Chop Wood, Carry Water
Chop Wood, Carry Water
The Process is the Key to Achieving Results
More than 1000 years ago, Layman Pang, a Zen Buddhist wrote:
“My daily activities are not unusual,
I’m just naturally in harmony with them.
Grasping nothing, discarding nothing.
In every place there’s no hindrance, no conflict.
My supernatural power and marvelous activity:
Drawing water and chopping wood.”
The saying has been adapted throughout the years, sometimes shown as "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
And recently, it has been adapted as simply: chop wood, carry water.
The saying is perfect in fact for you as you seek results from your training.
You see, so often we fixate on the end result.
Losing those kilos, adding that strength.
And of course, the result is important to us - we can't lose sight of it.
But achieving our results, is all about the process.
It's all about the practice of showing up over and over and doing the work.
Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
This simply means, before we achieve our result, we do the simple process.
We follow the steps required over and over to achieve our results, while not focusing on them.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
This simply means, when we achieve our results, we keep following the process.
Nothing more, nothing less.
We're sold all the pills and powders to get lean and lose weight.
But these things aren't the chopping wood.
They aren't the hard work of carrying the water.
They are about getting results without following the process.
And yet time and again we see stories of people who achieved amazing results, by seemingly following the simplest process.
That's because the process is the point.
It is the magic pill we've been looking for.
Most people aren't willing to accept it takes time to swallow.
When in doubt, chop wood, carry water.
Until next time,
Marco
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