Change is the new normal
Or better put: change is nothing new. The way of the Universe, the Old Master says, is change:
“Difficult and easy complete one another.
Long and short test one another;
High and low determine one another.
Pitch and mode give harmony to one another.” (Laozi 2)
Long and short test one another;
High and low determine one another.
Pitch and mode give harmony to one another.” (Laozi 2)
Stay flexible
If you stay flexible you are well equipped to lead and deal with complex change:
“Plants and trees, while they are alive, are flexible and soft,
But when they die they become brittle and dry.
Truly, what is inflexible and hard leads us to death.
But when they die they become brittle and dry.
Truly, what is inflexible and hard leads us to death.
Flexibility and softness are friends of life.” (Laozi 76)
Be observant
“To know when one does not know is best.
To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease.” (Laozi 71)
To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease.” (Laozi 71)
Be observant. Become a better listener. Take the time to understand what is behind unfamiliar behavior before making up your mind and voicing your opinion. Particularly in cross-cultural business situations
Cultivate your inner strength
“To be like water, that’s the highest.
Water benefits all creatures; yet itself does not compete.” (Laozi 8)
Water benefits all creatures; yet itself does not compete.” (Laozi 8)
Last but not least: watch your health
“Fame or your own body: which matters to you most?
Your possessions or your health: what is worth to you most?” (Laozi 44)
Your possessions or your health: what is worth to you most?” (Laozi 44)
But how to take care of your health when you are swamped with work and pressed for time already? Here’s what Lao Zi shares in that other delightful book of Taoism, theZhuangzi:
“These are the rules for staying healthy:
Can you embrace the One? And never lose it?
Can you, without consulting oracles, foretell fortune and misfortune?
Do you know where to stop? Do you know where to let go?
How to not put the blame on others but instead look inside yourself?
Can you be unbridled?
Can you be unsophisticated?
Can you be a like a baby? A baby can howl all day, yet its throat never gets hoarse – harmony at its height! A baby can clench its little fists all day, yet its fingers never get cramped – so perfect is its inner strength! A baby can stare all day without once blinking its eyes – so little affected it is by things that do not matter.
To move without knowing where you are going, to stand without knowing why, flexibly trailing about with things, and riding along with them on the same wave – These are the rules for staying healthy.” (Zhuangzi 23:1)
Lao Zi, legend has it, lived to be 160. Should you now decide to print his words and hang them on your mirror: know that I have done the same.