Today, I’m giving you four lessons from a Samurai and ancient wisdom that’ll change how you think about life, mastery, arguments, and what other people think of you.
Let’s go...
#1 - Be Indifferent to Where You Live
Miyamoto Musashi was Japan’s greatest Samurai, who roamed the world between 1584 and 1645.
Before he departed from this world, he wrote a series of famous texts called the Dokkōdō. (way of walking alone).
There are many golden quotes from this text, but I want to highlight one…
“Be indifferent to where you live.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I go somewhere new that I really like, I imagine a world in which I’m there every single day.
Every year, I take the family down to North Devon, and whenever I’m there, I feel relaxed and calm.
Most of my holidays are on Greek islands.
I feel so calm and peaceful whenever I’m in Greece.
The reality?
These places are special because I only visit them once a year.
If I moved to North Devon, I would take all my life problems with me, and eventually, I would have to deal with them after the honeymoon period was over.
Same with Greece. It’s nice to visit in the height of summer, but it would be a burden with my work schedule.
We imagine ourselves in distant places simply because we are not there.
As Naval Ravikant once said:
“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”
You see, the quote isn’t about “where you live.”
It’s about your way of thinking and desire for a better outcome in life.
When you reach a destination you hope to get to, such as weight loss or even happiness.
None of these is a destination.
They are a journey, one you’ll be taking for the rest of your life, so make sure you’re enjoying it.
Stop waiting to be happy when you get “there.”
Be happy now.
#2 - Ten Years to Mastery
In his book “Outliers: The Story of Success,” Malcolm Gladwell introduces the concept of the “10,000-hour rule”, which states that to achieve true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practising “in the correct way” for at least 10,000 hours.
If we break that 10,000 hours down over 10 years, that works out to 1,000 hours a year or around 19.3 hours a week.
To make that commitment daily, it takes about 3 hours.
If you’re trying to learn a new skill and keep getting frustrated, ask yourself this…
How much time have you put into it so far?
I’m going to give you an example of something that I think I’ve mastered over the last 10 years and one I aim to master in the next 10...
Thing I’ve Mastered Over the Last 10 Years - Social Media and Talking on Camera
I started my Facebook page in 2011 and have been doing social media and talking on camera for the past 15 years.
My Instagram page alone has over 8,646 posts, which, if you consider each post from creation to editing to posting takes around 30 minutes, equates to 4,323 hours just on Instagram.**
Looking at my Vimeo account (where I host all my client content), I have added 2,323 videos over the past 10 years.
Most of these videos average around 30 minutes and probably took an hour to create, so just with client content, there are over 2,000 hours of practice.
There’s no doubt I’ve hit over 10,000 hours in these skills over the last ten years.
Thing I’m Looking to Master in the Next 10 Years - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Something that I’ve recently started is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I’ve been spending about three hours a week on it for 2 years, and I've realised that if I want to master this skill, I need to invest more time.
Getting 10,000 hours in at 3 hours a week will take me 65 years to master the skill.
It’s a realisation for me of two things:
I should have started 10 years ago (ha ha)
I need to invest more time if I want to master it over the next 10 years
Because of this, I need to think about how I can approach the next 10 years to become a master at this skill:
Swap some of my gym sessions for Jiu-Jitsu sessions (Currently training in the gym 6-8 hours a week)
Find ways to practice outside of the classes (My friend is a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu and is happy to “roll” on the weekends)
Pay for 1-1 lessons with my Black Belt Professor (These hour-long sessions will definitely speed up my learning curve)
One of the biggest reasons I’m showing you all this is so you can develop some patience and persistence with what you’re looking to achieve.
If you’re 6 months into your journey of mastery and feel like giving up... DON’T.
“The path of the warrior is lifelong, and mastery is often simply staying on the path.” - Richard Strozzi-Heckler.
Stop expecting results in 6 months when mastery takes 10 years.
#3 - Playing Chess with Pigeons
This week, I was reminded of an important analogy to help you become more productive in life.
“Never play chess with a pigeon.
The pigeon just knocks all the pieces over.
Shits all over the board.
Then struts around like it won.”
We’ve all, at one time in our lives, had that long-winded argument in the comments section with a complete stranger.
We try to get our point across about a subject we know a lot about, only for it to fall on deaf ears with no one any the wiser 30 minutes later.
Whenever I feel myself getting into this conversation, be it in person or online, I’m reminded of an excellent quote from Keanu Reeves..
“I’m at a stage in my life where I keep myself out of arguments, even if you tell me 1+1=5, you’re absolutely correct, enjoy!”
As I’m getting older, I’m realising the value of not needing to be right all the time, and I appreciate it when someone disagrees with what I say.
This simple action has saved me many hours a week, which I have put to better use, such as spending time with the people I care about and writing this blog post.
Life is too short to argue with strangers on the internet.
Let them think they’ve won and move on!
#4 - The Spotlight Effect
In 2000, researchers at Cornell University conducted a study on what they called “the spotlight effect.”
They found that people tend to overestimate how much others notice their actions and appearance.
In other words, we often think that we are being watched or judged more closely than we really are.
The researchers asked participants to wear a t-shirt with a large image of a celebrity on it and then estimate how many people in the room noticed the shirt.
The participants consistently overestimated the number of people who noticed the shirt.
Most days, people walk around worried about what other people are thinking about them.
If you’re spending all this time wondering what people are thinking about you, please understand that nearly everyone you meet is doing the same.
Which means everyone you meet is thinking about themselves, not you.
Just knowing this should help you perform better in social situations and let you do the things you want in life without fear of judgment.
To quote David Foster Wallace:
“You’ll stop caring what people think about you when you realise how seldom they do.”
Ancient Samurai wisdom isn’t just philosophical fluff.
It’s practical advice you can use every single day.
Stop doing this:
Chasing fantasy destinations, thinking you’ll be happy when you get “there”
Expecting mastery in 6 months when it takes 10 years
Arguing with strangers on the internet who aren’t listening anyway
Worrying about what everyone thinks about you when they’re too busy thinking about themselves
Start doing this:
Be happy now, not when you reach some imaginary destination
Map out a 10-year plan for any skill you want to master, and be patient
Let idiots think they’ve won and get back to productive work
Realise nobody’s watching you as closely as you think they are
These four lessons have been around for centuries.
They still work today!
Jay Alderton