I’ve recently read one interesting book (short version) called “Tao Te Ching” a modern interpretation of Lao Tzu perpetrated by Ron Hogan. Download link is below.

Decided to take out some quotes which i found very valuable for myslef. And this is how i interpreted them:

„Stop wanting stuff;
it keeps you from seeing what’s real. When you want stuff,
all you see are things.“

In a lot of management and business books we read that to be successful as a company or a person we need higher purposem enjoy by doing the task itself. But there is always strong desire to fall back and focus on „stuff“, companies are compared by furniture, size of the office, free goods, …

„The Masters get the job done without moving a muscle
and get their point across without saying a word.“

It‘s much easier to work a lot rather than stop for a while and think a bit: „Do we really need this feature?“, „How can we improve that?“, „Why are we doing this?“

“When you act without expectations, you can accomplish great things. If that’s not possible, go to Plan B:
Be simple. Be real.
Do your work as best you can.
Don’t think about what you get for it. Stay focused. Get rid of all your crap.”

Nothing to add here. Straight to the point. You are working not for the manager, but to do great things.

“You can go far
if you don’t have anything to carry. The more you acquire,
the less you can really see.”

If you work because of material things, it is going to be very difficult to accept new challenges. It will be too scary to lose things in case of a mistake.

“Learn how to stand still
if you want to go places.
Get on your knees
if you want to stand tall.
If you want wisdom,
empty your mind.
If you want the world,
renounce your riches.
Push yourself until you’re exhausted, and then you’ll find your strength.”

Only challenges, experiments, real problems, mistakes can help you grow and learn. That’s why we must challenge ourselves and always question existing things.

“Do what you have to do,
not for your own benefit,
but because it needs to be done. And don’t do it the way
you think it should be done,
do it the way it needs to be done.”

Sometimes I always want to cut corners in order to achieve results faster, but afterwards lack of preparation or patience always strike back.

What are your thoughts?

p.s. you can download book here. i found the e-book free to download.