Miyamoto Musashi Part One

One of the most famous samurai of Japan, Miyamoto Musashi, wrote the Book of Five Rings. In it, Musashi explains both his philosophy on life and fighting. Throughout it, he states that this or that skill is difficult, it will take much time to learn. This brings me to a point I want to make. People who want to learn something, a skill or a trade, think only of the end result. Consequently, this filters out people who are douchey or misguided because in the end, they are unprepared to sacrifice their time and energy towards their goal. Look at those people who achieved power and did whatever it is they wanted to do, like Musashi, and you will see a person who focused on the process, not the result.

Starting Around Zero

When we become a master at a skill or a job, we sometimes become unaware of how hard it was to learn and practice well. We forget how terrible we were, how we looked at the techniques and ways of doing things as complex, how everyone was smarter. What's worse, we can't relate to someone who starts to learn our trade. Our use of technical terms and expert skill overwhelms the novice, and we give up teaching them. However, there are some masters who can overcome these dangers of being a master. These master's qualities consist of empathy, humility, and extrospection. Remember, we all start around zero.

Peace And The Mind

Niccolo Machiavelli believed that peace was a period a "Prince" should refine his skills of war. Instead of laying back and enjoying the fruits of labor, the "Prince" must study war and strategy.

When someone wins the lottery, retires, or accepts to settle down after years of travel there is a restlessness that stirs within them. They expect from that point forward everything will be ok, that they will be at peace. Instead boredom ensues. They miss the struggle or fight that made them creative, the work and time they put into making a project, or the thrill of going to new places.

Peace thus dulls the mind. I'm not suggesting one's end game should not be peace. But simply that when peace does come around, keep your mind sharp and prepared, because you never know when war may commence.

Resumes

What if no one had a resume or cover letter? How would the job market operate? No longer could you tell someone what your objectives or skills tasks consist of. Instead you would have to show them what you can do. What a strange world that would be.

Enjoy What You Do

One day your walking along the street and someone steps in front of you offering you a million dollars. There is no catch. All you have to do is complete a double back-flip in the air. Most people can't do that, including you. Your irritated, confused even. You fail and now want to learn gymnastics, in hopes of finding that man and receiving a million dollars. You start going to a gymnastics class. Yes, your the oldest pupil there, but you begin to learn numerous things: handstands, planches, and manna's. By the time you can do a double back-flip, you forgot about the million dollars, not because it took you so long to achieve it but because you learned to enjoy gymnastics.

The point: Enjoy what you do, forget the results.

Praise and Criticism

It's nice when you hear that someone likes your work. You feel like the time and energy you put into it was worth it. But when you receive criticism, everything is different.

If your smart you say, "Let me look over those points and see if he is right. If I find out that he is right, then I have to fix this. If he is wrong, I need to figure out why he thought I was wrong and then move on."

If your an idiot you say, "I can't believe he said I did this wrong. He is mean and I feel like my work is now pointless. I will stop doing this."

The former looks at criticism as a way of improvement, the latter as an attack on their ego.

Don't fool yourself and let your ego take over. Every person who has mastered something took criticism and used it to their advantage.

Planning Like a God

Almost every god from religion lives in the skies. They can see from afar while we mortals only see our immediate field of vision. That is the problem with us mortals, we think only of their immediate problems and goals. Don't do that. Instead, think and plan years in advance. The cult of Mao Zedong, Micheal Jackson, and Elvis Presley were not created in one day. They planned ahead of time. Everyday their power, their aura magnified and it was due to the cultivation of years of hard work.

Example #1
At the moment I'm thinking about the book I'm working on, a Tolstoy novel rewritten with fantasy elements. But I have other plans for the future. I want to do a documentary, another book (non-fiction), and several screenplays. Everything is built on top of each other. I have back-up plans but I'm set for the next two-five years. What I'm doing is looking beyond the mountains and buildings for the road that stretches far ahead.

A Miscellaneous Post

-Sometimes no matter how hard you try you can't convince someone of something. Instead draw back and indirectly influence them. Give them space. Let them believe they are the one's choosing the course you want them to take.

-What's most important is sometimes the least important. You focus too much on the present, thinking about the tactics of the day. Tomorrow, think about the future. Look beyond the trivial, the emotional struggles, and plan for what happens weeks, months, and years in advance. Even if your plans or goals change, your still more prepared than the fools who focus on the present.

-Your only hurt if you want to be. No matter what happens, you always have a choice on how to respond to the situation. You can choose to be vicious and angry or you can choose to be stoic. Look at the situation in a realistic light. Fearlessly analyze it and with courage and resolution act on a decision.

-Talking about others behind their backs is pointless. You pronounce to others your feelings about someone else. Maybe one day the accused will find out what you said. They will remember that and when they rise to the top they will not forgive you. Keep your mouth shut. Never complain, never bitch, never gossip.

Television

I haven't watched t.v. in months. I don't miss it. The only thing I remember from it was Jersey Shore and CNN utilizing a Hologram deck during their news shows. What does any of that have to do with leading a productive happy life? Will Tool Academy teach me how to be a better conversationalist? Can Wolf Blitzer teach me about Freud and dream psychology? I think not. I'm sticking to reading books and interacting with others face to face. Let everyone watch t.v., I'm going to live my life with human contact and written words.

Writing

I don't consider myself a talented writer, nor a good one. No one taught me how to write. In my entire university educational experience I was given facts and tidbits. Never use "I" for history papers. Use MLA, not APA. Use APA, not MLA.

I remember when I started learning the art of writing and it was when I began to read. I read dozens and dozens of books, going from books by Tucker Max to Robert Greene. I picked up on the idea of avoiding adverbs, keeping your writing economical, etc.

If you want to write, don't listen to your professors, go the great writers of our era and the past. Read, analyze, criticize, synthesize, write, and repeat.

Fear

I don't believe in the idea that we can develop an impervious attitude towards fear, unless your a sociopath. We all experience it, the heart thumps, our hands sweat up, and our stomachs tighten. We say to ourselves, "I don't believe in fear. I shouldn't be feeling this. Oh god, why won't it go away. I thought that I don't have fear, but now I do." The problem with this solution to fear is that your trying to circumvent those feelings. Instead one has to accept fear and face it. Take direct action, don't sit, wait, or observe. Go and do it.

Learning a Language Part I

How do you learn another language fluently as an adult?

1) Learn your native grammar. It's impossible as an adult to learn another language fluently without knowing grammar. How can you learn the French indirect object pronouns when you don't know what an indirect object pronoun even is? 

2) Focus on the most common parts of language first. It's pointless to learn obscure words like "window pane" or "microjoules" when you first learn the language. When you know "asparagus" but not "need" you have a problem.

3) Read, write, speak, then hear in that order. There is no reason to work on your hearing ability when you can't write what they are speaking, let alone know what they are saying.

4) When it gets easy, make it harder. If you can look up a Wikipedia article and find that you can understand 95% of the words, it's time to pick up a kid's novel. Likewise, if you can hear with ease an easy listening speaker (like a politician), then start listening to podcasts or tv shows.

Foundations

The beginning is about foundations. The end is about subtleties. Emulate a pro and you will find out your doing it all wrong. Instead, first work on the foundations. A dancer first learns the footwork before anything else, likewise an olympic weightlifter. If you want to be a great conversationalist, learn first that how you feel and express yourself is more important than what you say. Admire the pro's, listen to the teachers, then practice.

What You Are and What You Want To Be

Something I wrote a week ago about getting out and doing what you love:

I am sick and tired. I have lived my past twenty-two years of my life in quiet desperation. I have no excuses for what I’ve become. The person I am and the person that I want to be are two different things. It is difficult for me to do what I want to do. I am tired of this. None of my friends are helpful, they are either incompetent or lazy. They sit by and desire the same thing I want but show no initiative. That does not make them to blame, for I am just as guilty, but this will end now. I want to be on the top. Yet, every time I try, maybe once or twice every couple of months, I fail miserably. I’ll say, “Hey that was tough work.” But I never follow up on it. I never say, “Ok, I did this. Now let’s see how I can improve this.” Instead I stall, I claim I’m too busy. No more. This is a declaration of war. This is a declaration of everything I despise and hate: fear, nervousness, and a lack of momentum. Everyone else can say should have, could have, would have. I will just go out and do it. I will fail, and fail, and then I will succeed. I will prove myself, I will be the person I want to be, instead of the person I am.