Changes, Part 3/3: From the mouths of elephants

In  Part 2/3: Meet the Elephant God, of my three part series on making changes, I introduced Ganesha and Boku, and explained how Boku had inadvertently called upon the Hindu god Ganesha to help him turn his life around. Ganesha gave him philosophy, chores, chiding and more in order to help Boku grow and expand his world.

 

Here is the list of the things that Ganesha has Boku do, in order to rework his life so that he develops a totally new outlook, and improves his potential to become exactly what he has always envisioned he wanted to become (in his mind). My interpretation of the acts follows.

 

You may say to yourself, "what the heck is THIS good for?", but let me tell you that these concepts are all very much entrenched in the minds of successful Japanese businessmen and have been employed for a very long time.

 

In parentheses are some names that Ganesha dropped when he was telling his stories about how he helped these people achieve greatness. There were several other names, but when I asked Mayu she couldn't remember the specific stories to which the famous people were connected. So I share with you those that we could work out.

 

• Polish your shoes regularly - Always keep all of your "tools for the job" that you rely upon regularly daily for survival in excellent condition. (Ichiro of Seattle Mariners fame)
• Donate your change at convenient store - When Rockefeller was a young man, even before he was rich and famous he continued to donate 10% of his income for worthy causes. By supporting other causes you support yourself. (Rockefeller)
• Don’t fill up yourself when you eat - When you fill yourself totally full, your brain shuts down from overeating so if you go to 80%, your mind will stay sharp.
• See through other’s wants to find their needs - People hardly ever tell you exactly what they mean, even if they tell you "I always say what I mean". I reality, they don't. There is always an underlying meaning to their words. If you ask a customer what they would like in a new product, they can usually never tell you. But if you make a habit of "listening", and looking, you can learn to read between the lines and discover their true thoughts. (Henry Ford)
• Make people you met laugh - Have a life with a sense of humour to soften the air, and improve communication. (Southwest Airlines)
• Clean your toilet daily - This is an activity that people always try to avoid. By learning to do the things that people don't want to do, you open yourself up to new possibilities. (Soichiro Honda)
• Go home straight from work – Avoid dallying or wasting time then you have more time to do your own planned things.
• Praise yourself for some achievement - Even if you've had a bad day there must have been something in your life that you can praise to give yourself a boost. And as the day progresses you can build up your confidence with little victories.
• Quit something you always do for a day - This will open up more time to do something new [and the one I talked about in the previous installment].
• Create the environment to stick to what you decided to do - Actively create the environment which forces you to think about your actions, rather than just involuntarily "reacting". Actively work towards your goals with your mind "in the moment".
• Check and settle yourself in the mirror from head to toe every morning - Your inner spirit takes a great deal to change, but your outer appearance can degenerate very easily so always make sure that you look your best to yourself every day.
• Ask around to find out what you are the best at - You can learn a lot from other people about yourself. You may find that others have a much different opinion of abilities you never knew you had which may open up new fields to venture into.
• Ask around to find out what you are the worst at - We often turn a blind eye to our faults and weaknesses, so it is essential to act upon them by first finding out what they are.
• Imagine your dream pleasantly - Enjoy the dreams and goals you have without forcing yourself to stress too much over it.
• Speak out that you are lucky - Physically say the words "I am lucky" and you will transmit that positive feeling to the Universe, which will come back to you magnified, in kind.
• Try to get something for free - In order to do this, you will need to explain WHY you want something for free. This will help you to develop better negotiation skills, and learn how to express yourself better.
• Prepare for tomorrow - Make plans precisely in order to maximize your time, and efforts so that you are not caught off-guard by any unexpected events. And stick to the plan.
• Make someone closest to you happy - We often think about pleasing the customer, and customer is #1, but it is important not to forget all of the sacrifices that those people very close to you do, and to actively appreciate them as well, as they are your support network, more so than the customers. Usually the day has a schedule, and everyone does their thing, so in order to really make someone happy you need to look at the events and the people around you in order to determine what is really important and needed by those people.
• Find one good thing about someone and praise it - Sometimes you have to really think hard to praise people, especially when you are in a difficult situation. But it is important to watch people carefully and always look for something positive about the people, to let them know that you appreciate their strength.
• Steal someone’s good points - Very few people invent the wheel, but everyone tries to reinvent it by improving upon it. If something works for someone, it may work for you.
• Keep your eyes on classified ads - It is important to see what kind of work is out there and be ready to make yourself available for positions that you may have never known existed before.
• Pay a visit to a shrine, temple, church - Many people think that visiting a holy place is "meaningless", but even those who don't believe in God, or Gods, will find that by visiting holy places to show your respect, they will care more for you. If you care less for them, they will care less for you. And nobody can prove or disprove the actual existence of the gods, so why reduce your potential for Supernatural assistance?
• Visit popular shops and watch for the reasons - Popular businesses are popular for a reason. It can help you tremendously to find out exactly what these businesses are doing right. And then steal the concept.
• Give a surprise gift - Surprise people with something small and make them happy for no reason at all.
• Start something you regret that you haven’t done today - Whenever we regret not doing something we should have (like a load of laundry), that is actually a sign to you to tell you to do it right now. So don't just waste your time regretting, and not doing; get off your but and start it right then and there!
• Talk about your dream as service - If you talk about your dreams and plans based on you as the center of attention, people will get tired of listening. But if you find a way to think of your plan, dream and goal as somehow serving others and including good things for others (not just for self), people will pay much more attention and strive to help make your goals a reality. (Konousuke Matsushita - Panasonic).
• Support other people’s success - When you support people and give them positive energy through being supportive, even when they become extremely successful (i.e. don't feel jealous), that support will come back to you in the future.
• Apply, Enter - The more times you apply for things, or enter things, the better the chance you have of winning something. If you don't apply, you can't win.
• Appreciate every day - Whether you are successful or not, happy or unhappy,, take the time to appreciate all the little things in life that we take for granted (like water coming out of a tap when you turn a knob to fill a tea kettle with water) because all of these things, at one time, did not exist without much creation and suffering by someone in the past. We may think that we can live our life alone, but without all of the conveniences around us created by others who came before us, life would be very difficult therefore it is important to appreciate it all.

And that, my friends, is it! Why don't you see if you can apply one, a few, some, several, many or all of these very good ways to improve your life today?! Don't have time to improve yourself? Really? Well, how about you stop reading my blogs, and instead do something else? That's a possibility... (I wouldn't recommend stop going to the bathroom, though *wink*)

 

Would you like to review parts one and two? Here you go!

• Changes, Part 1/3: Mind, Intention and Outcomes
• Changes, Part 2/3: Meet the Elephant God

Have a lovely day. I love you!

 

Cam