Influence – Lesson 10, cont. – by Concentration

Here, the shogun makes a distinction between meditation, or focusing on one important thing, and daydreaming.

“Daydreaming is meditations mischievous sister.  Daydreaming is the dissipation of energy; it carries us away and we cannot direct it…it destroys our psychic forces and injures the development  of strong mental powers.”

“…place yourself in a condition of self-absorbtion – transport yourself in imagination…picture yourself, places and persons in living movement so realistic a manner….What marvel, that finding yourself in this mental condition, it is so easy to decide on sound resolutions…”

Wow.  Confused?  Have a problem?  If you can concentrate on it, undistracted, you can solve it.

“He who would influence others should, above all things, know how to influence himself in order to acquire the faculty of self-concentration which will allow of his reaching the highest level of discernment.” 

He closes this chapter, and ties a bow on Concentration and Influence with this – 

“it is not magic, which is trickery, but we bear within us a power which is equal to that of the sorcerers whose deeds are related: this is the magic of the influence which the prudent and self-possesed man always exercises over his fellows, when his intentions are pure and when his ideal is nothing else that the amelioration of the condition of others (removal of others problems), by the wholesome influence of his example and discourse.”

Tomorrow – Lesson 11 – by Confidence.

Influence – Lesson 10, cont. – by Concentration

Influencing others with your ability to concentrate…Yoritomo is not talking about others sitting around watching you think and saying, “Wow, he’s amazing; let’s follow him!”  Rather, the old shogun knows that to manifest results people will pay attention to, it takes concentration.

He goes on talking about a project being a series of small acts put together, and that nothing is unimportant.

“What is one link more in a chain several meters long?  So trifling a thing that its absence would not be noticed.  Nevertheless, if this link were badly riveted, this insignificant detail will suffice to break.” 

“Every work is made up of a chain of acts more or less infinitesimal; the perfection of each of them contributes to the whole, and it sometimes suffices for a slight slackness in the performance of one of those acts to jeopardize the success of the undertaking…troubles arise from the want of concentration which allowed us to lose sight of the one thing that should have been for us of the first importance.”

He says that each day brings with it a round of duties of unequal importance; we must know how to distinguish that which should take precedence.  In my School of Entrepreneurship class last week I impressed on the students that prioritization was a master skill of high achievers and effective leaders.

The shogun says to do the most important things, even tasks that are part of the most important things, and let less important stuff go undone.    Keep oneself from every distraction and concentrate on the most worthy tasks or projects.  “Rally your psychic powers and untie them on the same point…”

We can cast and divide our mental powers onto a wide variety of things in a day, accomplishing little, or we can focus them, especially on a worthy project, to accomplish something of value.

More tomorrow…

Influence – Lesson 10, cont. – by Concentration

“We must be able to concentrate on one act at a time and force our attention to the fullest degree…We are shapers of our destiny.”

Yoritomo wrote this 838 years ago.  I don’t think he had a smart phone.  We must eliminate distractions to do our best thinking and work.  This is why I work at home in the mornings.  My mental desktop is clear in the morning.  So I do my creative projects in the mornings where there are no distractions.  I have lots of desks and tables in my house that I can go to be in a quiet and inspiring environment.

What about you?  Can you concentrate deeply on a problem or creation?  Where?  When?

Influence – Lesson 10

We have been digging into this book for a whole month now.  I’m getting great feedback from you all about the project.  Influence – How to Exert it.

In my life, I do projects.  Projects take time and deep thought.  When I am done, I have something unique and of value that others value/want/are intrigued by.  I have influenced them.

My projects include businesses, marketing or selling programs, products, buildings, physical spaces, books, movies, audio programs, training classes, and Think Daily.

So what is Lesson Ten on how to exert Influence about? –

“By the Prestige Gained from Concentration”.

“Concentration is one of the most marvelous forces that can be conceived.  Without concentration, no success is possible.”

Fidelity to an idea is always the initial step to all success.  

Thoughts are things.  It is easy to imagine how true the saying is, seeing that in thinking deeply on a subject we succeed in picturing it to ourselves in an almost tangible fashion.

“There is no doubt”, says Yoritomo, “that concentration develops all our senses and brings them to a degree of remarkable acuteness.”

He says that once we have created something in our mind first, it is easy to create it in reality.

“It stands to us in the stead of knowledge, for by the means of concentration we acquire the gift of realizing readily and easily the things of which we have formed a conception.”

“There is no work, even manual, that concentration does not lighten for us.  If a man is to lift a heavy mass, do you think that he will do it as well if he is occupied with some other thought?”

“They think of the act alone, to concentrate everything and forget everything outside of it, there is the secret of so many successes, the explanation of so many good fortunes, and of the immense influence which certain men exert over their fellows.”

My happiest times have been when I get into a “flow state” and am thinking of one thing and only that.  It’s almost to be obsessed and undistracted.  I remember when I was writing my book “The Highest Calling” in 2008.  I was obsessed with the story.  I wrote 5-6 hours a day and knew I had to finish the book while my mind was so concentrated.

Our eyes are where we take in the most information.  Our brain processes all that information.  So often, to concentrate, we close our eyes to stop the inputs of more information, so our minds can work on a problem or a creation.  Lately, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night sometimes, in the quiet and dark, with my brain processing what I know, and creating new things.

More tomorrow on concentration…

Influence – Lesson 9 cont. – By Perseverance

In finishing up this chapter on Perseverance, the Shogun now talks about the power of thought.

“Influence over others is acquired especially by the perseverance of the will and concentration of thought, the undulations of which, projected around us, come to reach the minds which we wish to impress.”

“…the fascinating mystery of the contagion of thought…is the primary cause of influence and cannot fail by persevering determination to produce it.”

Of all the actions we have talked about that influence others – the source is thought.

“Irradiation of thought” – Wow!  Love those three words!

“…penetrate the minds…we spread a thought to others, and they reflect it back to us.”

Like laughter – very few can resist an infectious burst of laughter.  Or fear – when you have it, it spreads.

He talks about applying perseverance only for good and not evil.

Finally, he reminds us that influence may take time.  He speaks of an iron tool breaking rock – and that the tool will break – but water can wear the rock away over time with perseverance.

So – “do not seek to force slow-moving minds, but surround them, penetrate them by your perseverance and its influence…the continuation of which creates power.”

Influence – Lesson 9 cont. – By Perseverance

Perseverance – when people see that you will not give up, they know where you stand and that you are not likely to waiver.  That clarity and leadership for a cause will influence people.  Is that you?

Yoritomo talks about “Unremitting action”.

He talks about listening.  There are some who do not listen to you when you speak.  They are weak minds and are people who will not get very far.  But you should not be one of them if you wish to influence.  If someone is talking to you and you do not listen but are distracted instead – “this frivolous inattention may pass as a sign of contempt; besides, it is always in opposition to the influence which we might have over them.”

He talks about being distracted while people are trying to talk to you.  I am sure he would mention cell phones today.  If someone I am trying to talk to is checking their phone while I am talking to them, it tells me I am not important.  I will go away, and not come back.

When someone comes to talk with you in your office, when they walk out, how do they feel?  That you listened?  That you cared about what they had to say?  What will they tell others about your meeting?  

Listening matters.  You don’t have to agree or give them what they want.  But you do have to listen and consider what others have to say.

Influence – Lesson 9 cont. – By Perseverance

Influence is leverage.  We can only do so much.  But if we can influence others to follow us, we can get so much more done.  We are exploring a book written by a Japanese Shogun 838 years ago on Influence.

Here, Yoritomo is talking about perseverance.  He now turns inward and is talking about what has to happen in a person before he/she can persist outwardly.  After all, from the inner, the outer – right?

Weak minds can only with difficulty concentrate themselves on a task that requires a little application (work) they are the slaves of instability of their impressions.”   

So he is saying they can’t concentrate for long on one thing.  Next he talks about people who start, but don’t stick with it.

“Beginnings, however arduous, always find them full of enthusiasm, but this fervor soon grows cold, and if success does not present itself immediately they will hasten to give up their project and devote themselves to another which will soon have a like ending.”

We all know people who start a project with great excitement, only to give up soon enough.

If you do that, you will not carry much influence.

When I start a project – I finish.  You have to finish.  You have to stay with it, and finish.  If I am building a building, people can see if I don’t finish.  The same is true in all your projects.

Do you finish?

Influence – Lesson 9 cont. – By Perseverance

“For perseverance is the mother of many gifts; from her is born circumspection which clasps hands with application and patience.”  Here the Shogun is saying that certain qualities of character make others possible.

Next he talks about a positive attitude –

“It is incredible to what degree the man who is gifted with patience is proof against the pitfalls of fate; hope and cheerfulness are two unanswerable arguments under most circumstances; application (work) comes to hold up their hands, and few undertakings can resist their combined influence.”

In more modern language Zig Ziglar said “a positive attitude won’t allow you to do anything, but it will allow you to do everything better than a negative attitude will.”

Next Yoritomo talks about men doing great projects in the margins of time between home work and their regular work.  Indeed, we have time to do more, we are just wasting it.  Especially today.  He says it far more eloquently than I do –

“Do we reckon what might be the production of one hour a day won from many frivolous pursuits to which we give so many precious minutes, which are so many of our drops of life fallen into the gulf of eternity?”

“He who should cut down a branch every day would end by clearing a way through a dense forest.”

“It is by the power of personal effort and of application that the most brilliant and solid reputations are formed.”

Isn’t that true?  People who are trying, day after day and year after year, pursuing a goal – they are the ones we are attracted to.

Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King, and those we look up to and follow – they persevered.

Influence – Lesson 9 – By Perseverance

We are reviewing “Influence”, by Yoritomo Tashi, a Japanese Shogun who lived 800+ years ago.  One commenter said that Yoritomo didn’t write this book, but instead was written by an editor in 1915.  Well, the editor used Yoritomo’s letters to write this book.  The printing press was not even invented when Yoritomo lived. But a definition of leadership is to cause something to happen that would not have happened had he not existed.  Therefore, Yoritomo and his ideas are still leading you and me at this very minute.

Lesson 9 is about perseverance.  If we continue on our quest and do not give up, people will see that and be more likely to follow us.  Would you follow someone who gives up often and changes his mission every year or month?  Let’s see what Yoritomo says on perseverance –

“Perseverance is among, if not the most brilliant, at least the most active ingredients of influence.  It is a faculty borne with men conscious of their power, those who, by virtue of faith in their own merit, advance to achievement with that confidence which gives birth to all notable successes and all productive achievements.”

Check that out – those with ‘faith in their own merit’ he says.  People who believe in themselves and believe they can accomplish a goal will stick it out and persevere.  If you didn’t believe in yourself or that you could achieve your aim, you’d quit when it got hard or because it was taking so long.  So many of these qualities are interwoven and related.  Without one, the next would not be possible.  I think belief in yourself is the root.

He continues –

“Perseverance is the triumph of will-power over the weakness of the will; it is the result of a profound study of the determining causes, the combination of which is bound to end in success: it is in short, the slow but sure ascent toward a goal that assumes a more definite shape the nearer we approach it.”

“Few persons were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but everybody can aim at conquering fortune by a series of continual and rational efforts.”

(A cubit is an ancient measurement based on the distance from the elbow to the fingertips.  It is about 18 to 212 inches.)

“The man who would spring up 30 cubits at a single leap would spend his life in ridiculous attempts, but if he wishes steadily to mount the steps that lead him to that height, he will attain it sooner or later, according to the dexterity, the agility, and the perseverance which he displays.”

“The steps it is true, are often made of shaky stones, they have gaps between them that make one dizzy, where they are so uncertain that it is difficult to keep a foothold on them.  This is the point where those who possess perseverance make themselves known; by their unshakable will, they can ward off every danger; they balance themselves on the shaky stones almost on tiptoe, and advance onto the next step; they feel fascinated by the giddy depths beneath them, quickly raise their heads, they proceed gazing on their star, and they guard themselves against possible slips by making sure of one foot before lifting the other from the ground.”

Success is not attained in one brilliant heroic stroke.  It is one small but sure step at a time.  It is habits.  It is staying organized.  It is thinking about where you are and what the next step is and taking action on that next step.  It is mostly an uncelebrated and often unglamorous series of steps put together, surely and definitely, that will yield the result you want someday – a day you have faith in.

He also talks about “the study” – you have to learn all about the factors that need to go into your success.  There will be much to learn.  Be good at learning.

When you are breaking new ground in your life, it feels shaky.  It’s unsure.  But keep thinking about what you want, and keep taking the next step.  Ambition, perseverance and faith.

More tomorrow…

Influence – Lesson 8 continued

“By Rational Ambition”

The chapters are not getting longer as we go through this – I’m just digging more into them.

Here, at the end of this chapter, he talks about poverty and riches.  He is not saying poverty is evil, only that is the fate at the end of failure to pursue otherwise.

He does acknowledge this about poverty – “Poverty is only allowable if it is voluntary, that is to say, if it is the result of a decision which prefers that condition to another more brilliant but less independent.”

If someone chooses to be humble and live a meager lifestyle, Yoritomo- because he knows that to bring your ambitions into reality takes a lot of work, and with it a loss of privacy and independence.  Not in a bad way necessarily, but being successful is not “easy”, and it’s not for everyone.

Do you ever wonder when I write Think Daily?  Well, I write them usually on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  If not, then on weekday mornings.  I have spent 40 minutes writing the last one and perhaps the same to write this one.  It’s work.  But right now, it’s 9:13 pm, and I am at the end of my useful day.  So without thinking much more, I will herein write exactly what Yoritomo wrote about riches and influence, and you can interpret his thoughts yourself.

I will say that as I have matured in my career, I came to understand what he wrote here many years ago.  Become successful and share, including ideas and knowledge of how you did it.  I have written over 7,000 Think daily messages with great discipline, and I have published how I became successful through my craft at (thesoe.com) my Contractor Nation School of Entrepreneurship, which took me nearly four years to create.

My personal mission statement is “An extraordinary life of shared experiences”.

Watch what the shogun says – 

“Nevertheless, riches are the key of many marvels, and they are above all, the key of many influences.  Not only is the man of great possessions in a better position to make those whom he patronizes listen to his words, but the prestige of his success surrounds him with a halo of influence, which, if he is wise, he will use to better the lot of his neighbor.”

“We do not receive kindnesses from an empty hand; we have nothing to expect from the man tormented by the care for tomorrow.  What words can fall from the mouth sealed by hunger?” 

“It is true that fortune, considered simply from the point of view of riches, is not an exalted ideal, but we must nevertheless welcome it as the consecration of success and as a power of which the wise man knows how to dispose for the good of his fellows.”

“It is a means of exciting interest and of influencing the multitude, for the people will always be disposed to listen to the advice of a man who had the ability to acquire great possessions.”

“It is then in then in the power of the man who has been able to acquire this power of money to make use of it for establishing his beneficent influence over the minds of those who are disposed to trust him.”

“Thanks to the prestige which his riches confer on him, he will be able to spread the rays of influence as far as the boundaries of the attraction of thought, and as it displays itself above all in action, he will gather around him a band of brave and intelligent men, ready to imitate him in spreading abroad the ideas which he has inculcated in them and speak as he has taught them.”

“Do not wait for the desired object to come to you, but rise up and set out for it; when you have found it, you will undertake its conquest, and when it becomes your possession, you will gather your friends around to make them share in your good fortune and to tell them by what means it has befallen you.”

“Ambition is a gate opening on magnificent gardens, but fortunate ones who have entered it should not pause there; they will pass beyond the entrance in order to survey the road and to make a sign to passers-by, pointing out to them the way.”

Amen.