Personal Development

Overcoming Perfectionism with Wabi-Sabi

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I’m not a huge film buff or anything, but if someone were to ask me to name my favorite director, I would immediately say Stanley Kubrick.

First off, A Clockwork Orange is one of my favorite films of all time. And I’d put a bunch of other Kubrick films in my top fifty, namely Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Full Metal Jacket.

Kubrick’s cinematic contributions are outstanding, and he is considered one of the most influential directors in the history of film. However, he was also a notorious and relentless perfectionist.

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Cultivate Enterprise to Take Initiative and Seize Opportunity

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We can put ourselves in situations or environments where we are more likely to encounter opportunity. We can teach ourselves to better recognize and evaluate opportunity. If we want to seize and exploit an opportunity, however, we must take initiative. We must act.

A bias toward action, the willingness to do something different or difficult, the eagerness to embrace a bold undertaking – these are the hallmarks of the enterprising person.

Some people are more naturally enterprising than others, to be sure. They are inherently driven, ambitious, self-starting go-getters. Others need to look a little harder to find their motivation.

No matter. Regardless of where we fall on the action orientation continuum, we can cultivate the quality of enterprise. We can develop specific tendencies that will move us to act when action is needed.

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11 Components of Wisdom

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Charles V was one of France’s more intellectual monarchs. He maintained a vast library, and commissioned many French translations of significant works. He was a builder king, as well. During his reign he built (or rebuilt) the Bastille, the Louvre, the Chateau de Vincennes, and the Chateau de Saint-Germaine-en-Laye.

He loved ceremony and held a magnificent court, but he was an adherent of scientific political theory, and was known for his procedural and detailed approach to matters of state.

Charles was adept at military matters, too. He reorganized the army, established a navy, and introduced ordinances that provided for soldier pay, the regular inspection and repair of fortifications, and more clear and reliable disciplinary action.

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Cultivate Equanimity for Mental Balance and Composure

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The Battle of Waterloo was the decisive military engagement that would bring an end to Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule as Emperor of the French.

Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, led the British heavy cavalry, one of the units of the Anglo-allied army commanded by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

As modern accounts go, after the initial heavy cavalry charge, Lord Uxbridge continued to lead a series of light cavalry formations, having eight or nine horses shot out from under him.

Toward the end of the day, Uxbridge was riding alongside the Duke of Wellington, surveying the aftermath. One of the last random cannon shots of the battle fired a load of rusty grapeshot that shattered Uxbridge’s right leg.

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Cultivate Receptivity to Attract New Ideas, Connections, and Opportunities

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Receptivity is our willingness to relax our boundaries and remain open and responsive to new ideas and experiences.

Receptivity is related to one of the five broad factors of personality, openness to experience.

Open people tend to think in broad and deep (rather than narrow and shallow) ways, and they tend to have permeable boundaries when it comes to consciousness and experience. Openness encourages diversity of thought, feeling, and action. Open people are likely to enjoy rich experiences, have broad interests, and be receptive to new ideas, information, and perspectives.[1]

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