Achieving success through understanding life position. Why do successful people study Chinese philosophy? Philosophy of success man and his destiny

18 Rules for Highly Efficient Work

2. At each stage of your life, try to always focus on the essentials.
Choose the main goal or the highest priority task for the day, week, month, and so on. Try at the end of the day to always write down on paper the things that you have to do tomorrow. This will allow your, to make the most correct moves for solving the tasks. Whenever you start something, don't stop until you're done.

3. Find an incentive.
Always try to stimulate yourself, and also convince yourself that you like and are interested in the work that you have to do in this moment do. Over time, through this practice, you will learn to do any job with interest, enthusiasm and high efficiency.

4. Set precise deadlines.
That is, starting any business, determine for yourself the date by which this business will be completed. Also, if possible, try to get ahead of this date. Any deadlines must always have a clear outline and the reality of their implementation. When observing them, never allow yourself any concessions and forget words like "tomorrow", "". If we choose, then, unfortunately or fortunately, these words will have to be almost completely replaced by "here and now."

5. Get determined.
When you decide to do something difficult, do it with great determination. Never give in to doubt and lack confidence in your abilities. That is, if possible, try to think quickly, and when you make a final decision, act immediately with full confidence and perseverance. In any goal, no matter how grandiose it may be, the most important thing is the first decisive and confident step - this is already much more than half.

6. Know how to say "NO".
Do not be subject to other people's plans, moods and goals if they do not fit with yours.

7. Do not be distracted by empty phone conversations.
In all telephone conversations clearly decide for yourself what kind of information you need to transmit or receive. And during the conversation, do not go beyond these boundaries. This does not mean that you need to completely stop any non-business communication on the phone. Simply, when you call for a routine exchange of news with loved ones or friends, please do so as much as you like within the allotted time. But if you are busy with some important business and you need targeted information to solve it, then be kind enough to exchange only what is really important. And there is no need to be distracted or fill your thoughts with other monotonous information.

8. Learn to use a notebook.
Many came across situations when it was necessary to remember something important, but it turned out quite the opposite, at the most decisive moment, we painfully remembered it for a long time. petty tasks. Learn to always enter the necessary information or small tasks in a notebook. By the way, this will help your mind not to experience unnecessary stress and not be overloaded with small information.

9. Don't get distracted.
Your friends, colleagues or family will always be able to cross out the most important of your intentions with meaningless chatter. Teach them to clearly perceive and respect your working time. Also know how to not be distracted by the surrounding monotonous events or conversations during work.

10. Learn to listen.
From a large flow of business or empty information, learn to instantly extract only the most important.

11. Uniformity in work.
A lot of people work according to the same type of plan - according to the template. Few think about its improvement. the search for rationalization of labor and reduction of time for its execution will certainly prove to be very effective and, moreover, will bring you moral satisfaction.

12. Don't forget important little things.
Things you need (keys, money, glasses, or something like that) forgotten at home can ruin your entire working day. Before leaving, always double-check whether you have taken everything you need. It is very correct to prepare in the evening what you will need to take with you in the morning.

13. Get to work right away.
Try not to be "swinged". When you know your robot plan and how to do it, then immediately proceed to its implementation.

14. Make the most of your time.
The result of your work and working condition will be greater if you begin to plan and create a working mood already during the journey from home to work.

15. Rest.
During your vacation, try to relax as much as possible. Everyone has their own way to really relax. It can be walking, and sports, and friends, and movies, and everything else. The main thing is that you really rest, and not wake up in the morning with a sore head.

16. Change activities.
Try to plan your day in such a way, if possible, that you periodically switch from sitting work to work that can be done on the move or work that can be done standing, and vice versa. If this is not possible, then do small physical exercises or just take a walk for five minutes.

17. Start early.
If you manage to start your working day a little earlier, even 10-20 minutes, then it will give you a great working environment for the whole day.

18. Respect for time.
Cultivate respect for your own and other people's time. Appreciate the time. This will help you to be demanding about your work, get rid of unnecessary chatter and irresponsibility.

Abstract on the topic:

Pragmatism: the philosophy of a business person

Among the philosophical schools of the 20th century, undoubtedly, one of the most famous is pragmatism or instrumentalism, more often called the philosophy of a business man or truly American philosophy. The origins of the philosophy of pragmatism are undoubtedly older than those created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by American researchers Ch.S. Pierce and W. James, a theory that illuminates in a new way all aspects of traditional philosophical knowledge related to ontology, epistemology, methodology, social philosophy and anthropology.

The word "pragma" is of Greek origin and means "deed, action". Analysis of actions, human activities, his personal perception of the world is the fundamental basis of pragmatism, and the main thing in actions is their effectiveness or success, and philosophy is designed to help a person successfully implement his actions, achieve success in any endeavor.

The origins of pragmatism date back to the 70s of the XIX century, when the works of the American philosopher, logician, naturalist Charles Pierce (1839-1914) were written.

Peirce identifies two doctrines:

1. "Theory of Doubt of Faith"

2. "Theory of Meaning"

"The theory of doubt of faith", according to it - this does not reflect reality in the human mind, but the development of innate life instincts, i.e. a biopsychological function aimed at developing the habit of responding to environmental conditions - this habit constitutes belief. And the achievement of stable belief is the only goal of thinking. The movement is not from ignorance to knowledge, but from doubt to firm opinion and firm belief, which is the main function of knowing thinking. A stable belief is achieved in 3 ways and methods: persistence, which involves holding on to a once accepted view. Authority method - reliance on common authoritative judgments and views. A priori method - general beliefs, justified by impersonal pre-experimental principles.

"Theory of Doubt of Faith" substantiates the rejection of the understanding of cognitive activity as essentially reflective activity and aimed at achieving true knowledge of objective reality. Cognitive activity is considered by Peirce as non-cognitive activity, which is aimed at providing intellectual comfort. This theory denies that a person has a cognitive interest. That. the achievement of faith entails the passivity of the mind, but ensures the activity of the body, because faith, from the point of view of the pragmatist, is a habit of acting.

"Theory of Meaning" - Pierce solved the problem of establishing the meaning of concepts not in the dictionary sense, but in the practical actions of a person, that is, to understand the idea of ​​a term and make it clear, therefore Pierce correlates the concept with a person. Without this, one cannot speak of "meaning" in the philosophical sense. Meaning is what the content of a concept means for a person as a community of people, i.e. pragmatism has carried out a pragmatic interpretation of concepts with practical consequences of actions.

Peirce connects and identifies the concept of truth with success. Truth, in his opinion, is future utility for a purpose. Truth is what we believe, or a firm belief. And in order to be stable, belief must be universal, that is, shared by all those interested in it.

The depth and insight of Pierce's thinking allowed him to be one of the first to appreciate the philosophical significance of the fact of creating non-Euclidean geometries, in particular, the teachings of N.I. Lobachevsky. In his review of the book, he wrote: “Lobachevsky's small book Geometric Studies marks an epoch in the history of thought in that it subverts the axioms of geometry. The philosophical consequences of this are undoubtedly significant, and scientists now recognize that it must lead to a new understanding of nature, less mechanical than that which has guided the development of science since Newton's discoveries. Having further shown that the main idea of ​​Lobachevsky is remarkable for its brilliance, perfection and complete accessibility for understanding, Peirce emphasized that it should be assimilated by every thinking person, since this is the most real way to form a non-classical approach to the logic of science.

The main principle of pragmatism proclaims the thesis that each person has his own philosophy and the founder of this philosophy, William James (1842-1910), believed that reality itself has many forms, and the free creativity of each person creates a pluralistic picture of the world. Each person has his own methods of philosophizing, peculiar only to him, because from his point of view, “philosophizing means having an individual way of perceiving and feeling the pulse of cosmic life”, and the philosophical orientation itself is due to the innate temperament of a person. From the point of view of pragmatists, philosophy is a method of settling philosophers' disputes based on the practical consequences of our actions.

At the basis of pragmatism is the provision of Kantian philosophy, which states that true knowledge about the essence of things is initially inaccessible to man, i.e. principle of agnosticism. Cognition is inextricably linked with the subject and his opinion. It is the subjective opinion of the subject that determines the idea of ​​what is true and what is false and confirms this truth-falsehood, the success of a person's practical actions.

As a truth that can be accepted, James recognizes only that the best way guides us, what is best adapted to any part of life allows us to best merge with the totality of our experience.

Truth, he believes, is what helps to assimilate one's own new experience with a stock of old beliefs. Pragmatists argue that the truth is what works best for us. It is achieved only for practice, and not for an end in itself. This approach sharply distinguishes the philosophy of pragmatism from the European philosophical tradition of searching for truth for its own sake, which has dominated for many decades.

James's catchphrase: "Truth is a credit note that is valid only under certain conditions", made many people see it in a new way. philosophical traditions and re-evaluate them.

The attitude of pragmatism to practice as a set of sensory consequences arising from our understanding has allowed historians of philosophy to bring together the theories of knowledge of pragmatism and Marxism. They saw the only difference between these two epistemologies only in the fact that Marxism recognized socio-historical practice as the criterion of truth, and pragmatism - individual experience, the success of the actions of the cognizing subject.

Exploring the problems of cognition, another representative of pragmatism, John Dewey (1859-1952), develops the central concept of pragmatism - experience, which he understands as all forms, all forms of people's life activity and all manifestations of their life. Pragmatism is not interested in problems of ontology, Dewey argues, because philosophy should be connected with the resolution of people's real needs, their interests, those tensions that make them philosophize.

The center of philosophy, according to Dewey, is epistemology. The beginning of philosophy is always a difficulty in activity, and philosophical methodology is subordinated to ensuring the success of human actions. That is why each person needs to have not one single, but many methods or ways of knowing the world, those tools that contribute to the effectiveness of the action and its success.

Based on this principle, pragmatism draws attention to the fact that any truth is conditional and ambiguous. This principle was picked up and spread by representatives of the natural sciences of the 20th century, who announced the conventionalist (contractual-conditional) concept of truth as a fundamental feature of natural science and philosophical epistemology.

Exploring the problems of cognition, Dewey emphasized that thinking begins when the situation turned out to be problematic, when we are in difficulty and cannot think of anything better. Thinking is entirely subordinated to the need for direct action, and science itself is called upon to help a person do something. The emerging problem situation that prompts a person to begin cognition, according to Dewey, goes through five stages of its solution:

1. a feeling of difficulty, anxiety caused by difficulties in actions, makes a person look for a source of difficulties and formulate a problem;

2. uncertainty in subsequent actions clarifies the formulation of the problem, sometimes the first and second stages go together, especially in the case of an experienced cognizing subject;

3. formation of a hypothesis for solving the problem, this stage depends on the person’s own thinking, as well as on the knowledge that he possesses;

4. critical examination of the hypothesis and its theoretical foundations with anticipation of successes and failures associated with the implementation of the hypothesis;

5. experimental testing of the hypothesis is the most important part of the pragmatic theory of knowledge, which allows us to define this philosophy as a kind of empiricism and positivism, close to materialism.

Pragmatist philosophy contributed to the creation of a self-correcting method of cognition, characteristic of modern science. From the point of view of people of science, it is pragmatism that teaches you to act, and not to reason in vain, it is pragmatism that allows you to correctly understand the eternal problem of philosophy - what is truth? - as a benefit and as success in action.

According to Dewey, knowable things are always and everywhere inseparable from the knowing subject, both are just two aspects of the same thing.

Subject and object do not signify real orders or modes of existence, but at the most certain distinctions made for a certain purpose within experience.

In this sense, the thing becomes a matter of our arbitrariness, based on which we divide the streams of sensory experience into things. Experience is the initial concept of philosophy, therefore Dewey calls his philosophy radical empiricism, since. experience covers all spheres of human life and all types of its activities

The formula for success, or the philosophy of life of an effective person

Initial views and principles of Synthesis technology

What is a "working relationship"

When a well-trained athlete consistently shows high results- it `s naturally. But here he, with all the excellent preparation and normal health, suddenly began to fail. And more crashes. What's the matter?! The doctor examines: everything is fine, there are no functional abnormalities. The trainer and the massage therapist see: the body is in perfect order. But - lost to the weakest. But he got out of the way. What's the matter?! Apparently, the reason is in the psychology of the athlete.

• In inadequate claims or low self-esteem, increased anxiety or mental trauma ...

All these reasons have one thing in common: they do not allow to work normally. And then the psychologist is called.

• A psychologist is called when a person has psychology and begins to interfere with his work.

Because if she does not interfere with his quality work, who will simply pay money to a psychologist for nothing?

It seems a paradox, but there are no psychological moments in the work of a well-made enterprise and in the interaction of its professionally trained employees, just as a computer or a calculating machine does not have them. The head gave the order, the order was executed, the head was reported. What is the psychology here? But it is different, and as a rule, things are very different in enterprises where there is no working relationship. It is known what high-class psychological skill is required from a leader when working in a women's team, where employees do not always work, but always relate. Also, if an employee has a difficult character, you simply cannot agree with him: when communicating with him, psychology is required. And if this is a well-trained worker (read: “who has passed a good school”), everything is simple with him: he has no character.

• Well, what is the character of a waiter in an elite restaurant? As soon as he has "character", he will simply be fired. And they will do it right: at work, he is required not to demonstrate his character, but to understand management policies and provide quality customer service.

WORK RELATIONSHIPS AND PSYCHOLOGY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE

At work, the less psychology, the better.

But in order to make an enterprise where the relationship is truly working, where employees are busy with business, and do not relate to each other and to you, you will need a real, practical knowledge of applied psychology.

• Synthesis technology is at your service.

Psychology psychology - discord

“I don’t seem to have enough motivation to work with enthusiasm today.”
"This job doesn't fit my state of mind."
“I listened to myself and realized that your order to me is not environmentally friendly.”
“I had a difficult dream, it tells me something important, and I have to think it over.
Let the customers wait, I think an hour is enough for me.

So your employees began to declare after classes with a psychologist. How do you feel, boss?

Are you afraid that by sending your employees to the classes of psychological groups or inviting a team of psychologists to conduct training with the staff of your enterprise, you will simply waste your money? You are afraid of this in vain, because this is not the most unpleasant thing that you can get as a result.

Here, a team of game technicians, having come to your enterprise, offered to stop the work process for three days and, having united both the lower staff and the managers together in creative groups, suggested that they problematize the activities of the leaders.

• It took half a day of working time to understand what "problematization" is. Most understood that they were being asked to indicate all the points where they did not agree with the leadership. The technician Aunt Fenya put her hands on her hips and said that she did not understand at all what all these directors were doing.

As a result, having awakened the lower classes and substituting leaders of all levels under their blow, you will get a furious quarrel, which you will disentangle for more than one month.

The recommendation is simple: before signing a contract to work with this promising (to you and in words) group of psychologists, ask them for the coordinates of the firms with which they have worked during last year. A short conversation with the Deputy Chief Financial Officer will give you complete clarity on the prospects that await you.

• And it is very possible that you will sign an agreement with this particular team of psychologists. Well, nice. You just have to be more careful.

It is the same with conducting psychological trainings for your employees: psychology, of course, is a cool thing, only psychologists are different from psychologists and they often solve psychotherapeutic problems, and not yours.

What is this about? There is such a thing - psychotherapeutic groups, which for the general public are more often called personal growth groups. Among them there are groups that are efficient and different, but at least for the most part they teach people to work with their problems.

• And not yours, for the solution of which you sent them. For a group.

In these psychotherapeutic - excuse me, in personal growth groups - work is carried out with emphatic caution, people are taught that, communicating with each other, they come into contact with something very important, almost holy: namely, with the soul, which is so vulnerable and in which so many sore spots. The first and most important thing that is learned in such groups is to find sore spots in the souls of others and, naturally, in one's own, and having found them, work. Work is a very important concept, here it means: to look for the underlying causes of your sores, nesting in the dark fears of a difficult childhood, and sometimes not even yours. During the entire time of mental digging, you can’t poke into sore spots, but you can only stroke them and surround them with warmth.

• The child coughed, his mother put on two hats, a sheepskin coat and put him in a warm bed.

The groups are sincere, the groups are interesting, but the groups have their own rules, their own atmosphere and their own policy, which is mandatory for everyone. For example, if you have a problem, they will work with you,

• Translation: You will be the center of attention.

and if you have no problems today or they are not interesting, they will not work with you today and you will sit without attention to yourself.

• "If you have no problems - what are you doing here?" - you will sooner or later hear this question from others or ask yourself it yourself. Right question!

In total, what will you choose if you are interested in the group? That's right, there are no fools, and people get used to it pretty quickly: came to the group - brought a good personal problem. Our people are talented, it is not difficult for them, and soon the visitors of these groups become high-quality, professional clients, feeling like a fish in water there. They already know how to be always a little sick, and their problems are always of high quality: varied, interesting and in sufficient quantity.

If you like, many psychotherapeutic trainings turn people into professional patients. Do you need such employees?

When with the vigorous, lively leaders of the "Eaglet" they began to see psychological trainings(such), they began to walk more slowly, as if hypnotized, to constantly listen to their feelings, find a deep psychological justification for them, and react painfully to attempts to direct them directly.

• The quotations before this chapter are based on their statements.

In short, a year later, so that the counselors could again be allowed to see the children, they began to look for other psychologists in Orlyonok who could eliminate the consequences of the work of the previous ones.

There is psychology, and there is psychology.

A PSYCHOLOGIST who breeds a PSYCHOLOGIST AT WORK IS HARMFUL

At work, you need to do business, and not delve into difficult experiences. At least that's what Synthesis Technology teaches.​

Initial views

Synthesis technology in the views of man and his life comes from the following philosophical positions:

• If he presents himself as a Victim - this is also his author's work. And those actions that a person considers his natural or forced reaction to ... are also his arbitrary and free, author's choice.

All the main points of a person's life are laid in his childhood.

• At the age of five, the child determines his own, author's concept of his life, where the central point is the attitude towards parents. Later, the World takes the place of the parents, and the child transfers the attitude towards parents - love or war - to life in general. On the other hand, the patterns of behavior learned in childhood, as a rule, the child carries through his whole life.

In every person like in the universe have everything, you just need to be able to open and use the right one.

• A coward and a hero coexist in each of us, a fool and a wise man argue, in each of us a sea of ​​love splashes and an abyss of hatred burns. And no more strong man than one who insists on his weakness...

Sometimes you really don't want to believe it. At least, in novels and films, this does not happen: there are certain types and the hero cannot be vile. But in real life… Somehow they conducted an experiment: they put an overturned warped car near the freeway, and next to it, in full view, they put actors barely moving, “bloody” with red paint. Result? Hundreds of cars drove by, only a few stopped. Moreover, among those who traveled there were mothers with many children, and excellent professional doctors who saved more than one life ... And even a man who was awarded a medal for courage in a fire, who risked his life for the lives of other people. But - in a different situation ... And among those who stopped there were also the most ordinary people, and many of them honestly said that if they were in a hurry, they might not notice. And in another similar experiment, an ambulance was called by a person who had just pulled a wallet out of the pocket of a “dying” person. Savior and marauder in one bottle?

By nature, initially, any human behavior is wise and expedient.

• If you see behavior that is stupid and inappropriate, then you simply did not look closely and are in error. And also think about why you didn’t take a closer look and misled yourself ...

• especially when they need it for some reason, and in their life a person gets what he really wants.
• The result obtained by a person speaks, first of all, not about successful or difficult circumstances, but about the true intentions of a person.

All human intentions are positive. From his point of view. And he didn't always mean you and other little things.

• And all you need to positively understand someone's monstrous intentions is to take his point of view. And to understand that for another person you are not at all the Navel of the Earth. Or maybe you are nothing at all.

True, sometimes a person thinks to himself: "How bad I am with all my intentions." So, until he himself can take his own point of view ...

Life is a stream of neutral events. What is good, what is bad and how to experience what is happening - is determined by the person himself in accordance with his culture and upbringing. And culture and upbringing can change - and so can you, because -

As long as we are alive, we are changing. The world is changing - always. The world is made up of verbs, not nouns.

• Even calling a rose a "flower" in this sense is hardly correct. Calling it a flower, that is, a noun, we remove its movement, its flowering, we make it dead.

As long as a person is alive, he is like a river, constantly changing, moving, flowing, making a choice every hour and every minute. Today's decisions are today's decisions, and who knows what tomorrow's storm will bring? And in which direction you flow, you can choose yourself, or you can let someone or something else guide you ...

Each of us rules the world, although it may be doing it poorly.

• The paved road guides your path. The newly born baby controls the parents day and night. The dog controls the owner, and the cat controls the dog. Everyone controls everyone.

It's not a shame to rule the world, it's a shame to do it badly.

Who needs Synthesis technology

The target audience of Synthesis-technologies is successful, efficient people, universal businessmen, as well as those who plan to become such. A universal businessman is a person who, possessing the knowledge and skills of Synthesis technology, acts as efficiently as possible in any area of ​​life, successfully achieving his goals.

If this is an entrepreneur, he quickly sets up and promotes his business, making it strong and profitable. HR manager - recruits and educates personnel who can and want to work as they should. Writer - builds texts that are bright and meaningful, as a result of which his books are in demand. Mom - organizes a well-thought-out health-improving, personally developing and educational process that is not difficult for her and gives the maximum result to children. It does not matter in what area of ​​life you work: in addition to professional knowledge, there is simply personal adequacy and the ability to be effective, which makes a person a universal businessman.

Synthesis technology and psychotherapy

Does the synthesis technologist use psychotherapeutic techniques in his work? Does Synthesis Technology teach these techniques?

Yes, it does. Yes, he teaches.

However, familiarity with selected psychotherapeutic techniques and techniques is by no means intended to make someone a premature psychotherapist and provoke them to carry out not quite responsible professional psychotherapeutic work.

Synthesis technology proceeds from the fact that psychotherapy in terms of the composition of its tools is heterogeneous. For the most part, this is science and practice that has developed its own tools for solving specialized problems. But, besides this, she crystallized and successfully formulated those techniques and techniques that, being the necessary moments of effective communication, have naturally lived for millennia and belong to the universal culture.

• A scalpel is a surgeon's tool, but knives were invented by mankind long before the advent of surgery and are used in the kitchen by all civilized housewives.

Similarly, reframing techniques, supportive empathy techniques, relaxation practices, as well as the use of metaphors, cannot be considered the exclusive property of psychotherapy - under other names (and without a name) they live in a universal culture, regularly used by poets and merchants, sorcerers and priests, creators advertising and leaders of all ranks.

However, if in life these practices, techniques and techniques are used more often spontaneously, semi-consciously and therefore not effectively enough, then Synthesis-technology offers them arranged into a system and for conscious, expedient application. In the Synthesis Technology, psychotherapeutic methods and techniques are given strictly in the selection and to the extent that are determined by the need for successful people to use them in everyday, primarily in business communication to increase its effectiveness.

Union of mind and feeling

Sometimes, watching from the side how the master works - it doesn’t matter whether it’s a hostess who knows her business well or an experienced leader - wondering how everything goes wonderfully “one to one” with the master, one gets the impression that this is not quite a person, but very perfect car. Of course it isn't. It is not true that the universal businessman is a machine in which every movement, thought and detail is calculated: no, this is a person who has a well-developed intuition, he is ready to succumb to impulse and attentive to his premonitions. But it is also not true that effective people live and make decisions based only on feeling and intuition. The choice of the universal businessman is the union of reason and feeling. Solving issues, pursuing a policy and carrying out any business, feeling intuitive support for your affairs and decisions within yourself, is more effective than relying on bare calculation.

• And there is no reason to assume that you will not become such a master.

Philosophy of life of an effective person

Can every person use Synthesis technology approaches and become a truly effective person? No, not everyone. Everyone can use its elements, effective techniques and techniques, but an effective person is more than a collection of techniques. First of all, it is a philosophy of life, and its main axes are asked by two questions.

How much do you need in life, what is the bar of your life?

Who is responsible for your success?

And you can answer these questions like this - in different ways.

Plank of your life

“He is a small man. And this is a big man!” - what is the conversation about? First of all - about the size of the Circle of Concerns. At all Small child not only preoccupied only with himself, he also cannot fully serve himself. Young man- talk about someone who is busy only with himself. Adult- the one who provides for himself plus supports not only himself, but also his family, brings up children and supports parents. big man - they call someone who, in addition, conducts his own business or does great things, on whom the lives and destinies of many people depend. great person- the one whose influence extends to the fate of many for years to come.

Yes, is this about you? Do you need this?

A normal Mexican peasant or a native of the sunny country of the Congo will lie under his happy palm tree and will only smile lazily at any proposal to change something in his life: “What the hell?” He does not need anything, because he needs little. He has his minimum, everything else requires effort - and then why? For the main population of these countries, the philosophy of maximum life success is incomprehensible, the willingness to pay for this success with work and stress is not close. This is not just laziness, this is an appropriate understanding of life, where the ability to relax is more valuable than any achievement.

In itself, laziness is not a vice at all, laziness in the history of mankind has been one of the main engines of progress. I don't want to carry a log - I invented the wheel. The desire for comfort relaxes one under the nearest bush, even in the mud, even in the rain, the other motivates at first to make at least the simplest shed for himself, and then build a house with all conceivable amenities.

A lover of comfort under a bush is called a lazy person, a lover of comfort by the fireplace in own house is called a business leader. A leader needs a lot in life. This is a person who strives and wants, this is a living person, a person “with a motor”, a person-doer. It is a hunter and a conqueror: a hunter of success and a conqueror of life.

Academician A.D. Sakharov once uttered an unexpected phrase in an interview: “The meaning of life is in expansion.” Yes, for a leader it is always so. Each a real man- conqueror of the universe. Whether, as a growing entrepreneur, you want to occupy the market with your product, or, as a new leader, you are carefully looking for an opportunity to make these people your own and become an authority for them; if you are a leader, you are a conqueror. The meaning of life is expansion. And if you fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the world, you occupy her soul with your love at the utmost tension, after which the beloved woman tightly occupies your house and your life with meaning and warmth. You conquered her, she conquered you.

• And you are happy.

The most famous computer game of a strategic direction (that is, one where you don’t have to wet toothy monsters with a plasma gun, but you have to think with your head) is “Civilization”. Its goal is to spread its political influence, culture, scientific achievements throughout the planet. And not necessarily by violent means. However, at first, the authors tried to create a completely “non-aggressive” game, where you don’t need to spread your influence, but you just need to peacefully neighbor. It came out nonsense. As in life.

A true leader knows how to be content with little, but always strives forward, strives for truly big goals. He needs a lot in life, he needs the whole world.

So, how much do you need in life, what is the bar for your life?

Who will bring you your success? Who is responsible for ensuring that your success always accompanies you through life? There are two fundamental different ways to have success: the first is to create one's own success, to achieve it with one's own efforts, the second is to expect it as a gift from the world, or, more realistically, to receive it at someone else's expense. The choice between these methods is your main choice, your pain or your main life success. This choice is rarely made by a conscious decision from the head, more often it is a fundamental, existential choice that permeates a person through and through, ringing through all his deeds and actions, building all his other choices and decisions.

This choice is made by each person in the very first weeks of his life. Here is a situation, utterly simple: a child is lying in a crib, he is bored. What to do? You can start hitting the rattles that hang above him with your hands, you can simply shake your arms and legs, or you can even try to roll over to the other side and crawl where you can see ahead: it's difficult, but very interesting.

• This is how the Actor decided in his choice.

And you can do nothing of this, continue to lie and be bored. But not just, but to start crying into the world: then the Great Wizards appear, and they themselves knock on the rattles. And if you start screaming in crying louder and more demanding, then you can find yourself in your arms and shake yourself until a sweet dream, that is, for as long as you like.

Answer: hard division may not be entirely correct, but it WORKS. If you think about your life, about its maximum, then it definitely worked ...

So who is responsible for your success?

Direction of your life

An egoist is a very bad person. This is a person who constantly thinks not about me!

Ambrose Bierce. "Satan's Dictionary"

So, you can build your life and your success at your own expense, you can - look for an opportunity to do this at the expense of others. But the second, perhaps even more important, question that determines the philosophy of life of each person:

WHERE, WHAT IS YOUR SUCCESS GOING TO? FOR WHAT, WHO DO YOU LIVE FOR?

• Take the matter very seriously. The author of the question is a real person, a professional political strategist who creatively cut off entire cities from heat in Siberian frosts in order to compromise the current government before the elections.

Answer: he knows the correct answer, you can not answer ...

Okay, some people normally only care about themselves. Well, more about some of those close to him: as a rule, about those who care about him. All the rest are outsiders who can be used when it is convenient and it turns out, but at the rest of the time, let them not interfere.

• Like a chair - I need it, I moved it towards me, sat down and sat. I got up - pushed the chair: that's it, I don't need it anymore.

The bottom line is not that "pushed" - this is normal. A sensible person differs from a loafer in that he can move those who are now away from his work - the point is that among all people there is a really living person, worthy of interest and care - only he himself.

• It hurts him - this is wrong, because he should not be hurt. It hurts another - so what, what do I care? He got money - that's good, you got money - it's good only if something falls to him.

He is not interested in life, more precisely, he is only interested in the extent to which it relates to him personally. Its internal slogan is a catchphrase that the French king Louis XV left behind in history: “After us, even a flood!” Such a person only cares about himself.

And there are people for whom it is naturally clear that the people around him are also living people, they also want to eat and use comfortable things, meet loved ones and do what they love, that they also dream and grieve, hope and believe ... Such a person perceives himself not only as a unique unit in the cosmic void, he knows that he is a continuation human history that his life was made so by many people before him and, perhaps, he himself will be able to make the necessary contribution to life.

It is common for such people to care about people and life.

Romantic

Caring first of all about life and people - at someone else's expense

Creator

Taking care of life and people first of all - at your own expense

Consumer

Taking care of yourself first - at your own expense

Taking care of yourself first - at the expense of others

Situations are different: life is sometimes generous to us, sometimes it is cruel, sometimes it pushes our foreheads together, sometimes it puts us before the possibility of cooperation ... How differently the indicated types manifest themselves in all these cases!

Break: Test!

Ahead - diagrams and tables, complex and interesting: it will be necessary to understand them, and for this - to understand yourself, then think and determine your place in life. Accordingly, you have a long way to go. But before this reflection, no one will interfere with you and just spread the cards. On the track...

Simply put, circle the card suit icon to the left of statements you agree with. Do not think for a long time, trust the first feeling.

True friendship is rare these days. - worms

I really love Her Majesty FREEDOM. - peak

I'd rather die, but I won't lose my honor. - worms

I am ready to do uninteresting, but very necessary work for everyone. - tambourine

To become rich by doing it with your own hands is the most beautiful goal. - baptize

I would like to get into a plane crash, knowing in advance that I will remain unharmed. - peak

If I receive a large inheritance, I will work no less than now. - tambourine

The interests of my beloved family are above all. - baptize

I am ready to give my left hand if it saves the life of a hundred people. - tambourine

I can spend most of the year saving money for a great vacation. - baptize

I really feel sorry for all the homeless animals.

When no one helps me, I am very worried about this injustice. - peak

For me, the most important thing in life is freedom. - worms

I choose to root for the sports team that usually wins. - peak

On the sinking Titanic, I would have been among the survivors at any cost. - baptize

Between a worthy friend and an unworthy brother, I will choose a friend. - tambourine

The alignment is over, let's summarize. Count the cards of which suit you got the most. The results are on the next page.

Test results

Clubs? - And a regiment of Consumers has arrived.

Heart? - Let's sing, Signor Romantic!

Tambourine? - Is it really true? Man, I take my hat off to you...

Take this test on your friends: they will like the questions, and you will learn a lot of interesting things about them. You can get acquainted with the standard results as presented by Maxim Kachalov on the following pages.

And now about these types - in detail and seriously.

Life is ordinary, not easy

Romantic in the same situation, he is sick not for himself, he cannot reconcile himself with the imperfection of life as a whole: “What kind of bestiality is that?! We live - in the mud, damn it, to be friends - we forgot how to love, we don’t know how. Is this how life is supposed to be? Eh!!” So it's time to get a bottle and drink. And then drink some more. And then all together, to the guitar, sing beautiful and sincere songs about true love, which is sure to be waiting for us around the corner, and a wonderful life that will come to us sooner or later...

• Let's translate - someone will make it for us ...

Creator He is also not satisfied with the imperfection of life, but, unlike Romantik, he does not sing songs and does not expect miracles, but does what depends on him. Does every day - energetically, persistently and flexibly. The most interesting thing is that through human efforts, life can really acquire a new quality and become comfortable: beautiful, clean and comfortable for people.

• First in one single house and one single enterprise, then - in a single country ... Why do people like to live in Switzerland? Because life is well done there. Really done.​

Checked the test on listeners; interrogated in live, and most importantly - several dozen people gave answers to the on-air pager. The distribution is:

40% - Consumers;

30% - Romance;

15% - Creators.

There is only one remark on the theory: after talking with the people, it seems that it is impossible to say: "Romantics always spoil the holiday." There is a feeling that they are unpredictable in the moments of the holiday: as the left leg wants. They can dance merrily with everyone, and then suddenly move away and burst into tears. A sort of manic-depressive psychosis in miniature...

In fact, it is not difficult to confuse the Creator and the Consumer, because both the Human eats (regularly) and the Consumer creates (at least once). The main difference is in the emphasis on what is being done for what. The consumer creates out of necessity in order to acquire, have and grow rich, the Creator acquires, has and grows rich in order to create.

• Erich Fromm posed this question as a choice to have or to be. And Bragg formulated it even more simply: “Live to eat, or eat to live?”

The confusion also arises because the Creator, while caring about people and life, cannot and must not forget about himself: after all, he is also a part of this life, and, obviously, not the worst part of it! Moreover, in many cases, you need to take care of yourself in the first place. Why? Because it is naturally reasonable to take care of people close to you first of all, and who is closer to you if not yourself?

• Take a realistic look at the question: pushing a neighbor's breadbasket is normal, but if I spoon-feed him while he feeds me, this is no longer a concern, but a madhouse.

Let everyone take care of themselves and their own business first of all, the question is, why, for whom are you doing this?

For yourself - or for life?

When life is a holiday

• But everything is fair: on their own. And how beautiful people are at a real holiday!

Without brakes. A holiday is good when everyone knows how much you can drink and when it's time to leave. If this holiday culture is absent, then instead of joy, problems arise, including those around: one, in the heat of excitement, loses other people's money in a casino, another drunk in a jeep will knock down people standing at a bus stop.

• Short holiday, big problems.

Sad. However, someone refuses to celebrate on principle: “Well, how can you rejoice when children are starving at this very time in Angola? How can you rejoice then?!” This humanistically minded person cares about everyone, but in fact, day after day, he deprives himself and others of the possibility of a holiday.

• So, someone else will have to make life festive ...

Businessman. The man-creator loves holidays, he loves this happy time, when he finally has free time, energy and money. This is his real holiday - because now he can invest his time, effort and money in those who deserve it. Having calculated everything, he can finally support the best, invest in those in whom it makes sense to invest.

• And then the holiday will really be for many!

When life is hard

Life is hard - what to invent? Need survive, the Consumer knows, and strains, sometimes extremely heroically, in order to save at least something.

• Though for its own sake, but - a feat.

• It's all so terrible! It's just hands down!

A romantic, looking at this really nasty situation, sublimely exclaims: “A person cannot live like this!” - and commits suicide.

• Then the question: “And who will rectify this filthy situation?” - he doesn't care anymore.

And the Creator takes the situation under his control and does everything that depends on him to help those who really need help in a difficult situation: not necessarily those who scream the loudest, but those who are really under attack. As a rule, first of all, it is necessary to support the weakened and save what can die forever.

• If you are in the mountains, everyone is tired and hungry, but one of you has broken his leg: what should you do? - Carry someone who can't walk right now.

When life brings us head to head

In nothing is the philosophy of life of everyone so clearly manifested as in a situation where life pushes our foreheads together: you or me? Will you or I get this tidbit? Should I give in - or will you manage? Whose interest, mine or yours, will be considered more important?

When there is something to profit from, but you are not alone, normal egoist looks after what he likes and how to grab it, sacrificing himself altruis t worries if he has already given up everything, a decent person ( sociocentrist) makes sure that the interests of all are taken into account.

It occupies a special place sociopath who worries not so much about whether he got everything he was supposed to, but about whether others got too much. At the household level, his slogan is: “I don’t need a second cow, I need my neighbor’s cow to die!”, on the scale of society: so that there are no poor, he destroys the rich.

• And this is also a philosophy of life ...

When life offers union

When life offers an alliance, all normal Consumers flock: one for all, all for one, and all against strangers: "Loyalty!" The education of corporate culture, as a rule, is instilling in employees the feeling: “We are our own!”

• And accordingly: “We are not for sale!”,

what makes any team - a family, a gang or a firm - stronger, more viable and more combat-ready.

A romantic will never betray, but he clearly does not like the discipline of corporate culture. He chooses - independence, that is, "freedom FROM". His favorite defensive thesis: “I don’t owe anything to anyone!”, The attacking thesis: “You have no right!”, And the whole program is based on the negative: argue (“Nothing like that!”), violate (“But I can!”) , back off (“My business!”) And defend (your desires).

• called Principles.

A creative person knows how to work in a team, knows how to be faithful, but his loyalty is not blind. His “friends” are good not because they are “friends”, but because they are worthy people doing a worthy job. He chose these people, this firm, this job, and now he's in a job he loves and with responsibilities he's proud of. Man-creator chooses "freedom FOR".

Let's reason together. If you do not go into deep reasoning, then, from my point of view
view, success is the degree to which a goal is achieved. Those. if you take a certain scale, using
which it is possible to evaluate the measure of achievement (realization) of the set goal, then the extreme
The positive point of this scale is success when the goal is 100% achieved. extreme
the opposite point is what we call failure, failure, failure, and so on.
I can't even remember if there is one term that combines the above concepts, but
this is a topic for another mailing list, because we are only talking about a strategy for success.

So, we can assume that a person achieves success if he realizes his goal 100%.
It follows that success in human life is a consequence, a secondary essence, and
not a goal. After all, you can’t consider a person successful if he brushes his teeth twice a day,
rinses mouth after eating or does not "get out" from the dentist's office at all. And it's all for
achieving the goal - to have healthy teeth and a snow-white smile.

Yes, formally this person achieves his goal 100%, but it seems to me that very little
people will agree that he has achieved success in life.

Therefore, in order for a person to consider himself successful and / or others to consider him
successful, a worthy goal is needed to achieve, if not 100%, then at least
would be close to it. On the topic, what is a worthy goal, what are the criteria that allow
attribute the goal you formulated to a worthy one, we argued in the issue "Mission and
worthy goal". In accordance with my philosophy, the main worthy goal I call
mission...

One day the eyes said
- What beautiful mountains you can see ahead of you. They are tall and blue, like columns in
shah's palace.
Here the ears strained their hearing:
What mountains are you talking about? We don't hear anything.
- Yes, the mountain does not smell here! - indignantly noticed the nose, joining the conversation.
“We are trying to touch the mountain, but we can’t find anything like it,” they added.
arms.

Then his eyes shifted to something else. And everyone else began to say that the eyes
They've gone crazy for thinking about it. It's bad, it's like, it's bad.

I admit that many of my readers may involuntarily get the feeling that somehow
everything turns out to be complicated: in life everything is very simple and you can immediately see who is successful and who is not.
If a person has a car, an apartment, a dacha, a beautiful wife, and even a mistress for
"souls" (or vice versa :), then this is success. And if you are a simple engineer, you sit in
some rocket and space research institute, and you live from paycheck to paycheck, then what
is this a success? What is unclear here? Why complicate here?

It's easy to say if, thank God, you were born healthy, you had a normal
childhood, you were loved and continue to be loved, even if your father and mother, you can
to work fully and hope that much, if not all, depends only on you. But if,
through no fault of your own, you have problems with your health, family, work, etc. Then what are you
Are you doomed to fail or will you never be successful? It would be very
unfair to so many people...

The blind old man was sitting in the shadow of the temple. "He is a great sage," people said of him. One
The curious approached him and asked:
- O most respected one, forgive me for my question, but how did you go blind?
“I am blind from birth,” the dervish replied.
What path of wisdom do you follow? - the passerby continued to ask.
“I am an astronomer,” the sage replied. - I watch the sun and the stars.
A silent question froze in the eyes of the man.
“They are here,” the old man added, putting his hand to his chest.

I thought and reasoned a lot on this subject until I realized that there is something in life that
will allow any person, regardless of his social origin, level
well-being, health and personal qualities, to achieve your success in this world ...

So, I believe that there are 7 (seven) significant areas in a person's life. It:

* physical state

* financial well-being

* personal development

* own business

* spiritual improvement

* family life

* relationship with the outside world

Why these spheres and why are there seven and not six or eight? Good question!
Firstly, I like the number seven :), secondly, there is some kind of sacred meaning in this:
seven colors of the rainbow, seven days, seven notes, etc. And thirdly, it seems to me that
the listed spheres are a necessary and sufficient classifier
almost all processes in human life.

I invite you, my subscribers, to criticize me in this matter, but constructively,
by sending examples of processes that do not fit into this classification.

The meticulous reader will surely ask the following question: "Which of these seven spheres
the main ones, and which ones are secondary?" :). The answer to this question is both simple and complex.
On the one hand, it depends on your preferences or point of view. For example, which of
seven colors of the rainbow is the main thing for you? :). For me, if not the main, then my favorite
is Blue colour. But it does not follow at all that the other six colors are worse.
or they are secondary, because only combined all together they give white
color. And nothing else!

On the other hand, there are objective reasons, for example, the spiritual age of a person, according to
which in one or another period of life, and sometimes a whole life, a person "concentrates" on
one of the seven areas listed above or, in business language :), directions
activities. The most typical example is the concentration on achieving financial
well-being. The hypertrophied result of this concentration are innumerable
wealth, the owner of which not only cannot spend it during his life, but even
doesn't know how to do it! Poor fellow - he must be pitied!

Each area can be detailed using a subsystem of indicators, naturally for
each area of ​​their own. This subsystem of indicators is determined by each person "under
myself", based on my goals and objectives. For example, I have a "Physical condition"
detailed using the following indicators:

* Appearance

* Regular check-ups

* Energy level

* Muscular tone

* Ability to manage your weight

* Diet and nutrition

* Ability to manage stress

* Endurance and strength

* Regular exercise program

As I already wrote, all users registered on the portal receive a special
issue in which I inform them about what's new on it, I pay attention
to some articles and resources that may be useful in life, but for different reasons
may not be published in this mailing list. Some time ago everyone
registered users were able to download the file in Excel format, in
which describes in detail all seven spheres of human life, they are all summarized in
a model with which you can assess your current state.

In addition, I promised that after I receive from the registered user
a letter with the results and the problem statement, I will analyze them and try to
help solve his problem. Which I did for those who sent me the results :).

And now I want to draw a parallel with the world of music. As you probably remember, there are only 7
(seven) notes. But musical works, starting from "Chizhik-Pyzhik" and ending with
masterpieces of world music - an infinite number!!!

So, each of us, so to speak, is the composer (creator) of his own
Success. Of course, we are all different :). Some of us, in this life, will be able to compose something like
"chizhika-pyzhika", and even then using one or two notes :). Others are given more and about their success
the whole world will know, for they will use all seven "notes" and it will be inspired
a work full of love and harmony...

You may ask, by whom is it given and why is everything easy for some, while others are forced
work hard day and night without any guarantee of success? Unfortunately, answer
this question is not very simple. And that's why. Quote from Y. Moroz's book "The Truth in the Theses":

Osho has such a parable. In my retelling. A man sits on a tree and shouts to a friend,
who sits under a tree - look, there is a cart going there. The one who sits under the tree -
replies: there is no wagon there. Well, of course, - argues the one on the tree - a wagon, lucky
hay, in front sits a driver in a red shirt.

I don’t see anything, - the one who sits below answers, - there is no wagon - don’t invent it. Well
climb up and see for yourself ... - I won't climb anywhere, you prove it to me.

Do you need a moral? If you want to know what I know, then you have to go where I sit,
there is no other way to be sure.

A PHOTO Getty Images

Stop looking for yourself

Today they like to say: it is important to find yourself, to understand who you are. Oriental thinkers would be skeptical of this idea. The many-faced, disorderly constructions we call personalities come from without, not from within. They consist of everything we do: how we interact with others, how we react to what is happening to us, what we do in life.

Besides, we are always different. We behave differently depending on whether we are talking to a mother, a close friend, or a colleague. Each of us is a chest full to the brim that bumps into other chests. Each collision changes our configuration. What we are is the result of constant change and the influence of new experiences on our lives.

Don't Be Authentic - Be Ready to Change

The next step that popular psychology tells us is to be true to ourselves. But the greatest ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, who was born in the sixth century BC, would not agree with such an approach. The problem is, he would say, authenticity does not lead to freedom. We are how we behave in the moment. This means that there is simply no single “real I” - after all, we cannot act, think and feel the same way all the time.

The actions we take cause changes within us.

The "Real Self" is just a snapshot that captures our personality at a present and very short moment in time. When we allow this image to be our guide, we are captured by it. We do not allow new experience into ourselves and, thus, close the path to development.

Don't let your feelings guide you - choose a direction and your feelings will follow.

Another consequence of our obsession with authenticity is that we absolutize feelings, our intuitive “likes” and “dislikes”, “want” and “don’t want”. As a result, we can reject what seems incomprehensible and distant to us. For example, to give up the idea of ​​opening one's own business, referring to the fact that business is allegedly “not about us”.

Confucius taught that the actions we take bring about changes within us. Our emotional reactions are erratic, but we can direct them in the right direction if we prepare it in advance. For example, if we practice in front of a mirror, giving our face the right expressions, we can develop the ability to quickly change emotions - and thereby really learn not to dwell on unpleasant experiences.

By doing so, we become who we want to be. Someone is proud of their difficult character, declaring: "But I can tell others in the face what I think of them." But rudeness and intemperance are not synonymous with honesty. Developed emotional intelligence means not only the open expression of emotions, but also a rich emotional vocabulary. By allowing our behavior to guide our feelings (rather than the other way around), we can change and become better over time.

Don't make big decisions - take small steps

What is wrong with a life that is planned five, ten, fifteen years ahead? When we make decisions about our future, we assume that our personality will not change in any way during this time. But we ourselves are constantly changing: our tastes, values, ideas about the world are changing. The more actively we live, the more intense the internal development takes place. The paradox is that the modern understanding of success requires a combination of incompatible things: constant self-improvement and a clear idea of ​​\u200b\u200bits future.

Instead of making global promises, the method of the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius is to go to the great through the small and doable. When you want to radically change your career path and do something new, start small - internships, volunteering. So you decide whether the new path suits you, whether it will be a joy for you. Notice your reactions to new experiences: let them guide you.

Don't be strong - be open

Another popular notion is that the strongest wins. We are told that in order to succeed, you need to be assertive and get your way. But the philosopher Lao Tzu, in the Tao Te Ching (presumably written in the 4th century BC), argues for the advantage of weakness over brute force. Weakness is often associated with passivity, but that is not what Lao Tzu is talking about. He insists that we should see all phenomena in the world as connected to each other, not separate. If we can penetrate deeply into the nature of this connection, we will learn to understand what is happening and to hear others.

If you see all the phenomena in the world as connected with each other, and not separate, you can learn to understand what is happening and hear others.

This inner openness opens up new opportunities for influence that we cannot obtain through force. Refusing to fight makes us wiser: we stop seeing the situation as a path to victory and defeat, and other people as allies or opponents. This approach not only saves mental strength, but also opens up scope for searching non-standard solutions beneficial to everyone.

Don't focus on your strengths, try different things

We are told: find your strengths and hone them with early age. If you have the makings of an athlete, join football team; If you like to spend time reading books, take up literature. We develop our natural inclinations until they become part of us. But if we get too carried away with this idea, we run the risk of withdrawing and stop doing everything else.

Ancient Chinese philosophers would rather call for focusing on what we do not know how, so as not to fall into prejudice. If you think your movements are clumsy, take up dancing. If you think you're incapable of languages, start learning Chinese. The goal is not to get better in all these areas, but to see your life as a continuous flow - that's what makes it complete.

Don't practice mindfulness, act

We hear about awareness all the time. Allegedly, it is she who will help achieve peace and tranquility in a rapidly changing life. Mindfulness training is among the standard tools for improving productivity and efficiency in business schools, personal growth trainings, and self-development workshops.

Buddhism is a doctrine that involves moving away from the "I". The Confucian idea of ​​self-improvement is about something else. It is about interacting with the world and developing yourself through this interaction, through each new meeting, each experience. Confucianism supports the idea of ​​being active in order to become a better person.

We are complex beings, and our desires are constantly pulling us in different directions, we must accept this.

The modern assumption is that we have freed ourselves from a repressive, traditional world and live as we please. But if we consider the traditional world as one in which people passively accepted the state of things and tried to fit into a stable, pre-existing order, then we are those who live traditionally.

Don't choose your path, create it

The modern world is presented to us as a space of freedom in which we can choose how to live. But often we ourselves limit our possibilities, adhering to the usual routes and relying on the established rules and procedures that were established before we appeared. But if we want to succeed, we must be willing to go off the beaten track. Perhaps even get lost.

The Tao Te Ching says, "The path that can be traversed (in any particular way) is not a sure path." If you believe that you can live your life sticking to a plan once and for all, you may be disappointed. We are complex beings, and our desires are constantly pulling us in different directions. If we recognize this and constantly study what this or that experience gives us, we will learn to understand ourselves better and respond more sensitively to external changes. By constantly attuning ourselves like a sensitive instrument, we can become more open and at the same time more resilient to shocks.

See The Guardian website for more details.