Learn the Way Broadly: How to Learn The Fundamental Principles of Life While Doing Any Activity
Hey Everyone!! I'm reading this amazing book that was recommended on the Joe Rogan Podcast. It's called The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.
Learn the Way Broadly:
Joe Rogan mentioned this quote in his podcast which is what brought my attention to this book. The following quote has become my favorite quote of all time:
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything.”
-Miyamoto Musashi
The reason why this quote is so profound to me is because of it's application to literally everything we do. Whether you read books, listen to podcasts, work on cars or even play video games, there is value in what you do.
If you continually ask questions and do what you love with thoughtfulness and character and if you always strive to improve and progress, you will live a good life and you will be successful - however you may wish to define success.
Learning the way broadly (to me) means that you learn the fundamental principles of life through whatever it is that you love to do. If you love to read books, then there is more to it than just reading books. There is far more to learn about discipline, patience, etc. from the practice itself of reading.
If you're playing a video game (an example I'm using because many think that it's a complete waste of time) you can learn the fundamental principles of life - patience, discipline, repeated practice, the benefits of muscle memory, problem-solving etc. etc.
There is an important caveat to all of this: if you aren't paying close attention and working with a sense of thoughtfulness and awareness, then these lessons will pass right over your head. You'll be like the average person who just coasts through activities without learning the fundamental principles that they are trying to teach you.
I wanted to add my own little personal example to all this talk of finding the principles of life by doing any activity. I read a lot, so I'll use that activity for this example:
Reading requires a great deal of patience, especially in our society. If I were to ask 10 of my twenty-something year-old friends if they read books or not, how many do you think would say yes?
Well, I thought about this and then I actually went ahead and asked 10 of them and not a single 1 of them had a consistent practice of reading books. 2 of them claimed to read "ocassionally" - when I asked them what that meant, they said that they may read 1 or 2 books a year if something caught their eye. That's better than nothing.
Patience is a hard virtue to attain and build up. Some days I sit down to read and I can't wait till it's over. I'm checking my timer every 5 minutes just waiting for that 1-hour clock to be up.
Other days I'm really invested in what I'm reading and I'll read to the 1 hour and say "oh, that's it already?!" and then I'll set another timer for 30 mins or 1 hour and keep going if I'm in the mood.
Reading has taught me that patience isn't something you attain, it's something you work for... constantly. It's something that is variable - some days, you will be far more patient than others.
Reading has also taught me that patience is one of the most enjoyable virtues. If you are patient enough, then nothing can make you angry. Nothing can frustrate you. You can clearly look at your life and evaluate your options. You can make decisions with both a clear head and a clear heart.
What is a lesson that you have learned recently and did you learn it at an unexpected time/place/activity?
nice,,,
"Only a living entity can have goals or can originate them. And it is only a living organism that has the capacity for self-generated, goal-directed action. On the physical level, the functions of all living organisms, from the simplest to the most complex — from the nutritive function in the single cell of an amoeba to the blood circulation in the body of a man — are actions generated by the organism itself and directed to a single goal: the maintenance of the organism’s life.
An organism’s life depends on two factors: the material or fuel which it needs from the outside, from its physical background, and the action of its own body, the action of using that fuel properly. What standard determines what is proper in this context? The standard is the organism’s life, or: that which is required for the organism’s survival."
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, 16
Nice blog bro
@khaleelkazi is too emotional, i will this book
math is like running, not everyone can be a olympic champion in the 10k, but I think many people can get very far with consistently hard work over long periods of time.
I did not know this book, I will check Amazon, thank you for your publication.
Haven't read your content in a while, been busy with college only got back 1 week ago :)
I've actually been thinking of reading this book, heard it was one of the bests, the author has other good books if i'm not mistaken.
Gaming taught me english, gaming taught me strategies, gaming taught me history, gaming taught me economy, gaming taught me so freaking much! People that say gaming is a waste of time probably never tried to be good at a certain game...
Learned that selling stuff online is actually a great way to help less fortunate ppl, sold my xbox 360 to a poor family, the kids were so happy, they will spend the whole summer playing videogames and having fun, like kids should do!
I've been busy as well, it's been hard to stay on top of everything! So much has been going on. I hope college has been going well for you. Busy is good ;)
Yeah Musashi as some fantastic books, I've been digging in deeper recently.
I completely agree with you and I can credit gaming as a child to my development into who I am today. I wouldn't be me without games.
Haha that's amazing!!! Selling stuff like that is honestly a great way to build real world skills - especially in terms of sales. The skill of selling is always in high demand!
twitch streamers upvote ;)
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I pretty much learn things exclusively in unexpected ways. I am learning best by doing and by explaining to others, so the sudden enlightenment can struck me during either of these actions unexpectedly.