

But life-changing?

100%.

This one principle changed everything for me.

Now, Ryan Holiday’s book "The Obstacle Is the Way" brings Stoicism into today’s world.

Instead of running from challenges, Holiday says, embrace them.

Obstacles aren’t the enemy they’re the way forward.

Every time you face a tough situation, it’s like a personal trainer for your mind and spirit. You get stronger, you get smarter, and you build resilience that sets you up for future wins.

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Stoics believe that our peace of mind comes from recognizing this distinction.

I realized how much energy I was wasting on worrying about things outside my control like what people thought of me, the outcomes of situations, or random life events.

Once I started focusing only on my actions, thoughts, and responses, I felt a greater sense of calm and empowerment.

I’m going to break down three simple but powerful Stoicism ideas or frameworks that have completely flipped the way I deal with obstacles irrespective of whether it's in business or life.

These three pillars i.e. Perception, Action, and Will come straight out of Stoic philosophy, and honestly, they’re now my go-to playbook for tackling any challenge head-on.

Perception: The Lens Through Which We See Obstacles

How you see the challenge shapes everything.

If you see the obstacle as a roadblock, guess what? You’ll get stuck.

Why?

You are not thinking about what’s beyond the obstacle and you are spending your brain energy just worrying about it.

But if you flip it and see it as an opportunity, everything changes.

I’ll give you an example. Recently, I experienced a challenging situation in my business.

At first, I took it personally, like, “This is it. Game over and I will lose everything” But then, I caught myself.

I stopped asking, “Why is this happening to me?” and started asking, “What can I learn from this?”

That one shift flipped the whole script.

Suddenly, what looked like a failure turned into a stepping stone. It wasn’t the end, it was a reset button.

Here’s the secret sauce: reframing.

The power isn’t in the obstacle itself it’s in how you look at it. If you can see the problem as an invitation to level up, you’re already winning.

Think about it: what’s a common obstacle you face in your business? Is it something you are worried about or something that could force you to sharpen your skills?

When you reframe it, you turn setbacks into strategy sessions.

It’s all about asking the right question: “How can I use this to get better?”

Action: Stop Worrying, Start Moving

Action beats everything.

You can’t think your way out of a problem, you’ve got to DO something.

Waiting for the “perfect moment”? Forget it.

That just leads to standing still. Start moving even if it’s messy.

When I met with that accident I was super scared to put my feet on the ground.

My doctors, physio, and family kept motivating but I kept delaying.

I kept saying “I will try walking in a few weeks, months when I gain 100% strength in my legs.”

Guess what?

4 months after my final surgery I was still dependent on others for daily chores.

So one day, I decided to stop overthinking and just take one tiny step (literally).

I got off my bed, put my feet on the ground, and stood up using my crutches.

It was a weird feeling.

It felt as if my bones would split and I would fall.

My father held me from one side and I took baby steps in the living room.

Did I start walking normally the next day?

Nope.

But it got me moving, and that’s what mattered.

Once I had some momentum, things started falling into place.

I figured out how to lift my feet, and adjusted the crutches where I needed to, and suddenly, the thing that felt impossible became something I was working through, day by day.

I am glad I did that because I can run or walk like a normal person today.

Don’t obsess over your end goal.

You will freak out if you don’t get instant results.

Success comes from focusing on the daily grind, the little steps you take every day.

When you do that, anxiety melts away, and progress becomes inevitable.

I’ve seen this in my own life over and over whether it’s in business or fitness.

It’s not the giant leaps that get you there. It’s the consistent, small actions that stack up over time.

Will: Embrace the Suck and Keep Going

Sometimes, you just have to endure.

It’s the harsh truth no one wants to hear.

Not everything can be hacked or fixed and there is no Instagram or TikTok reel for that.

There are moments where the only way through is to tough it out. But here’s the fact, how you handle those moments is what makes all the difference.

During CV19, I had zero control over what was happening to me.

My business was falling apart like everyone else’s.

I had a massive loan on my head and the interest rates in 2022 were extremely high leading to massive interest payments.

The situation was a mess, and I couldn’t change a damn thing.

I had two choices: fight against reality or roll with it.

Spoiler: I chose to roll with it. I stopped wasting energy on things I couldn’t control and focused on what I could do with my mindset, my reactions, and my actions.

That experience reshaped me. It built my resilience.

The big secret is the more you resist, the harder things get.

When you fight against reality, you lose. But when you accept what you can’t change, things start to shift. Acceptance isn’t giving up it’s choosing where to put your energy.

Think back to a time when you kept resisting a problem.

How did that work out for you?

Probably not great, right?

Now think about what happens when you finally accept it.

You stop wasting time on the impossible and start focusing on what’s within your reach.

That’s where real strength lives.

Conclusion: The Obstacle Is the Way

Alright, let’s bring it all together.

The big takeaway is the thing you’re avoiding i.e. the obstacle is the way.

That’s the path.

Every single challenge you face is an opportunity in disguise, waiting for you to step up and use it.

Looking back, every time I’ve hit a wall, it wasn’t just a setback it was a setup.

By flipping my Perception, taking bold Action, and leaning into Will, I’ve turned obstacles into opportunities.

Now it’s your turn.

If you’re staring down an obstacle right now, don’t wait for the perfect solution.

You’re not going to think your way out of this. I challenge you to flip the script.

Ask yourself: “What can I learn from this?” Then, take one small step. Any step. Doesn’t matter if it’s messy. Just move.

I have prepared today’s ChatGPT prompt to enable you to do that quickly, efficiently, and effectively.