When You're Finished Eating, Clean Your Bowl

A Zen story goes something like this: A student was having a meal with his Master. When they were finished eating, the student asked his Master, "What should I do now?"

The Master replied, "Clean your bowl."

At that moment the student was enlightened.

This story illustrates one of the most important ideas that we all should take to heart: whatever we start, we must complete. Leaving a task undone, unfinished, or incomplete is the surest path to failure. Success in life can be summarized in a sentence:

Show up and complete the job.

It's amazing how few people fail to do those two seemingly simple things. That is what separates the winners from the losers.

In Week Four of The Master Key System, Charles F. Haanel held no punches when he wrote:

Unless you do this, you had better not start at all, because modern Psychology tells us that when we start something and do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming the habit of failure - absolute, ignominious failure. If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start. If you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one interfere; the "I" in you has determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no longer any argument.

As Haanel stated, not completing something forms within a person the habit of failure. Once a person begins to quit the things he endeavors to do, he finds that it becomes easier and easier to quit the task at hand rather than complete it. In the end, then, what does he have? Nothing.

If man had stopped at the launch pad rather than launching and landing on the Moon, would we have that amazing accomplishment to inspire us?

If Jonas Salk never completed his investigations into disease, we would still be suffering with polio (and probably other illnesses) to this day.

When the going gets tough, we are often told, then the tough get going. They don't "get going" the other way, though; they go toward the trouble and get the job done.

A good analogy to illustrate these points is to think of your life as having a checking account. Every time you set yourself to do something and you attain your goal, then you deposit money into your account. You become richer. You're life becomes fuller. You have bettered yourself. When you leave something incomplete, when you quit before you've attained your goal, then money is removed from your account. You are a little less than you were before you started. You've attained nothing, but lost the time you put into whatever little efforts you made.

A friend of mine made it his goal to become a master parachutist. (Please excuse me, but I do not know the proper term for someone who completes one hundred parachute jumps. "Master parachutist" will serve the purpose for this illustration, though.) He went through months of training and finally went on his first jump. After the jump, someone asked him how he liked it. My friend said that it was "the worst thing he ever did" and that he "couldn't wait until it was all over." He was then asked why he would keep on jumping if he hated it so much. He answered that he had to complete what he set his mind to.

Once he made his one hundredth jump, he quit jumping and has never done it since. He had attained his goal and in the process set himself up for future success. (He currently owns his own company and is very successful.)

Life, when all is said and done, is about the things we've done and the things we've accomplished and attained. Even something as little as buying something, if left incomplete, would leave us lacking in some way or other. Imagine needing a television, but never leaving the house to buy one or never committing to a particular model. You'd be inconvenienced for a very long while.

Complete your tasks; complete your goals; attain all that you can. Life might be a race, but it is a race of endurance, not speed. It matters not how we finish something nor how quickly. The fact that we finish is all that a person needs to be on the path to success.

Tony Michalski is the founder and owner of Kallisti Publishing, Inc. - "The Books You Need to Read to Succeed" - http://www.kallistipublishing.com. Kallisti Publishing, Inc. has been publishing books since 2000 and has successfully published the entire Charles F. Haanel library, Steven "Rusty" Johnson's book Walk, Don't Run, the US National Security Commission report Road Map For National Security, and others. Tony is also the author of the Master Key Workbook.

GTD - The Art of Stress Free Productivity

GTD® is the popular shorthand for "Getting Things Done®", the groundbreaking work-life management system and book by David Allen that transforms personal overwhelm and overload into an integrated system of stress-free productivity.

Sophisticated without being confining, the subtle effectiveness of GTD lies in its radically common sense notion that with a complete and current inventory of all your commitments, organized and reviewed in a systematic way, you can focus clearly, view your world from optimal angles and make trusted choices about what to do (and not do) at any moment. GTD embodies an easy, step-by-step and highly efficient method for achieving this relaxed, productive state. It includes:
Capturing anything and everything that has your attention
Defining actionable things discretely into outcomes and concrete next steps
Organizing reminders and information in the most streamlined way, in appropriate categories, based on how and when you need to access them

Keeping current and "on your game" with appropriately frequent reviews of the six horizons of
your commitments (purpose, vision, goals, areas of focus, projects, and actions)

Implementing GTD alleviates the feeling of overwhelm, instills confidence, and releases a flood of creative energy. It provides structure without constraint, managing details with maximum flexibility. The system rigorously adheres to the core principles of productivity, while allowing tremendous freedom in the "how." The only "right" way to do GTD is getting meaningful things done with truly the least amount of invested attention and energy. Coaching thousands of people, where they work, about their work, has informed the GTD method with the best practices of how to work (and live), in that most efficient and productive way.

GTD's simplicity, flexibility, and immediacy are its attraction. Its ability to enliven,
enlighten, and empower is its magic. What, indeed, is GTD? More than meets the eye...

http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php

The Magician

taking action
doing what needs to be done
realizing your potential
making what's possible real
practicing what you preach
carrying out plans
producing magical results
using your talents

acting consciously
knowing what you are doing and why
acknowledging your motivations
understanding your intentions
examining the known situation

concentrating
having singleness of purpose
being totally committed
applying the force of your will
feeling centered
setting aside distractions
focusing on a goal

experiencing power
making a strong impact
having vitality
creating miracles
becoming energized
feeling vigorous
being creative


OPPOSING CARDS: Some Possibilities

* High Priestess - nonaction, intuition, accessing the unconscious
* Hanged Man - suspending action, not doing
* Seven of Cups - lacking focus and commitment
* Four of Swords - resting quietly, storing energy
* Eight of Swords - confused and uncertain, powerless


REINFORCING CARDS: Some Possibilities

* Chariot - focusing, concentrating, being forceful
* Two of Wands - personal power, wielding a strong force
* Eight of Wands - quick action, making your move
* Eight of Pentacles - focus and concentration


DESCRIPTION

The Magician is the archetype of the active, masculine principle - the ultimate achiever. He symbolizes the power to tap universal forces and use them for creative purposes. Note his stance in the picture. He acts as a lightening rod - one arm extended up into the Divine for inspiration, the other pointing toward Earth to ground this potent energy. [note] His abilities appear magical at times because his will helps him achieve what seem to be miracles.

What makes the Magician so powerful? First, he is not afraid to act. He believes in himself and is willing to put that belief on the line. He also knows what he intends to do and why. He doesn't hesitate because he understands his situation exactly. The Magician can focus with single-minded determination. As long as he remembers the divine source of his power, the Magician remains the perfect conduit for miracles.

In a reading, the Magician implies that the primal forces of creativity are yours if you can claim your power and act with awareness and concentration. This card is a signal to act and act now, provided you understand exactly what you want and are committed to getting it.

http://www.learntarot.com/maj01.htm

Tamas, Rajas and Satva

Sanskrit yogic terms which I interpret to have the meaning of *negation, affirmation and illumination*. These are nature's ingredients to organic/spiritual life which more concretely refer to laziness/inertia (tamas), drive/passion (rajas) and purity/peace (satva) of mind. During my stay at the Sivananda Ashram, although we looked upon the trinity of male deities, Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, as rajasic, satvic and tamasic respectively, there was nonetheless a kind of unspoken hierarchy expressed in less philosophically mindful moments, with tamas at the bottom, rajas just above it, and satva above all.

Really it is a progression in evolution, yet the tamasic has a role, related to Shiva the destroyer, which is as vital as the more affirmative and positive aspects of the Divine. The tamasic time of day is said to be 6pm to 2am, when we relax, enjoy ourselves, have dinner, wind down for the day and goto sleep. From a spiritual perspective there is an inert dark side of consciousness which must be honored and embraced such that one becomes intimate with all that exists within that darkness. In short, the primary process of letting go of everything that weighs upon my soul, the heaviness of life's attachment that is the cause of inertia, is a function of tamas... the capacity for dissolution, decay and death, of all that obscures the Satva, or luminous true nature.

Rajas serves the purpose of lifting us up out of the shit... it says "yeah, life may be a big ball of horse manure and I am swimming in it, but I don't have to give in or resign to a life of meaningless dark inertia. I can take action, use my will, the inner general, yet knowing that this will only take me so far. It will get me out of the tamas and get my head above water so that I can bring myself to see what life is really about and what my potential and possibilities are. The tamas will balance out the rajas simply by following the natural laws of equilibrium and avoiding extremes. It is good to have the ability to "stop and go" alternatively, and to not become overly active and restless nor overly passive and stagnant.

Satva represents this balancing factor, the purity of illumination, which is the true nature behind the grosser natural elements of rajas and tamas. Although it is something we experience in our evolution as a late comer, a fruition of sorts, it is really (like freedom and self awareness) at the very beginning of the process we call life and living. Meditation, yoga, spiritual practices, purification rituals, selfless service (karma yoga) all serve this purpose of upliftment. The joy of being inwardly calm and present, outwardly focused, alive and well, embracing the moment fully in all its splendor, diversity and capacity for creation.

Inevitably the satvic is to be let go of, not by going back into a tamasic or rajasic state, but through the experience of non-grasping... even the higher mind state is seen ultimately as illusion, part of the passing show (albeit the best part), and only a reflection of the truth, joy and deep peace that is the very soul or essence of life and human experience itself. Non-grasping is recognizing the completeness from within, creating, expressing and experiencing in and through the phenomenal world of forms, clinging to none exclusively. The satva is our open gate, the pathway leading to the divine, and through which It is made manifest through me. This may be the most challenging part of all, to live fully and joyfully while anchored in deep peace which does not cling, want or need... the truest definition of FREEDOM and HAPPINESS..

JDZ

7 Habits to Ensure Efficiency

Efficiency is the new buzz word with increased concern about the environment being energy efficient. But what about our own ability to be efficient both at home and at work? What does being efficient mean to you?

A dictionary defines efficiency as 'the state or quality of being efficient; competency in performance or the accomplishment of or ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.'

Make sure you own time and not the other way around. This article and the ensuing tips are not about striving for perfection, but instead about allowing yourself the opportunity to make better use of your time throughout the day.

Organizing and simplifying your life are important steps to be taken in order to be the most efficient you can be. A well organized office space or home will help you stay efficient.

Above all, when thinking about increasing your efficiency rate, remember to take care of yourself. Good food, plenty of rest, lots of water, and exercise will allow you to function at your best.

1. Schedule your day: Either at the beginning of each day or the night before, plan out each day. You are only one person and you probably won't be able to do everything. Use a schedule to organize your day into time blocks. Write out a daily to-do list (electronic or in a notebook) and prioritize items by importance.

Remember, only schedule around 70 percent of your day. The other 30 percent will be filled with interruptions, travel time between appointments and errands, and sometimes emergencies.

2. Prioritize-Prioritize-Prioritize: List to-do items by order of importance and label each item by importance and urgency. Make items that are extremely important stand out by marking them with red ink, a highlighter, or a star. Only focus on a limited number of actions per day.

3. Multi-task small projects and details: Although multi- tasking does not work for everyone or every project, tasks like cooking supper while talking on the phone or ironing while listening to a motivational CD can be effective. Try reading a book on the subway or bus, or a book on tape while driving to and from work. It's more efficient and a good use of time to do simple tasks simultaneously.

4. Say NO more often: Recognize what your priorities are. If someone requests something of you that you are unable to do comfortably or does not fit into your priorities, 'just say no.'

5. Delegate as much as possible: You can't do everything alone. Allow others around you to help out. Allow friends, family, co-workers, your partner or your children to assist around the house and/or office. Many people find this difficult because they feel they are the only one who can do it right. Start off with small steps. Don't hand over an entire project, but instead a step that will save you time and energy. Make sure you remember to thank these people appropriately.

6. Organize: The more things that are organized both within the home and work environment, the faster work will get finished and the higher quality your work will be. Make lists for yourself and others. Create inboxes and action files.

7. Control your procrastination: Many of us are procrastinators at heart, although for various reasons. One common phrase used to help combat procrastination is 'do the worst thing first.' At the beginning of each day, do the one item that stands out the most on your to-do list, or your most dreaded item. Set daily goals for yourself and plan lots of rewards.

Maria Gracia - Get Organized 10/31 - 11/6

Cheetah

CHEETAH teaches us about speed and focus. Unlike other felines
who stalk, then pounce on their prey for the kill, cheetahs, the
fastest four-footed animals alive, run down their prey. Their lesson
to us is that of accomplishing our goals with speed and focus. When
we feel stuck, cheetah medicine can launch us into motion. If we are
moving with great speed but little direction, cheetah energy helps us
to keep our eyes on our goals and to find the most direct way of
achieving them. Cheetah's are very fast, high speed animals. They are incredible sprinters but do not have the endurance for long distance running at speed. So their action is short and swift.

If you too are struggling with a situation, know that Cheetah comes
to tell you that the action is almost complete. The race is done and
the goal is in sight. Be patient for just a little while and the
outcome will be known. If you have been feeling the victim in your
situation, know that this is not the case and you are in charge even
if it may not feel like it at the present moment. Wenshun and Cheetah
at this time suggest you may wish to use your own past experiences as you resolve the issue at hand. Wisdom comes through the understanding of all life's experiences. Utilizing them with patience creates the energy of The Victor and not the victim. Cheetah shares today with you this energy.

If cheetah is your animal totem, it will teach you a lot about
moving out ahead of everyone else by doing what's in front of you.
Maybe you need to do your homework before the sun goes down. "Get it done", says Cheetah, so that you will have some daylight to play with your friends. Cheetah may mention that you waste too much energy thinking and wishing when you need to get up and go. Is it that you are lazy or are you just stubborn? Or is it you don't believe in yourself enough? Believe that you have the power of a Cheetah and you will surely attain your goals.

From e-newsletter Simply the Present Moment - Gaele Arnott

Mastering Work Flow

1-Collect open loops, Utilize In-Baskets and Folders, Email Folders, Voicemail, Notes,Task Lists

2-Process each item, Decide if Actionable: If yes determine intended/desired outcome and next action steps; if no then trash or incubate or file as reference.

3-Organize into workable system/structure, Do or Defer... List of *Next Actions* and Someday/Maybe List, Use Calendar and Master Task List for time and day specific activities/events, actions relating to projects are put on master list as sub-categories. Project Support material stored in folders (physical or computer) for ready access or reference.

4-Review a) all open loops (incomplete items/tasks) b) Projects (Master Projects list) c) Project Activities (Project-Actions List) d) Daily Agendas (regular routines, master task list, calendar of events and next actions) & e) Someday/maybe (Future Tasks w/out Start or Due Dates).

5-Choose next actions - Intuitive Decisions based upon the Context/Time/Place, amount of Time and Energy available to complete the job, and Priority level. Three types of work I am accountable for and must regularly review/evaluate are:

1) Predefined work (Schedule, Task List, Projects, Routines),

2) Work as it appears in the moment - Sometimes unexpected

3) Defining work of collecting-processing-organizing-reviewing-choosing, begin by checking mail, in-baskets, inbox/email, voice-mail, memos, receipts.

Altitude Analogy

1- Bottom Level - Current actions on the horizon of immediate awareness
2-Current Projects - including all actions needed for their completion
3-Areas of Responsibility - Family, Work and Social Commitments, Appointments
4-One to Two Year Goals - Short Term Plans for Progress - Productive Efficiency
5-Three to Five Year Vision - Long Term Aspirations - Abundance and Prosperity
6-The Bigger Picture- What is it all for? The cohesive factor of self-awareness and universal co-creation, an ever-changing process of growth and regeneration.

** Notes taken (by me) from David Allen's "Getting Things Done... the art of stress free productivity".

JDZ

Throw it Out...

You're throwing out your trash. You're
able to chuck things out even if it
stings - even if you still have a
feeling that you should read last
year's newspapers because otherwise
you'll miss an important article -
but you toss it anyway - and you
then start to feel better.

Even if you miss the items you
gave away or threw out - your entire
system feels better because of the
increased order in your life - the
increased clear space in which to live!

One of the keys to keeping clutter from
getting out of control is to regularly
"take aim" at the clutter, and to chip
away at the pile.

Those small efforts do add up over time.
And even the small efforts can make you
feel BIG in accomplishment. You're
getting things done!

Excerpt from Mimi Tanner's "Declutter Fast"

The Definition of Work

1. Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something.

2.
a. A job; employment: looking for work.
b. A trade, profession, or other means of livelihood.

3.
a. Something that one is doing, making, or performing, especially as an occupation or undertaking; a duty or task: begin the day's work.
b. An amount of such activity either done or required: a week's work.

4.
a. The part of a day devoted to an occupation or undertaking: met her after work.
b. One's place of employment: Should I call you at home or at work?

5.
a. Something that has been produced or accomplished through the effort, activity, or agency of a person or thing: This story is the work of an active imagination. Erosion is the work of wind, water, and time.
b. Full action or effect of an agency: The sleeping pills did their work.
c. An act; a deed: "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

6.
a. An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, or literary or musical composition; a work of art.
b. works The output of a writer, artist, or musician considered or collected as a whole: the works of Shakespeare.

Courage

Nonresistant thought expands the Solar Plexus; resistant thought contracts it. Pleasant thought expands it; unpleasant thought contracts it. Thoughts of courage, power, confidence, and hope all produce a corresponding state, but the one arch enemy of the Solar Plexus which must be absolutely destroyed before there is any possibility of letting any light shine is fear. This enemy must be completely destroyed; he must be eliminated; he must be expelled forever; he is the cloud which hides the sun which causes a perpetual gloom.

It is this personal devil which makes men fear the past, the present, and the future; fear themselves, their friends, and their enemies; fear everything and everybody. When fear is effectually and completely destroyed, your light will shine, the clouds will disperse, and you will have found the source of power, energy, and life.

Charles Haanel (MKS, Chapter 3)

Sitting in Silence

We set our thoughts into motion by seeking the Silence.

This week in the Master Key Coaching Teleseminars, I spoke a bit about the “Silence,” which Haanel described as the place where we find our true power. This is the place where one can truly set his thoughts into motion because it is here that he develops his goals, creates his vision, forges his plans, and readies his actions.

The Silence is where we partake in that “hardest of work”: Thinking.

As I wrote in The Master Key Workbook:

Thought is the secret to all attainment. This is because when we think, we set into motion the law of vibration, which carries our thoughts so that they can become reality. The law of love, which works through the emotions, gives these thoughts vitality.

Your level of belief will influence how quickly your dreams become reality. Look at it this way: When you believe that something is easily attainable, then you step quickly to attain that desire. On the other hand, when you believe that what you want is “out of your reach” or a “pipe dream,” then you stall and stutter on your way, which either drastically slows your journey or impedes it completely.

We set our thoughts into motion by seeking the Silence. It is in the Silence that we can be still, and when we are still, we can think, and thought is the secret to all attainment.

As we think something more and more and see it clearer and clearer, it finally becomes automatic in our mind. We really know what we think. It moves from being a mere thought to a fact. “We are sure; we know.”

The exercises in The Master Key System teach us how to use the Silence, but we must make the effort to find the Silence first. Those who do not are depriving themselves of the place where they will find and develop their thoughts.

Do your best to enter the Silence at least once per day — either in the morning or at the end of the day.

Without distractions, without clutter, without “noise,” you will discover something perhaps you’ve never experienced: yourself.

Tony Michalski

Outcome Visualization

“My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get a new idea, I start at once building it up in my imagination, and make improvements and operate the device in my mind. When I have gone so far as to embody everything in my invention, every possible improvement I can think of, and when I see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form the final product of my brain.”

– Nikola Tesla

Haanel wrote about Tesla in Week Seven of The Master Key System.

10. The inventor visualizes his idea in exactly the same manner. For instance, Nikola Tesla, he with the giant intellect, one of the greatest inventors of all ages, the man who has brought forth the most amazing realities, always visualizes his inventions before attempting to work them out. He does not rush to embody them in form and then spend his time in correcting defects. Having first built up the idea in his imagination, he holds it there as a mental picture, to be reconstructed and improved by his thought. “In this way,” he writes in the Electrical Experimenter, “I am enabled to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching any- thing. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible im- provement I can think of, and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete the prod- uct of my brain. Invariably my devise works as I conceived it should; in twenty years there has not been a single exception.”

How is this mental accuracy — this mental clarity — obtained?

Haanel wrote,

13. Clearness and accuracy are obtained only by repeatedly having the image in mind. Each repeated action renders the image more clear and accurate than the preceding, and in proportion to the clearness and accuracy of the image will the outward manifestation be. You must build it firmly and securely in your mental world—the world within—before it can take form in the world without, and you can build nothing of value even in the mental world unless you have the proper material. When you have the material you can build anything you wish, but make sure of your material. You cannot make broadcloth from shoddy.

GTD - Let the lists fall where they may

Probably the most universal how-to question for GTD neophytes is this: How do I keep track of all the things that you're recommending I keep out of my head? What's the best tool? The answer is pretty simple: however you most effectively can create and review lists.

You will need a good filing system, an inbox and a ubiquitous capture tool, a box for stuff to read, and maybe a tickler file; but for the most part, all you need are lists. But you'll need several. And they need to be complete. And you'll need a place to keep them.

For many newbies, the multiple lists they may see in any of our systems can overwhelm them at first glance. The various classifications we recommend as best practices present a significant increase in complexity over what most pre-GTDers are working with: a calendar and some amorphous kind of "to-do" list, at best. Their responses to our typical sets of lists (calls, office, errands, agendas for boss, agenda for staff meeting, projects, someday maybes, etc.) are "That's so much work to set up and maintain!" and/or "That's so confusing!"

The cause of their push-back is twofold. First, few people on the planet, prior to GTD, have had any commitment at all to capturing and objectifying everything they're committed to. So, indeed, if all you wanted to keep track of is what they are currently keeping track of (outside their heads), you probably wouldn't need more than the one to-do list they have. And secondly, because of the incredible amount of input, distraction, rapid change, and consequent over-commitment gnawing at everyone's gut, there is a huge desire for simplification to relieve the pressure. People often come to GTD for that relief and are negatively surprised to see what looks to them like additional work and complication. "My goodness—look at all those lists!"

As someone gets just a little further into the game, however, and is willing to try out some version of our recommended set of lists, they begin to experience the clarity and focus that's been unavailable using his/her previous system. Here's why:

There's an interesting phenomenon which was explained to me once as a key cybernetic principle: in order to create simplicity amidst complexity, your system must be equally complex. The corollary to that would be that if you're trying to manage something very complex with too simple a system, it will over-complexify it! And that's just what I've seen over these many years as a coach and educator. People's lives are way more sophisticated, intricate, and multifaceted than the systems they are using to manage them. A calendar and to-do list pale as puny weapons against that kind of universe. In some ways their incompleteness and insufficiency just make the situation worse.

On the other hand, the system (and lists therein) can't get too complicated. For many who step into GTD and taste the transformative power of its BFO's (Blinding Flashes of the Obvious), they swing on the pendulum too far in the other direction. They over-classify. This seems particularly to afflict the technophiles, who often try to create too many lists with too many subsets and connectors and relationships. They find themselves getting hung up with only a partial implementation of the method and rationalizing that they found a way that "works better for them." Though that in itself, if true, would actually still be GTD (as GTD is an approach, not really a system), the reality is, from our experience in working with many of these folks after the fact, they just get themselves detoured because of the burden of their complexities.

GTD requires some important thinking on the front end (meaning, outcome and action determinations especially). But if you have to think too much before you can put something on a list ("will this task require a '3' or '6' level of energy on a scale of 10 to accomplish it?") you're likely to run into quicksand in trying to work it. Your system has to be easy enough (and complete enough) that you will be motivated to work it even when you have the flu. The system is only as good as what you're willing to maintain when you don't feel like it. It's fine to let your "inner geek" create a system for yourself on a rainy Saturday, but it had better be tested and continue to work amidst the firehose-gushing realities of Monday mid-mornings as well.

So there's a sensitive center point to find and maintain in terms of how to keep track of your multiple commitments and information—not too simple, not too complicated. You gotta get your porridge just right.

In our experience the "standard" GTD classifications for lists come close for most people—next actions by context, projects, somedays, agendas by person and meeting, etc. Simple, flat lists without a whole lot of structured trappings that may get in the way, once they're in these discrete buckets.

Consequently, the best personal management tools will be whatever manages those kinds of lists most easily for someone. My educated guess is that, for senior professionals, about ten percent are most comfortable with simple pieces of paper or documents inside folders (e.g. a file called "Calls" with post-its, call-back slips, or just papers torn off pads for their at-phone reminders).

Another twenty percent probably prefer some form of loose-leaf planner or notebook, with their lists on separate single pieces of paper within tabbed sections. And the rest like some digital form of list management—usually the tasks within a desktop or PDA application sorted by a category as the list title.

The good news is that once you really get comfortable with what kind of lists you can maintain the easiest and which support the most elegant simplicity for your focus, you could use any of these tools with equal ease. That's why, as we've noticed with many GTDers who have been in this game long enough, they sometimes find themselves shifting comfortably from one to the other, as how they spend their time changes with shifts in life- and work-styles. I've met several hi-tech-oriented people who've gone "retro" and taken up a new version of a paper planner again.

So, if you have any level of angst about what list-organizing tool is best for you—relax. Find a happy medium between what tool is already comfortable for you and what tool is attracting you, and get going. You really won't know what's going to work best until you engage with the GTD model for a few weeks. The important thing is to train yourself to collect and process your stuff in the most efficient and effective way, and to organize the results of that in some way.

(This article originally appeared in a publication for our GTD Connect members. Read more articles like this on GTD Connect in our extensive GTD Document Library.)

David Allen - founder/author of GTD


"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

-Chinese proverb

On Master-Daily Task Lists

I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't make a
list every day. I'm a compulsive list maker.

Every day I make a list of what I need to do that
day. And if the list gets too long and ridiculous,
then I know that something is wrong... I need to
zero in on the MOST important tasks of the day.

It is a wonderful feeling when you get things
done. That sense of accomplishment builds you up
in all areas of your life. It starts a chain
reaction of positive experiences.

When it's tough to get started, the single
most important thing you can do is to make a
list.

In the long run, making a list will help you,
even if you decide to put off doing everything
for now. Just keep making those lists anyway.

Lists will focus you on what you need to do,
and they will ultimately motivate you.

Sooner or later, you will find yourself being
more in touch with your true goals. You'll
also take action on this list.

Sure, a list won't do the job for you, but
when you write that list out, day in day out,
you will get that fire lit under you and
you will get things done.

Have a separate list called your "Master List"
that has EVERYTHING you need to do, now and
in the future, and then you can use your
daily list to just focus on TODAY.

When you have been writing lists as long
as I have (decades), then you develop your own
special touches on this habit.

Each new day, I get a new piece of paper
and write a brand new list, transferring
what didn't get done from yesterday's list
to today's list.

The time it takes to write these things down
helps to focus my mind on my goals.

On my daily list, I have a little section on
one side for what has to be picked up at the
grocery store (my least favorite task).

There is another section for any calls or emails
that have to be made. Sometimes I also have a small
section for each of my children.

During the day, if something comes up that I
need to remember, I add it to the list, so I
don't have to worry about forgetting it.

One reason it's important to be organized
is that it keeps a person in a GOOD mood.

Clutter and disorder and not having things
done can put you in a bad frame of mind.

Order and accomplishment and things done
equals absolute bliss. That is why this book,
"Declutter Fast," is very close to my heart.
Your whole world is affected by the order in
your life.

And don't get down if you are not "there" yet -
because a little order goes a LONG way.

Mimi Tanner
www.DeclutterFast.com

Insight in Action

"Stay sharp. Get plenty of oxygen to your blood with deep breathing and exercise. Ideally, your mind and body will be in a perpetual state of readiness."

Virgo Horoscope for 8/8 - by Holiday Mathis (Daily Freeman)
-------------------------

Work slower and mindfully... but KEEP WORKING. The key is minimizing distraction and staying focused, at any speed. At times I can pick up the pace and this is a blessing of personal power and freewill, but not all the time... so the important thing is simply to keep moving.

----------------------------

Focus on the BIG things before the little things... tackle those big boxes first, not the one or two papers that are out of place. Then do a final cleanup at the end.

-----------------------------

My life is taking a positive turn in the direction of emphasizing the creative and joyful... what I WANT to do, because what I have to do is coming ever more under my control via the mature and developed capacity for responsibility.

JDZ

The Art of Making a Living

The process of life’s work planning can be defined, in a general sense, as creating a picture of the world you want to live in and the organizing of your energies into building it. It takes being part dreamer, part builder. If we are not dreamers, our aspirations will be too low, and we will sink into emptiness, leaving nothing of lasting value to those who follow. Yet, if we are not builders, if our dreams are not given the shape, form, and substance of living reality, then they are nothing more than phantoms and platitudes, the mirages we chase to escape a world we are unwilling to confront and love. The true idealist is not dewy-eyed dreamer but a committed foot solider in the cause of his vision.

No book can tell you how to find your way; it can at best catalyze and awaken the way within you. You can paint by numbers, but you’ll never produce a masterpiece like that. A masterpiece requires the soul and inspiration of an artist. To paint the masterpieces of your life, you need more than forms and systems. You need a heroic commitment to your best self. Born in your heart, tempered by your head, shaped with your hands, and walked with your own two feet, your life’s work is your special gift for mankind.

You must find your own way. It is not even a way, per se. It is simply a description of some of the important scenery along the way, the road to your Self and its expression in the world. This process should be approached with a spirit of introspection, adventure, and fun. You must rely upon yourself over any form, system, or structure.

Laurence G Boldt “Zen and the Art of Making a Living”, Preface xxvi

Creation & Elimination

CREATION: What am I creating, producing, expanding, refining, expressing and bringing forth into this world?

ELIMINATION: What am I eliminating, cleaning up, detoxifying, letting go of, removing, dissolving and bringing to its end (from this world)??

How do the life forces of creation and death forces of elimination serve each other in the highest sense? How do they keep the flow going uninterrupted, without discursive thinking, temptations and distractions, blocking progress?

Elimination aids creation by removing all toxic and undermining elements... Creation, by its very action is the very negation of what was, the past reality view. Both processes need to remain as active and effective, with alternating emphasis where one is sometimes more dominant than the other.

Where the mind and its cognitive behavioral patterns are concerned, often the creation elimination process must remain free from judgments of right versus wrong action, good and evil. In short, "what you resist persists", so rather than be dualistic about what it is that one likes and dislikes, there is an acceptance that both (pleasure and pain, attraction and repulsion) exist and at the given moment either I am given a choice to CREATE by affirming and focusing on the positive OR I am just to be still and silent, choicelessly aware, and by clear observation and understanding see what needs to be negated, dissolved or eliminated... not by any means of judgment, condemnation or justification, but simply to "let whatever it is BE so that through detachment I learn to let it go".

JDZ

Giving is Getting

The modern idea, based on direct interpretation of the ancient writings, is to know that the "Father and I are one", that we are "joint heirs", entitled to the best if everything because the "Father" is Universal Mind, the Creator, the Original Substance from which all things proceed.

Now, admitting that this is all true in theory, that it has been taught for over two thousand years and is the essence of every system of philosophy or religion, how are we to make it practical in our lives? How are we to get actual, tangible results here and now?

We have found that we get comes to us by the Law of Attraction. A happy thought cannot exist in an unhappy consciousness; therefore, the consciousness must change, and, as the consciousness changes, all conditions necessary to meet the changed consciousness must gradually change in order to meet it.

So we must put our knowledge into practice; nothing can be accomplished in any other way. An athlete may read books on physical training all his life, but unless he begins to give out strength by actual work he will never receive any strength. He will eventually get exactly what he gives, but he will have to give it first. It's exactly the same with us: we will get exactly what we give, but we have to give it first before it returns to us many times over.

Master Key System Chapter 13 "The Process" pp 110-111

Presence to Purpose

Preliminary Purpose - "I AM NOW" - Pure Intrinsic Awareness gives light to Inner Consciousness (psyche/mind), with all mental goings on, positive and negative, pleasant and painful, active and passive, functional and dysfunctional. In a state of clear undistorted observation one is detached and aware, without objective identification (objectification), letting go and letting God. With clarity, understanding and vision, this intrinsic awareness dissolves and re-creates all images of illusory earthly and psychic phenomena, as all external phenomena come and go, entering and departing the screen of awareness. The appearances are fleeting, the awareness itself Eternal.

Spirit (conscious being) = Soul-Psyche (human being) = Universe (formless/infinite being) or Consciousness, Sub-Consciousness and Super-Consciousness respectively.

The natural unfolding of Purpose into active manifestation, life experience & self expression is as follows:

I Primary Purpose

Spontaneous Expression - Letting Self go, Living in Non-duality or Pure Presence. Immediacy of action with focus on matter at hand. Living without self consciousness, nor without any doubt/hesitation. To act consciously in accordance with choice and freewill, in the moment, negating the heavy binding influence of all the rest. Choosing to focus attention here and now, immediately, without the fog of excess thinking. The will to be that allows all negatives and positives in life to coexist, while mindfully and willingly choosing the positive alignment and orientation. Being/Seeing = Thinking + Feeling = Doing + Having = Creative Manifestation (Becoming) = Higher Purpose

II Secondary Purpose:

Practical Implementation - Efficiency, effective, mindful and productive action... also toxic elimination in mind-body and environment. The daily workload with lists and agendas, ground rules and limits, and a backbone of natural order. Each moment when I take responsible action that involves discipline and duty, observances and restrictions (of good and bad behavior respectively), inner-outer commitments and service to human society. Learning systems, exercises and practices (like "Getting Things Done" by David Allen) which help one to manage responsibility and "have a mind like water".

Where the Primary Purpose indicates "what I WANT to do" the Secondary Purpose is "what I HAVE to do" to make it all possible, beginning with ordinary tasks like cooking meals, cleaning house, going to work, bringing home the bacon, and keeping an orderly efficient running system of operations that begins right at home. For example, even if one is going on vacation there are plans of implementation, travel, food and lodging and many other details that call for mindful attention.

III Tertiary Purpose:

3a) Service & Socialization - Helping or serving as many as possible, finding vocation that serves humanity, contributing to causes, volunteer work, spontaneous helpfulness, group and spiritual activities. Generosity, good will and conduct. Close relationships serving as reminder to mindful/aware of others, thinking of others and not living in a self-enclosed cocoon.

3b) Social Connections - Opportunities and new experiences via others, Friendships that supportive and positive. Includes counseling, medical attention and all things healing or therapeutic. Participating in group events of common interest, with others who share my ideals, dreams and aspirations.

IV Evolutionary Purpose:

4a) Deliberate Creation (Expansion/Imagination) - Quantum Creation and the power of positive thinking... creative visualization, working creatively upon the foundations of immediate expression, practical implementation, service and socialization. One who generates positive vibrations, having a chosen a conscious focus (as in primary purpose, more developed). This divine power of freewill brings out our fullest creative capacity in accordance with universal and natural laws of abundance/attraction.

Inner and outer wealth/abundance are inseparable, and financial growth serves a primary individual-spiritual purpose. Here at the pinnacle of life it's all about focusing courageously and positively on what you desire and ignoring or letting go of your fear... mainly any fear of becoming powerful and successful.

4b) Higher Learning (Education/Intuition) - Reading, Research, Schooling, Online Resources, Articles and Newsletters, Books on Spirituality, Self-Development, Improving Financial Resources, Managing Time, Writing, Buddhism, Yoga, Philosophy. Whether in solitude or with a class or group of people, we learn new subjects to sharpen our skills and/or knowledge within a given field of understanding, functioning or general living.

V Higher Purpose:

Spiritual Evolution (Empowerment/Illumination) - Realization of Power, Wisdom, Love, Clarity and Calmness. Mastery of Self, Realization of Unity... and all of the challenges, trials and tribulations that lead us further along the path of Dharma and Truth. Here is where the Primary Purpose is realized in its entirety, having gone through the practical, social and evolutionary processes (or realms) of being in the world.

"The Subduer said that all the unbearable suffering of the three lower realms is the fruition of wrongdoing. Therefore, ever committing negative deeds, even at peril to one's life, is the Bodhisattvas' practice." ~ From The Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices by Ngulchu Thogme Zangpo

JDZ

Purpose Redefined

Everything just is, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Choice is not about rejecting one option in favor of another, not about right versus wrong but about overseeing all, peripherally aware of everything going on and choosing a conscious point of focus. No-thing is ever excluded nor rejected yet all negative images/feelings/etc potentially or actually become transformed or dissolved in the light of conscious presence.

Preliminary Purpose: Ground Zero, State of Allowing, Central Point of Focus, In Yoga the Sanskrit terms (of Patanajali), Vairagya and Abhyasa, mean to let go and to engage respectively. To let go of opinion, of like and dislike, preference for this over that, good versus evil. Self-integration that comes with the allowing of all things to be, neither justifying nor condemning. From here there is an immediate point of focus, here and now, the next action step...

Primary Purpose: Once established in the flow of being and presence, it is then necessary to steer the direction and set a proper course of action, a mission that becomes a Primary Life Purpose... which is to affirm, direct and CREATE my own life, or what is popularly referred to as "Living on Purpose" or "The Art of Deliberate Creation".

JDZ

Mars

Mars is the planet of desire and movement. It is constantly stimulating the "Now" and filling it with a vivid sharpness that keeps re-awakening one's consciousness. The most common misuse of the Mars energy is to project one's desires so far into the future that it makes one's actions in the "Now" seem meaningless. This causes discontent, unrest, and a constant state of frustration. The Mars of the "Now" is based on spontaneity. Mars adds movement to what otherwise might seem a reality of no progress. It should not keep projecting the individual beyond whatever he is doing in the present, but rather, it should stimulate his present with the vitality he needs in order to experience it. If a person keeps projecting his hopes and desires long into the future or wourld like to re-enact that which has already ben through then he is constantly losing vitality. He experiences an energy drain and may think it is coming from other people, when it is his own inability to act in his "Now".

Mars is the planet of motivation. It is the mover of ideas in to action. If one carefully observes the stimulation of Mars something very interesting reveals itself. Motivation to act comes quickly, perhaps many times in a single moment. But it also passes just as quickly. Thus, if a person spends his life analyzing his motivations he tends to lose so many of them that, in essence, he loses motivation to do anything at all. The need to do comes quickly. In order to experience the "Now" one must follow one's needs and then, by letting them pass, new ones will arise in their place. In some ways, similar to the function Mercury, the activity of Mars keeps one's vibration that leaves no room for depression, regret, or remorse.

Sometimes, Mars is primitive in it urges and does need some control through the wisdom of Saturn and the reason of Mercury, but never to the point where one inhibits, represses, and sublimates the powerful motivating energy that is stimulating him in th "Now." On it's raw level Mars does not question or analyze - it acts. And, it is through acting that man achieves a state of being. Every moment he is becoming. The joy of Mars is never in the reaching of one's ultimate goals, for when an individual reaches them, he may have long since forgotten the reason why he wanted them. Instead, the joy of Mars is to be found in one's constant state of becoming. This is the true source of motivation. Whatever one may ultimately achieve is far less important than his union with act of becoming, which is the stimulating, moving, vibrant quality of his "Now" experience.

Martin Schulman (Karmic Astrology, The Karma of the Now, pp.83-85)

One Way

Get into the flow... meditative, creative, active, productive, receptive, interactive. Where is the common ground of being for all life experience(s), where one remains consistently and joyfully in the zone?

Seeing = Doing.... where both the logical planning mind and the imaginative wish fulfillment part, the future and past mental orientations respectively, are removed and absent from immediate conscious presence. To SEE is to no longer remain unclear or confused about what action to take next... no thoughts about right or wrong action, a simple choice to DO or not do the right thing.

Confusion exists only where people (like me) become stuck up in their heads. There really is only one way to go, one right answer directly in front of me, and any/all thinking about "what should I do next, later or a year from now" can only lead to further confusion. Either one is present or absent... awake or asleep. It is never a matter of not knowing what to do...

From a broader perspective, it comes down to a simple choice... Uplift and regenerate the psychic mental emotional body through right living OR downgrade and destroy it through destructive wrong living. Acceptance of vast soul potential and the life practice that exercises this to the fullest extent OR seeking immediate escape and gratification from the austerity of the path by giving in to temptations or mistaking these for opportunities. It is the grooves, compulsions, patterns and habits of the mind that one must be mindful of. Will I spend the day in front of the television drinking beer or will I do something creative, productive, meaningful, even inspirational with this day? The choice is mine.

That which I quote as a universal truth should be free of dogma and the "tyranny of absolutes", and conversely individual truth, based on the particular needs for individual fulfillment and interests that develop, must be full of conviction and definite answers involving right or wrong, good or bad, black or white, choice A or choice B... here there is no middle path nor any room for indecision. The Universal and Individual frequently operate on opposite yet co-existing principles, and it is this contrast that adds multi-dimensional depth and meaning to our existence.

JDZ

In the Zone

Astrologically I refer to the spiritual purpose and manifest reality as the Sun - Ascendant (or Earth) respectively, from an individual-personal perspective... the dash connecting polarities of Sun and Earth is Lunar.

Where purpose is made manifest into a reality this dash or catalyst is a necessary vessel which must remain pure for the will of God to be made manifest. I call this Lunar subjective phenomenon that is instinctive, imaginative and intuitive, the art of flow. Flowing with the downstream movement of the inner and outer life, which truly are one and inseparable. Openness and receptivity to the stream of living as it is happening, here and now, immediate and eternal.

The Moon reflects various human needs, emotions, yearnings and desires which manifest as the experiences and values that make up our overall existence, experience and karmic condition as human beings on this Earth. The way of it is simply "letting go... to just go with the flow", allow the self to be empty and innocent, open to learning whatever the here-now experience is here to show us.

Manifest Reality is the *what-where-how-when* aspect of the individual-personal life path, mission and purpose that originates from Spirit, the Higher Source, Creator of all Creation, individual and universal. It is the form that gives visible, tangible and projected meaning to what it embodies in essence.

Spiritual Purpose transcends the particular mission and experience it has in the manifest world of form, the Earth. It is both Consciousness and Energy, Spirit and Nature... pervading all earthly life, it exists within and without all that we experience as this reality and the world around us.

The key as lunar/human beings is to be aligned within the flow of spirit and then follow through effectively or efficiently in the world of matter... this could be likened to the equalizer, volume and tone controls of a stereo being at just the right balance, taking into account the interests of the individual (spirit) and the sound of the music (matter), thus regulating or harmonizing the inner-outer flow and establishing right interconnection.

All that is required is awareness and attention, in the inner world of mind and the outer world of manifestation. Clear seeing is true being.

JDZ

Just Do It

How things ought to be in the world idealistically holds little interest now... Working pragmatically with what is, the immediately real and the actual, is all that I have time for in this life and on this Earth. When Gandhi said " be the change you wanna see in the world " he was referring to the change that is possible here and now, from deep within ourselves.

I am primarily interested in what is most efficient, effective and proactive, where acting and manifesting in this world is concerned. Regarding all that is really worthwhile, substantial and valuable in life, there is no substitute for actually doing the work. Nothing is meant to come to us easily and nobody is entitled to anything that isn't worked for.

New age philosophies ultimately are for folks who don't bother to read the classics, the real stuff that was written before any of us were even born. The source is where one needs to turn for right answers. People today just wanna cut corners and do it the easy way. There are a few exceptions to this... Dr. Wayne Dyer, for example, and some of the Abraham Hicks teachings.. particularly those about going with the downstream flow.

There is much wisdom here but once they make it sound too easy, like there is something else more central than simply living the moment and doing the work, here is where I grow suspicious.Don't tell me that I can just as easily create a mansion as a button... if you really want it to be that easy for me than provide the tools and the labor and all the work and money that goes into building a mansion!

There is nothing at all empowering in ridiculous broad statements like these... except maybe for those who really have confidence issues. It's not an issue about whether I can or cannot build a mansion or whatever I wish... the obstacle here is that it is a monstrous effort and a huge chunk of time that I don't have to spare.

Work and service are to be used as personal mantras... the reason nobody ever wants to hear the word 'work' when off duty is because society has drilled a very negative experience of it into us all. Rather than do as the new agers and other escape artists do, reacting against the status quo by choosing the opposite approach, I prefer to look at labor and effort in a whole new light, one that brings joy, meaning and personal fulfillment as well as contributing to the common good.

There are ways to align oneself from within so that the work at hand comes easier, more effortless and joyful. Undoubtedly it is most useful and efficient to work from a positive place... even more important to understand however is that without doing the work, the nitty gritty parts especially, there is nothing else.

Anytime I've actually done the work at hand I have been successful... anytime I've looked for an easy way out I have failed. It is as simple and straightforward as that... laziness is never an option for a man or woman of purpose, even if understandably it is a personal reality to struggle with and overcome.

I work today and everyday with the most positive perspective on how function and focus on a task at hand brings clarity to the whole field of responsibilities which make up my daily life. Rather than think about how hard it is, I mentally work on skillful ideas and plans for managing all other areas as well.

JDZ

Manifesting

Manifesting... It's one of those words that people are using a lot thanks to the slew of new books, infomercials, and movies that proclaim that nothing is earned and nothing is worked for, rather things "manifest" in one's life - as long as they "ask" or "think" the right things.

Want a car? Visualize it. Think about it. Feel it. And then ... *BAM* ... It will "manifest" in your life.

How about a million dollars? No problem! Once again, visualize it and feel it, and then ... *POOF* ... Buy that lottery ticket and get to drive to get your winnings.

Does that sound silly? I hope that it does. Unfortunately, that is what is being taught as personal development nowadays.

I hate the word "manifest" or "manifesting" - at least the way it is used in today's personal development lexicon. Instead of working for something or earning something, many people today are being tricked into thinking that they can "manifest" anything merely by thinking about it. Unfortunately, it's not merely a silly notion, it is one that is seriously ruining many peoples' chances at a successful and happy life.

I surprise a lot of people when I say that I don't read many self-help books. When I do read one, I tend to stick with the old ones - the classics. Of course Haanel is at the top of the list, but so are Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Claude M. Bristol, and a few others.

When you read the classics, you'll find that work and service are integral parts of being successful. Yes, having a positive mindset and thinking good thoughts are important, but not nearly as important as getting out there and doing it. It is only in the doing and the serving of others that one can achieve any kind of success, be it in business, a career, or a relationship.

In The Master Key System, Haanel used the word "manifest" (and its derivatives) 111 times. Does he mean that you will materialize your wants and desires out of thin air like the modern day dreck-slingers profess?

The short answer is no, he doesn't. The first instance of the word "manifest" in The Master Key System appears in Week One -

13. If we find wisdom in the world within, we shall have the understanding to discern the marvelous possibilities that are latent in this world within, and we shall be given the power to make these possibilities manifest in the world without.

Basically, Haanel writes that what we dream about, we can make in the world. We all have within us more potential than what we give ourselves credit for. For one reason or another, we sometimes think that we cannot do something. "I'm not good at math." "I'll never get that promotion because I don't know how to do what my boss does." "She's too good for me." Whatever. When we overcome those shibboleths and begin to instead strive for our goals, then we become somewhat like an Edison, who with barely a grammar school education proceeded to change the world with his inventions and discoveries, the light bulb being but one of the many hundreds of inventions that came from his mind.

Work is involved, though. Edison, even though he visualized and planned and believed that he could do it, did not await the Universe to answer his beck and call for a light bulb. Hell, no! He performed over 12,000 (that's twelve thousand!) experiments until he hit upon the one that worked. He "manifested" what was in his mind; but that "manifestation" only came about because of his actions. It wasn't a "gift" from the Universe; it was a reward for his years of toil. He earned it.

(Just so you know, the whole concept of the Universe giving "gifts" is a pretty dumb one, too. It's another word in the new self-help lexicon that really needs to be flushed.)

According to the definition of manifest, manifest means "to display or show or to be evidence of something." For example, when you have too much of a virus in your body, they will manifest themselves as you having a cold - stuffy nose, fever, aches and pains. A person with generally nice thoughts will more than likely manifest those thoughts by doing nice things, such as holding doors open for others.

Let's get back to Edison. He was a smart person. How do we know that? His inventions and discoveries made manifest his intelligent thinking.

Along the same lines, a courageous person is known to be courageous because he does courageous things - his courage becomes manifest in his actions.

In Week Seven, Haanel wrote this -

4. This is another psychological fact which is well known, but unfortunately reading about it will not bring about any result which you may have in mind; it will not even help you to form the mental image, much less bring it into manifestation. Work is necessary - labor, hard mental labor, the kind of effort which so few are willing to put forth.

I've been veritably flogged at the stake for using the term "hard work". Of course, those verbal barbs come from the wealth-without-work crowd. But here is Haanel saying exactly what I say - hard work is necessary, otherwise, don't even try it!

Here's how Haanel describes "manifesting" in no uncertain terms -

You must see the picture more and more complete, see the detail, and, as the details begin to unfold the ways and means for bringing it into manifestation will develop. One thing will lead to another. Thought will lead to action, action will develop methods, methods will develop friends, and friends will bring about circumstances, and finally, the third step, or Materialization, will have been accomplished.

Note that Haanel wrote that thought will lead to action. That methods will be developed. That friends will bring about circumstances.

Does this sound like the Universe bestowing a gift? Does this sound like something materializing out of thin air? Does this sound anything like the drivel espoused in the latest books and movies?

Perhaps some confusion develops when people read lines like this in The Master Key System -

27. If our thought is constructive and harmonious we manifest good; if it is destructive and discordant we manifest evil.

What this actually means is that means that if we are "at heart" a good person, we'll do good things. Likewise, a bad person will probably do not good things, such as Charlie Manson, Osama bin Laden, or the schizophrenic who mutilated his family while they slept. Once again, we see thoughts leading action - not thoughts creating a rip in the fabric of the Universe to bring into reality that which you thought.

Finally, to quote Haanel one more time, this time from the "Questions & Answers" of The Master Key System -

To labor is to serve and all service is honorable. But a "hewer of wood" contemplates blind service instead of intelligent service. Labor is the creative instinct in manifestation. Owing to the changes which have taken place in the industrial world, the creative instinct no longer finds expression. A man cannot build his own house, he cannot even make his own garden, he can by no means direct his own labor. He is therefore deprived of the greatest joy which can come to man, the joy of achieving, of creating, of accomplishing, and so this great power is perverted and turned into destructive channels. He can construct nothing for himself so he begins to destroy the works of his more fortunate fellows. Labor is however, finding that the Universe is not a chaos but a cosmos, that it is governed by immutable laws, that every condition is the result of a cause and that the same cause invariably produces the same effect. It is finding that these causes are mental, that thought predetermines action. It is finding that constructive thought brings about constructive conditions and destructive thought brings about destructive conditions.

Haanel finds labor (read that as work) to be of the highest and most noble nature. He finds that as men do less work, they turn their thoughts to bringing down the work of great men. One only needs to read Haanel's biography to know that he worked - and worked hard - to accomplish what he did. He didn't materialize it from the sky. His thoughts lead to plans that lead to actions that lead to his success.

The point I am trying to make with this article is that the self-help world has become infected with a plethora of terms that promise much but deliver little - the main term being "manifest" or "manifesting". I believe that these words were manufactured and/or perverted by a new generation of snake oil salesmen to attract the wealth-without-work crowd or to play on the hopes of people who are weak but want more. That is their business - and their business has always been good and booming. And that has never been more evident than it is now.

But when these authors and "teachers" delude people into thinking that the life of their dreams is but a thought away because the Universe wants nothing more than to bestow gifts upon us, that enters into an almost diabolical arena. While the wealth-without-work crowd will fall prey to these "ideas" as they usually do to anything or anyone that promises something for nothing, it's the people whose hopes are played and eventually dashed that get hurt the worst. Instead of giving the hungry man a fishing pole or even a fish, they are telling him that his hunger can be assuaged permanently - merely by wishing for it.

The end result is that he starves when he could be thriving were it not for the bad information he was taught.

So, I propose an end to the vapid and inane use of the word "manifesting". In its place, let's bring back some terms that make sense - and really work.

How about bringing back "work" and "service"? Those are two words that have been forgotten for far too long. I say a return to "goals" would be most healthy. Along with goals, "plan" should be revived. No more of this letting the Universe take care of a person shlock. And the word "earn". There's a word one seldom hears anymore. People feel "entitled"; they also believe that they receive "gifts"; but oh so few people actually go out and earn anything. Let's let them know that they can!

I think that would be a good start. If you don't know those words now, then get familiar with them. I can guarantee that once you do, you will be more successful than you ever imagined because you'll discover that work yields results while wishing and "manifesting" yields ... nothing.

Remember, that while Rome wasn't built in a day - it was built, and not manifested.

About the Author: Tony Michalski is the founder and owner of Kallisti Publishing, Inc. - "The Books You Need to Read to Succeed" -

** Another great piece by this author which reflects my thoughts exactly on manifesting... that hard work is essential.

JDZ

The Art of War

Quotations from Sun Tzu's the Art of War, also found at www.military-quotes.com/Sun-Tzu.htm:

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

"The art of using troops is this:
......When ten to the enemy's one, surround him;
......When five times his strength, attack him;
......If double his strength, divide him;
......If equally matched you may engage him;
......If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing;
......And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him,
..........for a small force is but booty for one more powerful."
- Sun Tzu, the Art Of War

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys.
Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!"
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to w in or lose.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue... In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy... use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army: By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey; This is called hobbling the army. By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army; This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds. By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
-Sun Tzu, the Art of War

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
- Sun Tzu

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.
- Sun Tzu

Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
- Sun Tzu

The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
- Sun Tzu

Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.
- Sun Tzu

In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack - the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle - you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?
- Sun Tzu

Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
- Sun Tzu

The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
- Sun Tzu

An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.
- Sun Tzu

Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
- Sun Tzu

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
- Sun Tzu

Should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.
- Sun Tzu

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them.
- Sun Tzu

Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards... Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
- Sun Tzu

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
- Sun Tzu

The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
- Sun Tzu

Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.
- Sun Tzu

We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.
- Sun Tzu

Do not interfere with an army that is returning home. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
- Sun Tzu

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
- Sun Tzu

When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is INSUBORDINATION. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is COLLAPSE. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result is RUIN.
- Sun Tzu

The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
- Sun Tzu

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.
- Sun Tzu

If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.
- Sun Tzu

If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
- Sun Tzu

On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies. On serious ground, gather in plunder. In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem. On desperate ground, fight.
- Sun Tzu

If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will." Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
- Sun Tzu

Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.
- Sun Tzu

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.
- Sun Tzu

Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man.
- Sun Tzu

Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
- Sun Tzu

Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.
- Sun Tzu

No leader should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no leader should fight a battle simply out of pique. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life. Hence the enlightened leader is heedful, and the good leader full of caution.
- Sun Tzu quotes

Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity; (2) They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straight forwardness; (3) Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports; (4) Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of warfare; (5) If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.
- Sun Tzu quotes

The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will become double agents and available for our service. It is through the information brought by the double agent that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.
- Sun Tzu quotes

"To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme of excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence."
- Sun Tzu quotes

A more modern day "Art of War" agenda:

The 48 Laws of Power

by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers

Law 1

Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

Law 3

Conceal your Intentions

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

Law 4

Always Say Less than Necessary

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Law 6

Court Attention at all Cost

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.

Law 7

Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit

Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

Law 8

Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.

Law 9

Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

Law 10

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

Law 11

Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Law 12

Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

Law 13

When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest,

Never to their Mercy or Gratitude

If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

Law 14

Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

Law 15

Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

Law 16

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

Law 17

Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

Law 18

Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

Law 19

Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person

There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

Law 20

Do Not Commit to Anyone

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Law 21

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Law 22

Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

Law 23

Concentrate Your Forces

Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

Law 24

Play the Perfect Courtier

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

Law 25

Re-Create Yourself

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Law 26

Keep Your Hands Clean

You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Law 27

Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

Law 28

Enter Action with Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Law 29

Plan All the Way to the End

The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

Law 30

Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

Law 31

Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

Law 32

Play to People’s Fantasies

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

Law 33

Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

Law 34

Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Law 35

Master the Art of Timing

Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

Law 36

Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

Law 37

Create Compelling Spectacles

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Law 38

Think as you like but Behave like others

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Law 39

Stir up Waters to Catch Fish

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Law 40

Despise the Free Lunch

What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Law 41

Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Law 42

Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Law 43

Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Law 44

Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Law 45

Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Law 46

Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Law 47

Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Law 48

Assume Formlessness

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.