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.