How to make a difference to your success
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photo credit: lululemon athletica
When Matthew first approacedh me to write regularly for The Big Red Tomato Company he said to me that he was really keen for me to bring my beliefs and views of the world to my writing. For anyone who has been on my Facebook profile, you’ll know that I am a Buddhist. Today I want to touch on a core Buddhist belief and how it directly applies to your business as well as your ultimate success. Don’t worry I’m not going to start a group chant!
Understanding and Practice
Buddhism teaches us that in order to walk the Buddhist path of life we need to not only understand the path, why we’re walking it and how we should take each step but also to actually place our feet in the thing. A true Buddhist practicitioner both understands why and how as well as the need to practice.
The same approach applies directly to your business and your success. You can’t practice without understand and there’s much point in understanding everything if you don’t put it in to practice.
Imagine your sitting in first class of a 747 on the runway waiting to take off. Everything is perfect. Great seat, delicious food and a cold drink in your hand. You are completely at one with your environment. Then the Captain comes over the radio and says….
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. I recently failed my flight exam with the lowest score ever recorded by my trainers but don’t worry I’m good with all of this spacial awareness stuff and I built a model airplace at school once.”
You’d instantly be put in to a different mindset wouldn’t you? You’d want to person at the controls to have aced both the theory and practical exams at flight school. To have both the understanding as well as the experience that only comes from practice.
What about if you were attending a seminar and the speaker started his talk with….
“I’m a the most learned man in this particular field but I’ve never given a talk on it before and I don’t use any of this garbage in my own life. Let’s get started.”
You see if you want to be successful in anything in life you need to have the understanding of how and why. You need to learn how to do the things you want to do. You need to take the time to learn from others who have walked your path before you. You need to learn the best and most effecient way to make the journey. Businesses that just make it up as they go along are very rarely successful.
Understanding is a wonderful thing. But it’s completely useless if you don’t apply it to either your path or the path of others. You need to actually practice what you learn. Not everything is going to work but you can only learn from failure. To achieve the things in life that you want you need to start walking and keep learning along the way so you can carry on walking. You can’t teach unless you have learnt and applied yourself. You can only truly understand when you’ve tried it on your own
I want to challenge you today to look at your life and your business. Are you all about understanding and no practice? Or do you blindly practice and take no time to understand?
Is it now time for you to learn more or start stretching those legs?
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Well said!
I think there are way too many small business owners out there that don’t heed their own advice, or just see something in a small business book and follow it, without any reasoning.
What works for a fortune 500 company may be a total disaster for a mom and pop business.
Plus, Buddha is really cool and we all need to sit back and really appreciate each moment that we get on this planet and UNDERSTAND why we do what we do, not just go through the motions.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
.-= Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last blog ..How Euthanizing a Puppy Can Save Your Sales =-.
Ben Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Yeah Buddha is pretty cool. I’ve got a really nice status of one of them on my desk (I’m looking at him now). Always reminds me to take a step back and find some peace.
.-= Ben´s last blog ..5 Easy Happiness Hacks =-.
There’s a balance to be struck between understanding and balance and you summed that up beautifully in your final couple of paragraphs. We really shouldn’t be in the business of living life on the extremes. That said, I do think it’s important to recognise which side you err toward. For example, it will come as a huge shock to you to hear this but, I’m pretty impetuous. I rush at stuff all guns blazing. It really helps me to know this about myself so I can remember to also allow time for the understanding to do it’s thing.
Thank you for reminding me and for making me think.
.-= Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..This is why I love my job! (And you make it possible) =-.
Eleanor Edwards Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Sorry, horrible typo in the first sentence. I meant there’s a balance between understanding and practice. Commenting via my phone so couldn’t read it back before hitting publish! Sorry.
.-= Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..This is why I love my job! (And you make it possible) =-.
Ben Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
lol you and that phone!
I think you’re right it is key to understand how you approach situations so that you can better practice.
.-= Ben´s last blog ..5 Easy Happiness Hacks =-.
Hi Ben,
This post is so close to what I’m working on now — melding my life purpose with those I can most resonate with because I’ve walked in their shoes. My previous work was too broad, not focused on where I can speak from the heart.
Two points struck a chord with me 1. Understanding the ‘how’ and the ‘why.’ This not only creates personal fulfillment as a facilitator / solo-professional, but it allows others who we serve to resonate with us. 2. You can only truly understand when you’ve tried it on your own. I was just discussing this with my young niece as she has so much life experience ahead of her… This point you make underscores the importance of true connection with situations, events, others, audiences, tribes, etc.
Thank you for sharing, Ben. This one speaks to my heart.
Kim
Ben Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hi Kim
Thanks for leaving a great comment.
Really pleased you enjoyed this. I’m really proud of this post to be honest
.-= Ben´s last blog ..5 Easy Happiness Hacks =-.
Hi Ben,
I completely agree that with learning has to come understanding and understanding has to be accompanied by action. This is very close to why I started my site, so that not only can I share with others what I have learned but to keep learning and enjoying the journey. It’s not enough to read about the various personal development concepts out there and then do nothing with that knowledge. Your article reminds us that you have to take it all the way, not just stop at the first step.
Btw, can you recommend a good intro book on Buddhism? Thanks!
Karen
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Major Benchmark Today – My 100th Post =-.
Ben Reply:
May 1st, 2010 at 6:13 am
It’s those two part that are key aren’t they Karen, understanding and practice. For success, one can’t live without the other.
The best thing I can recommend you is actually the website I read when I first started off on my Buddhist journey and that’s buddhanet.com. It’s really good. Check out the Buddhist studies section.
.-= Ben´s last blog ..5 Easy Happiness Hacks =-.
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