How to learn from a master

After World War II Japan sent thousands of people with their cameras to learn from Americans. They copied exactly what they saw and replicated it then improved it and advanced their society enormously. They knew how to learn from the master. We don’t. We rarely are willing to totally surrender to a master to learn. We bring our baggage and try to adapt.

Copy the master one hundred present, perfect it and then after you are a master you can be creative and improve it.

Drop-off all tensions

People get stress for various reasons, but unfortunately they keep it and spread it to others.  

You might not initially be able to stop receiving the stress but you can surely get rid of it quickly.

Just sit straight up in a chair, drop your arms to the side and lift you feet off the ground and say," I want to surrender and get rid of all negative psychic tensions and poisons."  Use your heart as a pump and feel the negativity leaving you through your feet and hands.  Do this for three minutes, five minutes, fifteen minutes, as long as necessary and you will see how much better you are.

You can become more conscious.

We all have one important job and that is to "Love others."

Go beyond, go beyond, go far beyond

What is the truth? There are 4200 different religions in the world. Which one is correct? Yours of course. “No, they are all wrong.”

The truth can be experienced but it can not be explained.

Whatever you think it is, go far beyond. Live a virtuous life. Serve others.

Gate Gate Paragate Para Sam Gate Bodhi Svaha

Discrimination

Discrimination is a very powerful word and has two distinctly different meanings.  One relates to being prejudice which is very wrong to discriminate against anyone because they are different from you. It is pure ignorance. Everyone should be respected for what they are.

But discrimination also means how to separate from what you like and what is wrong. You admire someone like your leader who has wonderful values but that leader also might do terrible things. The trouble is you do not discriminate and you find excuses and continue to support what is wrong.

We all want a better world and we should support that and be careful to distinguish that which leads in a different direction.

From boring work to becoming a master

Around 1900, Frederick Taylor, considered to be the father of industrial engineering, to improve productivity, originated the concept of simplifying work. Instead of an artisan building a whole product, Taylor divided the work where the worker would do very repetitive tasks over and over again. Henry Ford adapted the idea and set up the assembly line.  Work went from the high skilled artisan to people doing the same thing over and over again every few minutes.  Work became tedious and boring. Ford had to double the wages of the assemble workers to keep them.  But, from this new concept of simplifying work for the human being, Ford Motor became one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. And then on every other company did the same. Many companies became very large and very rich but work for most people took away their personal dignity, their very sense of value in their skill and in themselves. People came to work to make a living and looked elsewhere for their value.

This past summer, the top American CEOs made a new commitment to not only search for "profits," but now also to be socially responsible; hopefully they will begin to look at improving the very nature of work.  People can become masters again.  Instead of doing the same thing over and over again every few minutes, Canon has workers, called "supermeisters" that can assemble an entire copier with over 1000 parts, in three hours, all by themselves. People have enormous hidden talents waiting to be developed and harnessed for their own benefit and the benefit of their corporation.

Live - Be always the Best

Set yourself to be the best in the world at something.

I love to discover the best things.

I used to brush my teeth with Colgate until my teeth hurt, then I switched to Sensodyne but now I found Apagard - the world's best toothpaste.

I run Harada Method workshops.  Once at the Marriott Hotel I arose in a cold wintry morning and went to the bathroom and sat on a cold toilet seat and realized that every Marriott, in fact every hotel, in Japan has "washlets," toilets, where the seats are always warm and it sprays your bottom with warm water. I thought we were civilized until I had this experience. Now, in my house we have  washlets. Go out and buy one - you and your family deserve it.

I love strawberries but unfortunately in America the strawberries are not very sweet and you put sugar on them - crazy.  Why do you buy strawberries that taste like "straw?"

Set you sights on being the best and filling your life with the best things.  Don't settle for less.

Plan Do Check Act

Dr. W Edwards Deming created this improvement wheel: Plan - Do - Check - Act.
First you have to plan what you want to do.  This is the best time to plan for the coming year.  Write down all of your wishes; set down at least one important Goal to move you forward. 

Then you have to do it. It is very difficult to change habits, patterns, but if you do this process of planning now you can do it. 

After doing, you check to see that you did what you wanted to do.     

If not, you can can act or adjust to plan how to do it properly.  You can learn from your mistakes.

Simple but a very powerful process.

Remove fear from the workplace

Is it true that most people are afraid at work?

   Fear of making a mistake

   Fear of losing their job

   Fear of ridicule

   Fear of not fitting in

   Fear of being stuck

   Fear of being disliked   Fear of inadequacy/failure

If true, what can we do to change this? 

Mind - are you its master or its slave?

Rudi, my teacher once said, "Your mind is a wonderful master but a terrible slave." It is your choice how you use it. You get around 70,000 thoughts a day - but which ones do you use and follow.  It is like a broken computer just continuously feeding you all kinds of mostly useless data. 

Rudi also used to say to his mind, "cancel cancel," whenever he received a thought that was useless to him.

You can get better control of your mind.  Just demand from it what you want and need.  Well this is a great time of the year to  plan for the future.  It is a great time to write what you want. Set new goals now.  Don't let your mind tell you it doesn't know what goal to pick.  Demand of it to help you get a great new goal for the year.

Nine years ago, I met Takashi Harada and was certified by him as a trainer of his method. I set a goal then to be a great Harada Teacher and to certify others in the method.  I spent months to develop a Harada Method certification workshop and almost immediately certified others to also become trainers of the method. People came from Germany, Portugal, France, Belgium, Poland, Spain to Portland, Oregon to take my workshop and when they went back home they translated the book into their local language - the Harada Method book is now in nine languages and Andy Sun is now translating it into Chinese.

I am happy to certify you as a Harada Method coach - contact me at bodek@pcspress.com for details.

Do you want to get a great new job?

Most people do not have a Goal, so they act just like a boat in the middle of the ocean bobbling up and  down to the waves going nowhere, but when you have a goal to be a master at something it is like setting your ship in a new powerful direction to bring you to the shore of success.

Most people without goals are waiting for something to inspire them, but I highly recommend you pick something right now that you think you would like to do and then continuously improve your skills every single day becoming a master. Yes, you might decide later that you want to do something else; that is quite alright, you can change later but at this moment you are putting yourself in a positive direction. 

Having a goal gives you the energy and the direction you need to move forward.  When you are a master at something that people need, you now have a chance to really have a great life.  

I once know a young man totally lost, unable to hold any kind of job, but he was told to learn how to plaster walls. He learned slowly, but he improved every day and became a master at plastering walls and thereafter he made a very good living giving him a totally new life. 

It is unfortunate that our school system allows someone to go through 13 years of school and not have a skill to make a living when they graduate high school.  Sure, you can work for a fast food store or a Walmart but you will always make a minimum wage.

It is difficult to get started, but don't listen to your mind just pick something and do it,

Reviewing Rule Eight on how to succeed in life

8. Finally perfecting yourself and transcending all your past experiences and reach a state of total freedom.

What is Total freedom?

1. Stress and anxiety is gone

2. Free to express yourself

3. You are totally one with the universe

It is amazing what you can accomplish in life when have internal confidence and a willingness to work towards expressing yourself fully. 

Do it!

Reviewing Rule Seven on how to succeed in life

7.  Perfecting your memory by retaining the chronological teachings out of your experiences.

I was the dumbest child in the 9th grade because of my memory; unable to remember what I read or see, and school then was based on memory. However, I do remember what I experience. Languages to learn are impossible for me but once I drive somewhere I can easily remember. 

But, you can improve your memory if you more clearly focus. 

Reviewing Rule Six on how to succeed in life

6.  Showing perfect care and  conscientiousness in one’s work and duties. 

The world is absolutely crazy. Just look at what people do to each other. Today, five Jewish people in Monsey, New York at the home of a Rabbi were attacked by a man with a large knife? Why? Why do people hate the Jews? Why do we hate people that are different from us?

But, even if the world is crazy, you don’t have to be crazy. You can follow your own path to greatness. Get a very strong vision in your mind to be the best at something needed by others and pursue that vision in everything you do.

Albert Einstein said, “the life of the individual only has value [insofar] as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful.”

Reviewing Rule Five on how to succeed in life

5. Live with perfect balance and harmony building your skills and capabilities, continuously growing, being totally responsible and always doing what is right and fully enjoying your life.

Live like a high wire trapeze artist with complete confidence in yourself. Let nothing disturb you. Continuously focus on building your skills and capabilities with a clear vision. 

Learn from every experience and apply your new knowledge to create a better world for all of us. 

Reviewing Rule Four on how to succeed in life

4. Proceed with perfect righteous actions that serve the best interests of others and society.

It is amazing.  People know what is right, but often they don't do it, or say it. The Good Book says, "Love thy neighbor." How many do?

Included in your goal should be serving others as you would like them to serve you, in fact, do more for others and don't expect anything in return.

Learn how to open your heart.  Learn how to really love others. By doing it, you will be amazed how your life will improve.

Reviewing Rule Three on how to succeed in life

3.  To attain your tasks, learn how to perfectly communicate to others in writing, and in speech with high enthusiasm.

If you can write a book; do it, write articles, write letters to the editor, write to important people; you want to show you are the expert in your field. 

Learn how to give great public talks with humor. Stand in front of a mirror and practice. Record yourself and get others to give you feedback.

And stand on a chair and shout. Pour energy into it.  The louder you talk the better. 

Reviewing Rule Two on how to succeed in life

2. Set a very strong perfect Goal, finding a clear target and pursue it relentlessly; write down all of the necessary tasks to attain it and never give up.

Think about all the things you want from life and then to succeed pick a perfect Goal that will direct you to obtaining what you want. Without a goal, we are like a boat in the middle of ocean, without direction, just bobbling up and down on the waves. 

Insure that your Goal serves others, and the betterment of the world.  Being perfect means you will strive to the be best at it.

Then you write down all of the necessary tasks: steps and routines you will do to attain your goal.  Put a date on each task when you will start it and think how you will measure yourself.

And never give it!

Reviewing Rule One on how to succeed in life

1.  Learn how to perfect your skills of observation. Quiet your busy, dizzy mind and watch carefully. When thoughts come quickly bring your attention back to simply observing, learning from your experiences.

The average person receives around 70,000 thoughts a day. Which ones do you listen to and follow and which ones do you ignore? It is a very difficult.

Your mind is just like a computer storage device which records everything you experience: see, touch, sense, hear, smell and taste. The mind records it all. You access the stored information in the computer as you need it, but the mind differently continually sends back data to you as thoughts during the day. The challenge is to know what information is useful to you and what is just pure nonsense. 

When you observe more carefully, you can reduce the number of thoughts and you will know which ones to use and which ones to ignore. In fact, the best thoughts are inspirational ones that come to you from outside of your mind.

You want to become the master of the mind not the slave.

8 rules to follow to succeed in life

Follow these steps carefully and you will surely succeed in life:

1.  Learn how to perfect your skills of observation. Quiet your busy, dizzy mind and watch carefully. When thoughts come quickly bring your attention back to simply observing, learning from your experiences.

2. Set a very strong perfect Goal, finding a clear target and pursue it relentlessly; write down all of the necessary tasks to attain it and never give up.

3.  To attain your tasks, learn how to perfectly communicate to others in writing, and in speech with high enthusiasm.

4. Proceed with perfect righteous actions that serve the best interests of others and society.

5. Live with perfect balance and harmony building your skills and capabilities, continuously growing, being totally responsible and always doing what is right and fully enjoying your life.

6.  Showing perfect care and  conscientiousness in one’s work and duties. 
7.  Perfecting your memory by retaining the chronological teachings out of your experiences.
8. Finally perfecting yourself and transcending all your past experiences and reach a state of total freedom.