Author : Dr. Gary S. Goodman
I've been a student of Zen and the martial arts for many moons.And I've enjoyed myself; I have no complaints.Well, that's not exactly true. Maybe there's one little issue that has been chipping away at me, and heck, I'll never get to Enlightenment, or even into the neighborhood of that blessed state, until I get this off my chest.There's something vexingly un-American about a philosophy that says, more or less, that winning and losing are really two sides of a coin that comes from a bankrupt treasury.That in the greater scheme of things putting out an astonishing amount of effort in your life is no better for you or for anyone else than kicking back or simply letting entropy wear us and our monuments down.Are these ideas doing us any good?After all, the "Work Ethic" helped to build America!A little research reveals that this handy concept emerged from a few different sources, one of which was that radical theologian, John Calvin, who asserted that there are TWO paths to paradise: (1) By being a member of the "elect," those who the Almighty had already tapped for a wonderful afterlife; and (2) Through a "life of works;" with the sweat of your brow, you could demonstrate that you belonged up there in Heaven with the best of them, and be elevated to their ranks.This notion that work is more than a positive activity in itself, that it is more meaningful than the earthly fruits it produces, that it is religiously required, has helped people to endure continuous hardships and sacrifices.Benjamin Franklin, among others, admonished his contemporaries to "Plow deep while sluggards sleep, and you'll have enough corn to plant and to eat!""What does it matter?" some followers of non-occidental philosophies wonder.We're all destined for the grave and you can't take your toys with you, though as we know some get closer than others by being buried in their exotic sports cars.Perhaps Americans need two philosophies: (1) The work ethic when things are going great and we're doing well in business and in our careers; and (2) A Taoist or Zen belief system when we're suffering reversals or stuck in the doldrums.That way we can celebrate our victories, taking full credit for them, while shrugging off our setbacks with comforting thoughts that could have come from the lips of Buddha, himself, such as "Hey, let it go!" and "No big deal!"If they happened upon the historic Buddha, encamped under the bodhi tree, most Americans would look at him and instead of smiling in gentle admiration would be tempted to bark, "Don't just sit there; DO SOMETHING!"Yes, we're rude and shallow and often out of touch with nature, but we get things done.As philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand once remarked, "No pessimist ever built a skyscraper."Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 850 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered "The Gold Standard"--the foremost expert in sales development, customer service, and telephone effectiveness. Top-rated as a speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the globe and the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
Keyword : zen,sales training,sales speaker,keynote,sales training,customer service training,UCLA,USC,Drucker
สมัครสมาชิก:
ส่งความคิดเห็น (Atom)
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น