When is enough….. enough? No matter how wealthy and privileged you are, it’s not always easy to stop some shiny new object or prestigious new job from capturing your attention. Continue reading When is enough…. enough?
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Cool and calm
Appearances can be deceptive. Don’t let your own prejudices or preconceptions cloud your judgment. Examples of human perfection are so rare that you are unlikely to be able to recognize them without scrutinizing them very carefully. Continue reading Cool and calm
The dangers of excess
A timely warning against the dangers of excess: your greed will come back to bite you in the end. Continue reading The dangers of excess
Effortless action
No matter how intractable a problem appears to be at first sight, there’s always a way to solve it if you examine it from all possible angles rather than rushing into dealing it with the first possible answer that comes into your head. Continue reading Effortless action
The origin of all things
What is the origin of heaven, earth, and all things? This is the question that Laozi explores in the first half of Chapter 42 of the Daodejing. Continue reading The origin of all things
Big ideas and key influencers
No matter how compelling your “big idea” might be, it is impossible to persuade everyone to accept it. How do you go about promoting it so that it reaches the right people who will endorse it and accelerate its adoption amongst the benighted? Continue reading Big ideas and key influencers
The circle of life
The Dao is not static or linear. It operates in a dynamic circular motion that governs the lives of all things, always bringing them back to their original starting point so that the process is carried out once again. Continue reading The circle of life
The one
The “One” (一) in this passage is clearly the Dao: it is not only the source of all things but also controls their fate. If they act in accordance with it they will be fine, but if they deviate from it disaster awaits. Continue reading The one
Fruit and Flowers
Imagine a pyramid. At its apex are the people in your office who are so far “in the zone” that they are not even conscious of it. They could include the CEO, a brilliant engineer or designer, or perhaps even a salesperson who lives for nothing more than the daily customer chase. Or, perhaps more likely, they could include nobody at all for achieving such a rarified state of natural spontaneity is almost impossible. Continue reading Fruit and Flowers
Take no action
The definition of wuwei (無為) is much more subtle than simply “take no action” or “do nothing”; more strictly speaking, it means “don’t interfere” or “only act when it is absolutely necessary”. Continue reading Take no action