By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
Life is rude. It doesn’t ask your permission before it throws a wall in front of you. Marcus Aurelius — philosopher, emperor, and part-time human punching bag for fate — understood this better than anyone. He didn’t sit around whining about “Why me?” He said: What stands in the way becomes the way.
Read that again. That thing blocking you isn’t blocking you at all — it is the road. The wall is the path. The storm is the training ground. The delay is the lesson. What you thought was a detour is often the actual map. Life doesn’t waste material — it recycles your setbacks into lessons and your embarrassments into wisdom.
Perception: Stop Calling It a Curse
Marcus knew the first step was perception. Your brain loves drama: “This is the end! Everything’s ruined!” No. It’s just a challenge wrapped in ugly packaging. Fire loves obstacles — throw wood, oil, or trash into it, and it burns hotter. Why not train your mind to do the same?
Example: your startup loses funding. Tragedy? Or the forcing function that makes you actually learn how to generate revenue instead of living on investor charity?
Workplace edition: your top performer quits suddenly. Curse? Or opportunity to finally notice the quiet, loyal employees who’ve been doing the real work without applause? Sometimes the “loss” reveals hidden gems you overlooked because the spotlight was too focused on one person. The obstacle here is perception: you can call it abandonment, or you can call it recalibration.
Even outside work: a health scare, a failed exam, a ruined deal. Each is a reframe in disguise. If you only see curses, you stay bitter. If you see the hidden assignment, you grow sharper.
Action: Do Something. Anything.
Marcus didn’t say, “The obstacle is the excuse.” He said, “The obstacle is the way.” Big difference. A locked door isn’t the end. It’s an invitation to pick the lock, build a ladder, or smash a hole in the wall. Obstacles are not signals to stop. They’re signals to innovate.
Modern workplace edition: the software crashes mid-demo. Do you panic? Or do you pivot, crack a joke, and sell the vision instead of the bug-ridden click path? The obstacle became the sales pitch. The leader who panics loses the room; the leader who pivots owns it.
Employee edition: the narcissist employee who constantly blocks progress with drama, politics, and endless self-promotion. Do you let them paralyze the team? Or do you use their behavior as the perfect chance to set standards, enforce accountability, and prune dead weight? Sometimes the obstacle is the reminder that you’ve tolerated nonsense too long.
And remember — sometimes action is less dramatic. It’s not smashing a wall. It’s sending the hard email. Having the tough conversation. Cancelling the project that’s already dead but nobody has the courage to admit it. Obstacles force leaders to act when they’d rather delay.
Will: What You Can’t Move, You Can Endure
Some obstacles won’t budge. Death, betrayal, stupidity — these are permanent features of the human landscape. Marcus would tell you: fine, then let them sculpt you. A tree doesn’t curse the wind; it digs deeper roots.
Your betrayal by a business partner? Painful, yes. But now you’ve got X-ray vision for spotting snakes in suits. That’s wisdom you couldn’t buy with a million-dollar MBA.
Office betrayal? The employee who smiled in meetings but withheld information, misled you about numbers, or quietly sabotaged projects. It stings, but it also forges clarity: trust must be earned, verified, and re-verified. Every Judas is a teacher in disguise.
And then there’s stupidity — the bureaucracy that moves at glacial speed, the regulators who invent rules midstream, the board member who thinks a TikTok campaign will save a failing business. These aren’t obstacles you “fix.” They’re obstacles you outlast. The Stoic will is the art of not letting what you can’t change break what you can control: your focus, your discipline, your standards.
Why This Feels So Uncomfortable
Because modern culture taught you that life is supposed to be smooth if you’re “doing it right.” Success gurus whisper: visualize, manifest, think positive. Marcus whispers back from 2,000 years ago: Nonsense. Visualize resistance. Manifest resilience. Think reality.
And in companies? HR tells you, “Everyone’s a team player here,” while reality shows you slackers who do two days of work in a week, narcissists who drain morale, and opportunists who think they’ve outsmarted you. That discomfort isn’t proof you’re failing — it’s proof you’re living Marcus’ lesson in real time.
That sinking feeling you get when you realize your quarterly projections were fantasy? That’s Stoic discomfort. That awkward moment when you see your star hire turn out to be an empty suit? That’s the universe giving you the curriculum. If everything felt smooth, you wouldn’t be learning.
The Punchline
Every excuse you’ve got is secretly an entrance ticket. Every delay is a test. Every insult is a sharpening stone. If you’re waiting for a life without obstacles, you’re basically waiting for a coffin.
Marcus’ point is harsh but freeing: stop seeing walls. Start seeing directions.
👉 The obstacle doesn’t block the path.
👉 The obstacle is the path.
Final Reflection: Leadership Through the Obstacle
For leaders, Marcus’ wisdom isn’t abstract philosophy — it’s daily reality. Employees will test your patience, partners will test your trust, and markets will test your strategy. Every obstacle becomes a diagnostic: who’s really loyal, who’s really competent, who’s really worth keeping.
The lazy employee? They’re not just deadweight — they’re a signal your hiring filter was too loose. The narcissist? Not just noise — a reminder that standards and culture enforcement can’t be delayed. The saboteur? Not just betrayal — a masterclass in vigilance, boundaries, and consequence.
And markets? They’ll collapse, shift, betray you with new competitors and changing customer tastes. But that’s the emperor’s classroom. If you think business is supposed to be stable, you’re in the wrong profession. Leaders aren’t forged in smooth waters — they’re hammered into shape by storms.
In other words, obstacles aren’t inconveniences in leadership. They’re the curriculum. You don’t become a serious leader in spite of them. You become one because of them.
Author: John S. Morlu II, CPA is the CEO and Chief Strategist of JS Morlu, leads a globally recognized public accounting and management consultancy firm. Under his visionary leadership, JS Morlu has become a pioneer in developing cutting-edge technologies across B2B, B2C, P2P, and B2G verticals. The firm’s groundbreaking innovations include AI-powered reconciliation software (ReckSoft.com) and advanced cloud accounting solutions (FinovatePro.com), setting new industry standards for efficiency, accuracy, and technological excellence.