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A winner formulates a plan before going into battle; a successful person foresees the consequences of his actions before choosing to do it. A carefully plotted plan is what separates the winners from the losers. Planning is an essential element of success. It is by planning that people are given the luxury of choices. There are only a few things in life that can truly be foreseen and success and failure are not one of them. Most of what life turns out to be can be properly prepared for through diligent efforts of creating a “battle plan”. It might not always be precise and successful, but the bottom line is that a plan enables a person to have an idea of what to expect and what to prepare for. In that way, there are no unexpected situations. A person who knows how to carefully plan can surely make even the seemingly impossible things possible.

There is truth to the old maxim that says “no man is an island”. Each person, no matter how capable he is, needs other people to accomplish his goals. Life is not meant to be lived alone; it is meant to be spent with people who, in one way or another, will push you to the path of success.

Just like the way a game of basketball cannot be played by a single player, the game of life also consists of a myriad of people playing different roles in pushing one to greatness. Some will pull you down; others will compete against you, most will work with you hand in hand and will give you the experience you need to win the battle. The arrogant will deny this fact, while the truly successful will know who to thank for the achievement. This is how winners and losers are spelled out. A truly successful man is one who keeps himself firmly planted on the ground.

The world is a huge place with more than enough space for everyone. Yet what most people fail to understand is that a person’s imagination is an even bigger universe where one can be everything he wanted to be and with hard work and determination, that imagination could materialize into something tangible. People do not need to wait for the ‘big’ breaks; we are all capable of making it.

Success begins in the mind and imagination is the key. The first step is to imagine who you want to be and what you want to achieve and the rest is up to you to work hard for it. If you can visualize the steps you want to take and the path you want to pursue, it becomes to formulate a plan for success. The important thing is to know what you want. A creative imagination coupled with perseverance and hard work will breed infinite possibilities for success.

Happiness is probably one of the most sought after emotions by every human being. Like a famous celebrity, it is often pursued but it could hide in a lot of small things people often take for granted. A truly happy person is not one who laughs out loud or smiles often. A truly happy person is one who can pick himself up after he lost the fight; someone who has enough bravery to take that one more step forward after the world has turned its back on him; someone with enough focus not to waver after a fall and someone who knows that a little slip here and there is not the end of the world. Happiness is not at state of being, but a state of mind. It is finding inner peace within ourselves when everything is in chaos; it is the capacity to know what you want when people dictates what you should be; it is being one with yourself, with your conscience and with your mind. It is like a wonderfully harmonized orchestra amidst a blur of incoherent music. If you can truly be one with yourself, then you can found happiness.

We spend the most formative years of our lives in school, getting formal education. For what you may ask, to become intelligent? I say no. Intelligence is innate in every human being. Effective education should teach a person how to develop that intelligence and most importantly, it should instill in each person the capacity to know how to use that intelligence wisely and properly. It should develop not only knowledge, but also values. It is comforting to know that today, more and more efforts are made to include development of emotional quotient in children, aside from intelligence quotient. Mental learning and character building should go hand in hand. For what is knowledge if used for the wrong causes? Intelligence only works for us when we use it with our moral principles. We are social beings so it is only right to make decisions that are not solely beneficial to ourselves, but to those around us as well.

Tycoon-ism: Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. -George Orwell

We choose what we want to know and keep from the past. Having this kind of capability makes us be in control of our present lives and of the future. It also enables us to deal with the present the way we want to, despite whatever could keep us from moving on. To be in control of your life is one wonderful thing.  To be yourself and to be the leader of yourself allows you to reach for what makes you happy. To learn to control your life makes you a fulfilled person in the end. There is nobody to drive your car but you.

Be in control. Ignore the bad things, welcome and appreciate the good things. Forget the things that make you unable to live your life to the fullest. Mourn, to feel better at times, but then stand up and continue running.

The present is for us to treasure. The past is for us to remember. The future is for us to look forward to. There is no reason to stop for anything. Let go of negative emotions and welcome joy! Life is too short to ignore its meaning. There is more to life than just we think and ever know.

Tycoon-ism: Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude. – Joseph Wood Krutch

To be happy of what’s bestowed unto you is gratitude to life. To be contented of what you have could mean lack of self love. To find your meaning and value, and to be happy of it, is a rewarding gift to yourself, and depicts your gratitude to the world, to the people around, to yourself and to the power that is the reason that you are even allowed to do everything.

Happiness is a simple thing. It is love, courage, inspiration, kindness. With happiness within ourselves, we are able to effect gratitude to everyone and everything connected to us. Choosing not to be happy means turning your back to life, to its glory, to its wonder and to its possibilities The future is unknown, but should be looked forward to with open arms. Happiness in itself is a kind of gratitude and allows us to accept whatever awaits us and to overcome obstacles.

Life without gratitude is meaningless. A life without meaning is tiring. Happiness is the answer and it’s everywhere. It’s up to you to search for your meaning and to search for happiness. The world has a lot to offer, but they just can’t be yours without action, without the willingness to see it, and without the heart to feel it.

Practice gratitude. Be happy.

Tycoon-ism: The only question with wealth is, what do you do with it? -John D. Rockefeller

How wealthy are you? How meaningful is your life?

What do you actually do that makes you a valuable person to the world? In our journey to success, we strive to become the persons that we want to become, and we do what it takes to reach the end of the line. Wealth is achieved through success, and success is nothing with undirected wealth. Undirected wealth is wealth that just comes and goes. We don’t notice it fly. We don’t even think about it. We may be happy of what we have, but how soon is it to end?

The power of wealth is more than making you happy. Wealth should be able to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. Wealth should be able to build friendship and fostering relationships among people. It should be able to educate, to feed and to nurture things that really matter. Remember that wealth can be achieved, and when lost, can still be found. But life and happiness, when gone, takes away the meaning of your existence, and the value of your person to the world. Wealth, therefore, should be realized as the instrument to life, to love, to happiness, and to success.

So what do you do with your wealth? What is your wealth? Whatever we have is our wealth – our lives, our family, our achievement, and our friends. We are all wealth to one another, and we are of value to everyone. Everything that we have is our wealth as well. Do not waste a single piece of your wealth. Nurture it, and live by it.

Tycoon-ism: Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. – George Washington

It is our moral duty to find peace within ourselves, and the more peace is within us, there more peace our world gets. To feel peace takes a lot of responsibility towards people and towards our own selves. With this responsibility come the power and the will to be happy. We have feelings and thoughts, and it is no longer our duty to achieve explanations for these, but it is our responsibility to behold them, to live by them, and to be happy. It is our duty to make the most out of this life and to search for happiness.
Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. Without doing all you can in pursuit of happiness, you won’t find it. It won’t wait for you. You must do something to get it. That is your moral duty – to yourself, to the world, to the people you love, to everybody.
Listen to your heart, listen to yourself. Take the time to reflect and realize your happiness. The next step is to take action and make sure that you give yourself a taste of what makes you happy. Make it a habit, and share it to the world. Life is too short to prolong the agony. Now is the time to do something.

Tycoon-ism: Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either. – Bodhidharma

Excerpt from the Breakthrough Sermon:

Student: “The sutras say that someone who wholeheartedly invokes the Buddha is sure to be reborn in the Western Paradise. Since this door leads to Buddhahood, why seek liberation in beholding the mind?”

Bodhidharma: “If you’re going to invoke the Buddha, you have to do it right. Unless you understand what invoking means, you’ll do it wrong. And if you do it wrong, you’ll never go anywhere.”

Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either. And to invoke means to call to mind, to call constantly to mind the rules of discipline and to follow them with all your might. This is what’s meant by invoking. Invoking has to do with thought and not with language. If you use a trap to catch fish, once you succeed you can forget the trap. And if you use language to find meaning, once you find it you can forget language. To invoke the Buddha’s name you have to understand the Dharma of invoking. If it’s not present in your mind, your mouth chants an empty name. As long as you’re troubled by the three poisons or by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mind will keep you from seeing the Buddha and you’ll only waste your effort. Chanting and invoking are worlds apart. Chanting is done with the mouth. Invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking comes from the mind, it’s called the door to awareness. Chanting is centered in the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while searching for meaning, you won’t find a thing. Thus, sages of the past cultivated introspection and not speech. This mind is the source of all virtues. And this mind is the chief of all powers. The eternal bliss of nirvana comes from the mind at rest. Rebirth in the three realms also comes from the mind. The mind is the door to every world and the mind is the ford to the other shore. Those who know where the door is don’t worry about reaching it. Those who know where the ford is don’t worry about crossing it.”

By: Amituofo in Shaolin Chan