What should we learn from Eastern philosophy?
The practical part seems to me the most essential.
Where do we start?
For the 15 keys to achieving excellence: five to improve your body, five to improve your soul and five to improve your mind as a work tool.
Let's start with the body.
After many attempts I have lost 20 kilos. I applied, and recommend, the kaizen philosophy, continuous improvement, taking small steps that end up adding up, and they are so small that your mind does not see them as a threat.
Does the mind not like changes?
No. Walking was not going well for me, but I started with 1,000 steps a day, I went up little by little and in a year I have reached 10,000 steps. Another example: to pass the official intermediate Chinese exam you must learn 300 words, it's complicated, but what if we learn only one word a day?
Very reasonable.
It's about breaking down objectives. Nobody has time to learn Chinese, but they do have time to learn a word a day. I do four minutes of very basic physical exercises, it's better than nothing. Fengshui also helps.
As?
You have some objectives, in my case it was to lose weight, and it helped me to condition the space. Since I spent many afternoons on the sofa in front of the TV with the table full of snacks, I changed the TV location to break that habit.
I thought that fengshui was a matter of architecture and order.
All the big Chinese buildings are built to their standards, even Donald Trump has fengshui advisers for his hotels. But I do fengshui kaizen: I love white rice, but it makes me fat, so I put it behind the quinoa, lentils, and chickpeas to remind me that they come first.
Let's get on with their practical niceties.
Zen meditation, a few minutes paying attention to breathing. I had to learn it the hard way after a heart attack. Zen has helped me have a much clearer and calmer mind. Five minutes a day have changed my life.
How to improve the soul?
Kintsugi, fixing a broken object by highlighting its cracks with gold, helps. How many times do we break and don't even stop to reflect? That accumulation poisons us. You have to take your time to pull yourself together and cover your scars with gold.
Okay, but how do you do that?
First, don't break yourself into a thousand pieces, pay attention to the alerts that your body and mind offer you, pay attention to your surroundings, to what is not working. And if you still break, look for that glue that will help you put the pieces together, from a friend to a professional. Don't get lost, hold on to the bushido.
The ethical code of the samurai?
Find your values, make a list of seven values and ask yourself if you betray them. Benjamin Franklin had a notebook where he wrote down daily if he had respected his values or if he had betrayed any, so you can find out if your soul is aligned with your life.
Everything requires work.
There are gifts like the art of guanxi, a very Chinese system of meeting people, because we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. If you surround yourself with vitamin people you will live with energy, if you surround yourself with toxic people you will become toxic. Simple, right?
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An African proverb says that if you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together. And don't forget that knowing how to listen is the first step to understanding, and understanding is essential to continue learning.
The mind, how to cultivate it?
In Chinese we say: live to old, learn to old; in continuous learning. And you can't learn anything new if you already think you know everything. I apply kung-fu to learning. Depending on whether you are tall or short, the kung-fu you practice will be different, the same thing happens with the mind and learning.
Each one at their own pace and way.
I learn by doing, others by memorizing. Find your way of learning, for this you must know yourself: observe yourself, notice what you like and what you don't like, what moves you.
I understand.
It is highly recommended to write a diary, practice hansei, self-reflection, introspection, what has gone well today and what hasn't: have I met my goals for the day? Why not? Have I put my values into practice?
Is that what you ask yourself every day?
And also if I have exercised enough, what cannot be measured cannot be improved. A diary allows you to appreciate your progress and correct your mistakes with an improvement plan.
