The Monk who sold his Ferrari - III

The Monk who sold his Ferrari
Robin Sharma

(pg 100 - 150)

The book then dwells on leadership. It says that those who express their lack of knowledge and seek instruction, often find the path to enlightenment before anyone else.
Those who keep their minds open to new concepts – those whose cups are always empty – will always move to higher levels of achievement.
It urges us to improve the self – kaizen. It reasons for the need of kaizen by asking – how could a person possibly lead a corporation if he cannot even lead himself? How could he nurture a family if he hasn’t learned to nurture and care for himself? How could one possibly do good of one did not even feel good?
The words are indeed full of an impact.
It tells the way to improve self is to indulge in things that we fear of – like public speaking, maintaining relations etc. It encourages writing an inventory of our weaknesses – the weaknesses that keep us from living life.
What sets the highly actualized people apart from those who never live inspired lives is that they do things that less developed people don’t like doing – even though they might not like doing them either.
The book then lists the Ten Rituals of Radiant Living, much on the lines of the Ten Commandments

1. Ritual of Solitude – to mandatory spend some time say 30 min in solitude, complete peace – with oneself;


2. Ritual of Physicality – to care for the body by keeping it fit through regular work-outs;


3. Ritual of Live Nourishment – to eat good food;


4. Ritual of Abundant Knowledge – to maintain a thirst for knowledge and living as a student – a student of life;


5. Ritual of Personal Reflection – to talk to oneself and realize one’s right and wrong deeds and thoughts; It’s a complete circle – “Happiness comes through good judgment, good judgment comes through experience and experience comes through bad judgment”


6. Ritual of Early Awakening – to get up with or even before the sun;


7. Ritual of Music – to have a regular sessions of good music;


8. Ritual of Spoken Word – to repeat mantras that have a profound effect on one’s personalities;


9. Ritual of Congruent Character – to take a daily incremental action to build one’s character;


10. Ritual of Simplicity – to live simple.

It defines failure as not having the courage to try, nothing more nothing less. Courage is in turn a character about which the book says,
"You sow a thought, you reap an action;
Reap an action, you sow a habit;
Sow a habit, you reap a character;
Sow a character, you reap a destiny"

Then talking about the necessity of willpower, it says that the lack of it is a mental disease. It goads us to have our own views and never try to be like others. It asks to believe in being superior to the former self. It asks us not to race against other but to race against self. The ways to develop willpower is continuous repetition of some words and the other is to vow silence for a day.