Meditations Opus 2

[1]My reader, listen to me earnestly when I say this: the bulk of humanity do not pursue success so much as the admiration and praise it brings them – that they would immediately cease their labour when no-one is watching. So remember to love what you are passionate about first and then become great, but always finding the pleasure in your love for what you do, not the appreciation it brings.

[2]To achieve greatness, one must know exactly what one wants to become – that at least for the beginning of the journey there must be a specific road to follow. All great narratives begin with a clear sense of direction, but then venture off into untrodden and unfamiliar paths. Remember that you are not yet at the stage to wander – there is for you a clear direction for you to follow, at least for now.

[3]The most cardinal sin is lying in idleness for want of direction, or lack of understanding in executing the tasks at hand. All procrastination, all wasted time, is a result of unplanned goals, broad and overly large tasks, and most important of all, a lack of specificity in these goals. If one knew exactly what to do, he would easily find out how to do it. But if one did not know clearly what he is to do, how is he to go about doing it?

[4]Frustration with practice is always caused from a subconscious comparison with others. If you knew that practicing will make you better, why are you worrying that you are bad? But a healthy mind will love practice and find a secret joy in discovering all his deficiencies and all his weaknesses. He sees these insufficiencies as mere potential, as a seed to eventually bear forth fruit. Practicing is the water for the seed, and the willingness and focus of the mind is the hand wielding the water jug over the seed.

[5]If you truly loved what you did, you would never for a single instant hesitate to study all its intricacies, all its branches of knowledge, even the tiniest ones, finding so much joy in all its discoveries. It does not matter that all this has been discovered before by others, or done by them - for they cannot control what you do with the knowledge you have gained from them. It should not be that the success and accumulated progress of others deter us: it should spur us to learn from them how to discover, and how to create conversation with them.