I have decided to devote a number of articles to the topics of achievement and motivation, subjects that I have studied for thirty years. In these articles, I will be reviewing the writings of great thinkers who wrote over a period beginning with the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers up to contemporary thinkers like Stephen Covey and Eckhart Tolle. My hope is to give to you a concise summary of these important subjects.

As a 30-year student of self-improvement and behavioral science, I have learned that there are valued principles that transcend time and place. For example, much of what I am now about to discuss with respect to the Samurai – elite Japanese warriors who dominated Japan’s military for about 500 years (from about 1100 to 1600) – includes thoughts and even verbiage (when translated into English) that is almost identical to language and concepts used by contemporary writers today. This revelation confirmed for me that there are commonalities among the great thinkers about motivation, success and achievement – “ commonalities that we can trust in, if for no other reason than that they have withstood the tests of culture, time and geography.

The Samurai code was unwritten until about 1715 when Tsunetomo Yamamoto scribed the Hagakure (Japanese for “hidden in leaves”). Most of what I have learned about the Hagakure comes from an excellent book written in 1984 by David Rogers, Fighting to Win (Doubleday).

The elite of the Samurai warriors were the bushido. The Hagakure outlines their code of battle and way
of life. The bushido were holistic in their approach to life – they believed in constant self-improvement and study. But, once engaged in battle, their success derived from a fearless, intense and single-focused mindset  –  “kill or be killed.”

“If your sword is broken,” said Hyobu Oki of the Saga clan, “strike with your hands. If your hands are cut off, press the enemy down with your shoulders. If your shoulders are cut away, bite with your teeth.”

The Samurai were superb fighters, of course, but their true secret to success was not about the strength of their bodies, but rather the strength of their minds. Foretelling words used hundreds of years later by contemporary thinkers, the Samurai believed that success was about training one’s mind to resist negativity and fear: “Become more aware of your thought habits. Reject negative ki thoughts and replace them with positive, power-producing thoughts… To add power and determination to your rejection of negative thoughts, spit out the troublesome thought.”

This idea of physically discharging a thought from your mind (spitting it out) is very important imagery that was later described in detail by martial artists such as Bruce Lee. In future articles, we will explore this concept and its huge importance for the individual committed to success in any endeavor. return to front