Open Your Mind to Prosperity

The superior man is Confucius idea of what a man of good moral character should be. In Lun Yu, which contains only 20,000 words, the term jun zi (superior man) appears more than 100 times. Even today, people still aspire to the standard of the superior man.

How can we become a superior man?

In Bible, there are three things that are irretrievable. They are: an arrow that has been shot out, words that have been uttered and opportunities that have been missed.

Like water splashed, words uttered are difficult to recover. You can’t take them back. So a truly superior man would rather get something done first. This is the standard set by Confucius. “A superior man is ashamed of talking more than doing.” This has since become the Chinese idiom yan guo qi xing (more talk than action). If a man talks more than he does, a superior man would regard it as a shame.

So a superior man is always harmonious easy to get along with and respectful. Under this premise, he finishes calmly what he intends to do. The strength of a superior man is always the strength of his action and not the strength of his words. A truly superior man after understanding something thoroughly aspires to achieve on even higher standard. He does not tie himself down to a fixed job or a minor role. He is flexible. He progresses with times. He constantly adjusts himself according to major changes in society. Because he improves constantly, he enjoys a good position. This is what Confucius says: “A superior man is unlike an implement.” A superior man does not exist in this world merely as an implement. What is meant by being an implement? This means, as a qualified man, you just follow the rules and do a good job in your given position. In other words, idealism is a higher level of attainment than professionalism. For a superior man, what he does is not as important as the motive behind what he does. Man is a strange animal. We let thinking decide our action. In other words, attitude decides everything. Day in day out, we do more or less the same things. But reasons differ as to why we do certain things.

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It is often said that at homes, we rely on parents; outside, we rely on friends. In society, friends are very important. Birds of a feather flock together. Your friends can serve as a mirror in which you see your own image. Lun Yu contains clear standards on making friends.

There are three types of good friends and three types of bad friends. What are the standards for good friends? In what ways can they help us in our life and career? Who are the three bad friends? What impact do they have on our life? How can we distinguish between good and bad friends?

What Lun Yu teaches us about the way to make friends? In life, the kind of friends that we have is a direct reflection of the kind of person we are. A good friend is like a book. It can open up a whole world for you. Birds of a feather flock together. To know someone, you need only to observe his social circle. Observation of his external environment can shed light on his values. What kind of friends does Lun Yu encourages us to make? Very simple, Confucius says, in this world, there are three types of good friends and three types of bad friends.

First, we will talk about the three types of good friends. The so called three types of good friends are the upright, the forgiving and the well informed. First, friends are upright, magnanimous and principled. A good man should not flatter. He must have a sound moral character and be able to stand stall in society. This is a kind of good friends. He can make you decisive when you are hesitant. Being tolerant and forgiving is a virtue. When a careless mistake is made or an injury is caused by others, the impact of harsh reproach and criticism. We feel worse during our repentance.

Two woodcutters went to the same mountain daily to chop woods. The first one set off very early in morning and came back in the night time. The second woodcutter set off in the afternoon after he finished his lunch and came back before night time.

The first woodcutter managed to chop less than a basket of wood. The second woodcutter managed to chop baskets of wood.

One of their fellow villagers was very puzzled, he followed the first woodcutter and found that he was working very hard in chopping the tree and did not idle around. The next day this fellow villager went to see the second woodcutter and found that he was working very hard in sharpening his axe. On the third day afternoon, the fellow villagers went to see them chop the trees. He saw the first woodcutter chopped the tree four times but the tree did not fell down whereas the second woodcutter chops the tree once and the tree fell down immediately.

When we are working, are we using the correct method to do our work or are we like the first woodcutter; working very hard but less result? It is important to review our work flow and remember to sharpen our tools.

A family was moving house when they saw 2 rats among their heaps of stuff. Everyone started shouting and got hold of something to hit the rats.

But suddenly, all stopped hitting because they noticed that there was something unusual about the 2 rats – one rat was biting on to the tail of another rat while they shifted and moved around to escape from being hit.

They looked just like 2 children holding hands together to cross the road. Then someone shouted, ‘Look, the rat behind is blind!’ Everyone turned their eyes to the rat and saw a lump-like growth in between its 2 eyes blocking its sight. Everything became clear now. During this critical moment, the ‘healthy’ rat took effort to lead its handicapped friend to a way of escape by putting its tail into the friend’s mouth. It could have left the friend behind and escaped alone. Everyone’s heart softened. Without a word, all stood to one side to make way for the rats to escape.

Think about this: how were the 2 rats related? Were they husband and wife, mother and son or not related at all? Will you do the same as the ‘healthy’ rat if you were met with danger with someone handicapped? Will it make a difference if the handicapped person is a stranger or an enemy?

At the end of the Second World War, Japan’s economy was badly hit causing steep increase in its unemployment rate. Productivity in factories was affected too.

A food company on the verge of closing down decided to retrench one third of its workers in an attempt to get over the crisis. Three types of workers were in the list – the cleaners, the drivers and the unskilled warehouse workers. These 3 types added up to around 30 over workers. The manager sat down, talked and explained to them the reason for the retrenchment.

The cleaner said, ‘We are very important. Without us doing the cleaning job, there wouldn’t be a clean, comfortable, healthy and orderly working environment for everyone to concentrate on their work.’ The drivers said, ‘We are very important. We have so many products. Without us, how can our products be quickly sent and sold to the market on time?’ The warehouse workers said, ‘We are very important. The war is just over. Many are still struggling with hunger. Without us, these foods could all be stolen by the beggars wandering on the streets.’

The manager thought that they all had a point in what they had said. After several good discussions, the company decided not to go ahead with the retrenchment plan. Instead, they did a restructuring and reformation on the company’s management. At the end, the manager hung a big board at the front of the factory’s gate. On the board was written these 4 words – ‘I AM VERY IMPORTANT’. From then onwards, when the workers came to work every day, the first thing they saw was ‘I am very important’. Whether they were the front line or the white collar, everyone felt that the management found them very important and thus put in effort in their work. These 4 words kindled the enthusiasm in the entire company. A year later, the company swiftly picked up and stood out to become one of the well-known companies in Japan.

Never look down on yourself at any point of time. At the critical moment, do you dare to say ‘I am very important?’ Try saying it out and you could then be opening a new chapter of your life.

In the 19th century, there was a Swedish young man born of a poor family. He didn’t have enough to eat nor attend school. Though grown up in such an environment, he was not discouraged. In his leisure time, he self-learnt and gained a lot of knowledge in the field of architecture and building. He decided to use what he had learnt to change his fate.

The young men’s knowledge got him a small assistant job in a construction company. He worked hard and eventually his outstanding performance got him chances to assist in the jobs of some well-known architects. During this period, he gained much precious knowledge and experience. Together with his talents, he gradually gained a little fame and trust in the architecture world. However, without good qualifications and background, he still couldn’t get into the upper class circle to become a high status and famous architect no matter how hard he worked. The young man thus got depressed.

One day, he saw a group of guards following the Swedish king, Charles XIV John, for his visit. ‘If only I have the opportunity like the king.’ Charles XIV John was French and was Napoleon’s marshal. His excellent capability was much liked by the old Swedish king that the king made him his foster son before he died, wanting him to rule Sweden. Charles XIV John indeed lived up to the old king’s expectation. He was an excellent ruler.
‘But how do I attract the king’s attention?’ the young man thought. ‘It will be good if I could build a very special thing to win the king’s attention.’ Then the man’s eyes twinkled, ‘Oh, yes! The king was French. If I could build something similar to the Arch de Triumph in France, I’ll be able to win his attention.’

With this in mind, the young man started looking around for the support of some of his old customers, the entrepreneurs. Soon in a little town in Sweden, he built something that contained the charm of the Arch de Triumph in France. One day, the king passed by the little town and when he saw it, he was stunned. The look of it reminded him of his early days and sprang up his emotions.

The king then asked to meet the young man and praised him for his architectural skill. The young man, after being complimented by the king, shot to great fame. The various media fought to report news about him and his architectural works. Everyone called him a genius. From then on, he got himself into the upper class society and became the great master of Architecture in Sweden.

What else does a person need to gain greater success together with his good brains and excellent skills? He needs to get hold of opportunities and make use of his wisdom to use all possible chances to sell himself and attract others’ attention.

Einstein was mischievous and playful when he was a small boy. His mum kept telling him, ‘You must not carry on like this’ but Einstein always said, ‘Look at my friends. They are all the same as me.’

One day, Einstein’s father told him an interesting story. He said, ‘Yesterday, our neighbor Uncle Jack and I went to clean up the huge chimney in the factory at the south. The only way up the chimney was through the steel ladder built inside the chimney. So we climbed up, with Uncle Jack in front and me behind.

We held on tightly to the handle bar, went up carefully one step at a time and finally reached the top. It was then time for us to go down and Uncle Jack went ahead first with I followed after. When I saw Uncle Jack when he was out of the chimney, I knew I would look as dirty as him just like a clown. So once I was out of the chimney, I quickly ran to the river nearby to wash myself up. On the other hand, when Uncle Jack saw how clean I was, he thought he was as clean too. So he only did a quick wash on his hands before going straight down to the streets. In the end, everyone along the streets had a good laugh when they saw Uncle Jack, thinking that he was a lunatic.’

Einstein’s father then looked seriously at Einstein and said, ‘The fact is nobody can be your mirror. Only you yourself can be your own mirror. When you make others your mirror, an idiot may mistakenly be seeing himself as a genius.’

After hearing this, Einstein was full of guilt. He left the group of mischievous friends and often used himself as a mirror to examine his life. A glorious life was eventually reflected from this mirror.

One can see his faults and flaws from the mirrors we made of people around us. But the most important thing is the make ourselves our own mirrors to constantly examine and reflect on our life and to improve on them.

Have you watched a soccer match before? Two teams of people running on the field for more than an hour with only one purpose – to get the ball into the opponent’s net. The team that scores the most goals at the end of the match wins. To win the game, there are a few things that the players need. Besides knowing the rules of the game and a good pair of soccer shoes, they need a good coach, a fit body and the skill which comes on with good training.

Do you realize that our lives are very much like a soccer match? We have our lives to lead just like the players having their part to play in the match. We have goals to achieve too in our life, very much like the players trying to score goals. It could be getting a university degree, starting your own business in 3 years’ time or being an expert in a certain field you are working in. We all work hard to achieve those goals. For some of us, that is what is keeping us moving.

Like the soccer players, we have to prepare ourselves totally before we start the ‘game’. Even if we are well-prepared for it, things may not be smooth-going at all times. A good physical training program does not guarantee a soccer team’s success in winning the game. When placed in an actual game, the team could be facing unexpected situations like unexpectedly high skill of the opponents, weather change, and different feel on the field or injury. Likewise, we may be faced with obstacles too, sometimes unexpectedly. But when this happens, how do we react? Do we beat it or be beaten? The test of the soccer team’s ability begins in the actual match. The ‘chemistry’ in cooperating amongst the players during the ‘fight’ together with the players’ determination and belief in them already renders them 50% success in winning the game. Likewise, we have to press on, brave against all odds and be determined to win.

In a soccer match, after the first half, the coach calls the team players back. The situation is reviewed and the tactics and strategy may be changed. It is important for us to constantly review our position too. Are we moving in the correct direction? Is this what we want? Are there things that need to be changed, modified or added? The soccer players have a good coach to guide and consult. It will be good too if we consult someone more experienced for their advice.

A soccer match is divided into 2 halves, the first half and the second half. We can divide our lifespan into 2 halves too. Human’s lifespan is about 80 years so our ‘half-time’ ends at around 40 years old. Are you now in the first half or the second half of your ‘match’? And how many goals have you already scored? If you are in your first half, make full use of every minute now! If you are in your second half, you probably need to re-plan your life, especially if you haven’t scored many goals yet! All the best to you!

A popular singer L was interviewed in a radio program during which he revealed a particular experience that touched his life. He said, ‘Many years ago, when I attended a church service abroad, the pastor told everyone to write on a piece of paper a list of wishes we wanted to realize in 5 years’ time. After writing, we were told to put the paper in an envelope, sealed it and mailed it back to ourselves. The pastor also said, ‘upon receiving this letter, please do not open it yet. Wait till 5 years later, open it and you will gain something wonderful from it!’’

L followed through, mailing the letter back to himself and not opening it for 5 years. 5 years later, when he opened the envelope and read that letter, he was very surprised. All the wishes written down came true and more. This experience made him understand one thing – that we have the instinct to underestimate our own ability and possibility of success, due to obstacles or some bad experience in the past. When he was writing down the wishes 5 years ago, he wasn’t very sure about his future and felt somewhat uncertain about his direction in life. Nevertheless, he gave it a try working on those wishes he wrote down. And to his surprise, he succeeded and did very well! From then on, whenever he feels lost and uncertain about the future again, he first makes clear his objective and what he wants to give himself a direction. Then he will work in that direction boldly.

If we look back in our lives, many knotty problems and challenging situations after our hard work no longer slow us down today but in fact taught us many precious experiences. Many ambitions and dreams in the past no longer interest us now after we get to know ourselves better and after gradually making clear our core values. Those close friends in the past due to changes in time and space lose contact. But at the same times, many new friends with similar interest as us appear in our lives. People come and go and things change or remain. We have lost many but we have gained many too. It is normal to feel uncertain or even worried about the unknown. But if we are able to replace that fear, hesitation and uncertainty with courage and a calm mind in setting objectives that we want to achieve and put our heart into working on them, we will be able to live a life with many gains and returns.

The Law of Attraction works for everyone. Your Dream or Wish is just like a seed planted to the ground. It needs fertilizer, water and sunlight to grow. Your duty or action is to water the plant at regular timing.

The seed is hiding underground and it takes time to grow. You cannot stop watering (action) just because you did not see the seed growing and you cannot dig out the seed to see whether it is growing or not. You need to believe that it is growing (Law of Attraction). You need to water it regularly and patiently.

When the time is ripe, it will grow and emerge from the ground. By then you will see your first sign of success. You will continue to water the plant and put in fertilizer. Eventually it will grow up and bear fruits. The fruits represent your success. It is the fruits of Success. This whole process takes time and effort to complete.

You cannot be successful if you stop half way or near to completion. You need to complete the whole process in order to be successful.