Power Of Being Consistent- Arjun Pandit
The Japanese have a
concept called Kaizen. It is a Sino-Japanese word that means ‘change for the
better’. This fundamental principle has been used by Japanese industry to apply
continuous and constant incremental improvement of working practices every day.
This is the ideal way to think of consistency. So, let me start this step by
narrating a story that conveys the idea perfectly:
A young boy in China came from his remote
village to become a monk at the world-renowned Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin
monks were known worldwide for their skill in martial arts such as Kung-Fu. The
boy was interviewed by a senior monk and was finally accepted. On his very first
day of instruction, he was ordered by his teacher to carry a heavy wooden
bucket down the mountainside to a stream, fill it entirely with water and bring
it back into the temple courtyard. The boy did as he was told, but found that
it required a lot of effort on his part to carry the heavy bucket all the way
back to the temple. When he got back, most of the water had splashed out. The
instructor emptied out the remaining water and commanded the boy to do it again
and ensure that he returned with the bucket full. The boy repeated the process
and this time he managed to get most of the water back to the temple. ‘Good,’
observed the instructor. ‘Now stand next to the bucket and with your palms slap
the surface of the water. Keep doing it until there is no water left in the
bucket.’ After a few minutes, the boy’s palms were red and burning from
slapping the water, but he continued until all the water had splashed out.
‘Excellent,’ said the instructor. ‘Now go fetch another bucket of water and do
it again.’ This went on the entire day, and to the boy’s disappointment, the
next day, too. Then the following day, and the next. Weeks and months went by
and all that the boy did was carry several buckets of water to the courtyard
and slap all the water out on each occasion. The boy felt that he was being
punished. He wondered why his teacher refused to teach him Kung-Fu. After a
year, the head monk called the boy into his office. ‘You have been here for a
year. I want you to take a break and visit your family. Please be back here in
two weeks to resume your training.’ When the villagers heard that the young
Shaolin monk was coming home, they were overjoyed. They led him to a banquet
that had been laid out in his honour on a heavy stone table in the village
courtyard. When they had eaten, the villagers asked him to demonstrate his
Kung-Fu skills. He felt guilty and told them that did not want to do any
demonstration. But they insisted. The boy felt humiliated because he had no
skills to show. ‘Leave me alone,’ he yelled as he stood up from the table at
which they were all seated. ‘I learned absolutely nothing!’ He slammed his hand
down on the table in anger. Everyone was stunned. They stood in pin-drop
silence, staring at the thick stone table that the boy had broken when he
slammed his hand down.
What is the point of the story?
Simple, really. There is power in consistency. Don’t
ever forget it. Remember the words of the author Robert Collier who said:
‘Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.’
1 comments
informative post thanks for sharing !
ReplyDeleteSudheer Sandra is the leading Motivational Speaker in hyderabad and Psychologist. Sudheer Sandra Career Counselling Centre in Hyderabad with the intent to provide solutions to all kinds of career confusions among students and professionals.
He is very passionate about Psychology and is intend to spread awareness about psychology and mental health. The process of finding your purpose involves finding your passions first, which made him to choose psychology after his Engineering