In this episode, I’m highlighting some of my favorite excerpts from the best selling book, The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday.

But before we dig into what is one of my favorite books — one that I’ve given as a gift to dozens of friends and family over the last four years — I want to take a minute in this first episode to give a little bit of background and context for this podcast.

The idea of BookNotes for me was born over 20 years ago when I determined that I wanted to retain as much as possible — I wanted to read to learn, really learn—and to improve my writing. So, in 1997, I began keeping a meticulous record of everything that I read.

There’s a saying drifting around out there that says you don’t have to remember what you read to be smart; you only need to know where to find it again. And I took that to heart because I’m a guy who was not a great student — that’s putting it lightly! As a student, I had a terrible time grasping concepts and retaining information—we know that the retention of knowledge can only happen with repetition — and so I’ve relied on this.

BookNotes have served me well over the years. I can grab quotes, anecdotes, facts and case studies from these great books and teach them in various programs that I have the honor of teaching to organizations around the world.

How this podcast works is pretty simple. I’m sharing with you the excerpts that I’ve highlighted. These are the passages that, for one reason or another, struck me as important or powerful. These are the passages that I wanted to refer to and reflect on quickly. 

In each BookNotes episode, I’m reading those excerpts — and hopefully, we learn some great things together! 

And please, if you have comments or feedback or want to know when another podcast is released, leave a comment, learn more at www.jeffchavez.net or follow along on Instagram @jeffchavez71