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122 - Bushidō Unleashed: How Musashi’s Samurai Code Can Win Your 9-to-5 Battles · Getting After It

• 0:00
  Brett: dawn cracks over genruijima, a skiff scrapes the sand and a single ronin steps off.
• 0:07
  Brett: He's tall, his hair is wild and his clothes are dusty.
• 0:12
  Brett: And what's he holding?
• 0:13
  Brett: He's holding a wooden ore that he's turned into a crude sword.
• 0:19
  Brett: His rival is sasaki koro, the demon of the western provinces, and he's waited for hours and he's just baking in the sun.
• 0:33
  Brett: Minutes later, kojiro's legend lies bleeding in the tide While the ronin turns away, eyes calm as stone.
• 0:41
  Brett: What kind of code fuels a man who wins a battle with a piece of driftwood?
• 0:46
  Brett: One word Bushido, and that's what we're talking about today.
• 0:51
  Brett: Let's get after it.
• 0:53
  Brett: Welcome back to the podcast.
• 1:02
  Brett: Everybody, I am happy that you have decided to sit here with your friend again, brett.
• 1:08
  Brett: Today's episode is going to be real exciting.
• 1:12
  Brett: I am pumped for this one because we're talking about Bushido.
• 1:15
  Brett: So going into episode two of the code series that we're discussing.
• 1:21
  Brett: Last episode was my own personal code that I follow, and now we're going to be studying one of the most famous codes out there, and it's the samurai's Bushido code.
• 1:29
  Brett: But now it's taken in.
• 1:31
  Brett: A lot of people who practice martial arts.
• 1:33
  Brett: They follow this code and as I was thinking about what's the best way that I can portray this in a story format, I think it's through talking about japan's most famous samurai, miyamoto musashi, and his story is insane.
• 1:50
  Brett: Like I read some of it when I was doing this research and I was like this sounds like it's made up.
• 1:57
  Brett: And I first heard the story of miyamoto musashi in um in jaco's podcast I think it was episode a hundred with Tim Ferris but great, great story.
• 2:08
  Brett: It sounds like a movie.
• 2:09
  Brett: Honestly, this guy, miyamoto Musashi, is the best samurai Japan has ever fought.
• 2:14
  Brett: He um, he packed on 60 duels with all these other people Cause he was what's known as a Ronin, and a Ronin is a samurai who is masterless and kind of just travels wherever he pleases.
• 2:27
  Brett: So it's super interesting.
• 2:30
  Brett: But what drives someone like that?
• 2:33
  Brett: And it's this code that they follow, called Bushido.
• 2:38
  Brett: Now I'm going to talk about the code real quickly, just give you an idea of what it is, and then we'll talk about it further as we explore this legend of Musashi.
• 2:48
  Brett: So, starting with number one, it's rectitude, or gi, as what they say, and what that means is doing what's right.
• 2:55
  Brett: Number two is courage, or yu, and that is acting in spite of fear.
• 3:00
  Brett: Benevolence is next, or jinn, and that is the power that protects, and we'll talk more about that in a second.
• 3:07
  Brett: Four is respect, or re, and it's the manner that masters the ego.
• 3:11
  Brett: Five is honesty, or makato, and that's basically your word, is your deed, so own up to what you say which, by the way, if you remember last podcast, that's one of mine, and honor is another one or miyo, and your reputation that mirrors your own personal soul.
• 3:29
  Brett: And then, finally, loyalty, or chugi, which is a devotion to something bigger.
• 3:34
  Brett: And after I go into each story, I'll take a pause and explain the principle that's focused in that one, specifically in that.
• 3:43
  Brett: But let's go back to early days of Miyamoto Musashi, where he wasn't even called Musashi.
• 3:49
  Brett: His name was actually Shinmen Takizo and he is 13 years old.
• 3:53
  Brett: At this point it's 1596 and Japan is still recovering from a civil war, so there's smoke in the air like just picture post-war Japan back in those days.
• 4:05
  Brett: Now word spreads in this town that there's a traveling samurai whose name is Arima Kihi and, by the way, I'm going to butcher a lot of these names.
• 4:15
  Brett: I don't speak Japanese, so I'm going to do my best.
• 4:17
  Brett: Flame me up in the comments if you want, but I don't care Anyways.
• 4:22
  Brett: So he hears about this traveling samurai and this guy's walking around the town he's talking about, like hey, who is in this town and wants to challenge me, and Takizo or Musashi.
• 4:34
  Brett: He writes down a notice for a challenge and he puts it at the temple gates saying hey, I'm ready to fight you.
• 4:42
  Brett: My name's Takizo, and he shows up at sunrise Carrying a six foot staff.
• 4:49
  Brett: This guy doesn't even show up with a sword.
• 4:50
  Brett: He has no experience.
• 4:53
  Brett: And so when Musashi rolls up and sees that it's a kid, he laughs or not?
• 4:59
  Brett: He laughs.
• 4:59
  Brett: Kihi laughs and he's like what the heck?
• 5:02
  Brett: I'm going to be fighting a kid with a wooden stick, okay?
• 5:05
  Brett: Seconds later, the staff shatters Kihei's skull.
• 5:10
  Brett: That's insane.
• 5:14
  Brett: Musashi doesn't have experience at this point fighting, you know, fatal battles with other people, and yet he takes on this samurai who's much older, much more trained, and kills him with a wooden stick.
• 5:30
  Brett: Now, even at 13, musashi follows the letter of dual etiquette, which means there's a public challenge, the terms are accepted, and that's rectitude at the beginning.
• 5:41
  Brett: So he's following the justice like he's doing everything as he should.
• 5:44
  Brett: And that's rectitude at the beginning.
• 5:45
  Brett: So he's following the justice Like he's doing everything as he should.
• 5:47
  Brett: And then he steps into the lethal combat with little experience, which takes a lot of courage.
• 5:51
  Brett: I don't know if you've ever considered fighting someone or challenging someone who's way bigger than you, more trained than you, more skilled than you.
• 6:00
  Brett: And Miyamoto Musashi is like well, I want to follow the way of the samurai, so might as well start now.
• 6:07
  Brett: He's 13 years old.
• 6:08
  Brett: Kills the guy with the wooden staff.
• 6:11
  Brett: Miyamoto Musashi also wrote a book called the Book of Five Rings, and this is at the end of his life, where he's contemplating all the things that he's learned and he talks about how there's earth, fire, water, wind and the void.
• 6:24
  Brett: Those are the five rings that he talks about, but I'm going to put some quotes through this during each topic that we cover.
• 6:33
  Brett: So the first one is today is victory over yourself of yesterday.
• 6:37
  Brett: Tomorrow is your victory over lesser men, and what he's saying there is that if you can have the discipline to control yourself and train yourself to be better, and if we think nowadays that's fitness, that's your jobs, that's our relationships, that's showing up when we need to, and if you can do all those things and better yourself, you're going to have more power.
• 6:58
  Brett: Power might not be the right word, but you'll be able to do a lot better than lesser men who don't have that strength to be able to be disciplined.
• 7:06
  Brett: And if we think about Miyamoto Musashi's first act there we'll call this his first act where he's 13 years old and he kills this samurai, it takes one rectitude or justice, you can call it and two a lot of courage.
• 7:20
  Brett: How can we reflect that now?
• 7:22
  Brett: Well, I think the best way to do it is do what Musashi did.
• 7:27
  Brett: Do something that scared you or scares you.
• 7:30
  Brett: And if you listen to the last podcast with my wife, we actually talked about that a little bit, how her dad pushed her to do things that scared scared her when she was younger, in terms of like they would set a goal that's a harder to achieve, and I'm going to ask you to do the same thing today.
• 7:44
  Brett: So name one task that you've dodged and you might have came up with excuses like I'm not ready for this or I'm not the person that's going to be best at this, and you just make up all these excuses, right, call it out and put it out there.
• 7:57
  Brett: Say, hey, listen, I know that I've been dodging this Decl.
• 8:09
  Brett: Declare it publicly that's what's important, just like Musashi wrote it on a sign and declare that he's going to fight this traveling samurai.
• 8:11
  Brett: You need to do the same with whatever you're putting off.
• 8:12
  Brett: So declare it publicly and then schedule the first rep within seven days, because skill follows declaration, not the other way around.
• 8:18
  Brett: If you say you're going to do something, follow it and, like the Bushido code, honor your word, because your word is what you say.
• 8:25
  Brett: And that's all about being truthful, right?
• 8:28
  Brett: So be honest with yourself and start tackling these things.
• 8:31
  Brett: Okay Now, I think that's an important thing for you to do and for all of us.
• 8:37
  Brett: Honestly, I I try and find things that scare me all the time, and most recently for me, I don't know why, but I've been scared to run the trails again.
• 8:49
  Brett: I think it's because I haven't done it in a long time.
• 8:52
  Brett: It was winter up in Utah.
• 8:54
  Brett: The trails are finally starting to open up and I know that I need to get out there and run because I love it.
• 8:59
  Brett: And two, it strengthens my heart more than really anything else.
• 9:02
  Brett: Running up the mountains, running far distances like.
• 9:05
  Brett: It's a hard thing to do and it takes a lot of discipline, but I need to overcome that.
• 9:10
  Brett: So I'm declaring it publicly that that's what I'm going to do, and within seven days.
• 9:14
  Brett: I'm going to make sure that it happens and I want you to do something like that, similar to yourself.
• 9:18
  Brett: What is something that you've been putting off that you need courage to hold on to and move forward with it?
• 9:26
  Brett: Now I want to talk about another story with Musashi.
• 9:30
  Brett: So he's a teenager at this point and Musashi leaves as a Ronin.
• 9:34
  Brett: So he's masterless, he's hungry and doesn't really have a place to live, and over three decades he accepts 60-plus duels and he loses none of them.
• 9:46
  Brett: This guy's undefeated.
• 9:48
  Brett: So if you think of people like in the UFC who are undefeated, I think the only person I can think of right now is who's the guy that fought Conor McGregor and beat him?
• 9:58
  Brett: Oh man, what's his name?
• 10:02
  Brett: I'm blanking.
• 10:03
  Brett: Anyways, there's a guy that beat Conor McGregor.
• 10:05
  Brett: He's a really good grappler.
• 10:07
  Brett: Anyways, there's people like that out there.
• 10:10
  Brett: Musashi never lost a samurai battle.
• 10:12
  Brett: He never lost a duel.
• 10:13
  Brett: And there's this crazy story where he goes up to the Yoshioka clan in Kyoto and Musashi humiliates the heir of the entire sword school.
• 10:26
  Brett: He arrives hours late and then flattens this dude in one strike of his samurai, of his katana is what it's called, and his brother, of his katana is what it's called and his brother, the heir's brother.
• 10:42
  Brett: He demands retribution.
• 10:43
  Brett: Musashi kills that guy too.
• 10:44
  Brett: This one's a little dark, but musashi also cuts down the uh, the 12 year old who's the last heir of the school, and then he just vanishes into the bamboo.
• 10:49
  Brett: Meanwhile, this clan is getting 70 people ready to fight this guy, but he just leaves leaves.
• 10:56
  Brett: He's like.
• 10:57
  Brett: I did my job, which, by the way, samurai back then were wild.
• 11:01
  Brett: They lived by a code where they just challenged each other, and if you were challenged you had to accept it, and if you didn't accept it you were considered dishonorable.
• 11:11
  Brett: So one thing to note about before he did all this stuff where he just destroys this entire sword school he is respectful, he's like, honest and he honors his word.
• 11:24
  Brett: So, for example, he bows before every duel, showing that he has manners, and even when he's about to break bones and kill people in half, he shows respect, can kill people in half, he shows respect.
• 11:38
  Brett: He refuses staged exhibitions and every fight is real stakes, which is honest.
• 11:43
  Brett: You're not getting out alive.
• 11:44
  Brett: One of you is not getting out alive and his reputation blooms because he's the man that never loses and his honor becomes his currency, and he says this in the Book of Five Rings where he says do nothing, which is of no use.
• 12:00
  Brett: Think about Musashi's life as a samurai.
• 12:02
  Brett: He trims everything to the most basic things.
• 12:06
  Brett: So he's focusing on sleep, food, even his arrival time to whatever serves his victory.
• 12:11
  Brett: Because that's all he's thinking about is how can I win, how can I go to this next fight and win?
• 12:16
  Brett: And one thing that's cool about Musashi is he developed this two-sword technique method where he had one long katana and one short katana, so he's, like you know, doing dual blades like a beast.
• 12:29
  Brett: So he's one long and one short and he called it the two-sword method.
• 12:36
  Brett: And I was thinking about how can we tie that into getting after it nowadays.
• 12:41
  Brett: And I think it's simple.
• 12:42
  Brett: I think we can take a long sword approach and a short sword approach.
• 12:46
  Brett: And long sword meaning that you write down a strategic year-long goal and your short sword is you pick a daily micro habit that protects it and every morning you wake up you say how will the short sword defend the long sword?
• 12:59
  Brett: Write down your progress for 30 days just to see what you can do.
• 13:04
  Brett: I'm sure that you'll be surprised at the results that come from it.
• 13:09
  Brett: Think about that have one long-term goal.
• 13:13
  Brett: That's your strategic thing that you're focusing on.
• 13:15
  Brett: How can I get my book written?
• 13:18
  Brett: How can I start a podcast?
• 13:19
  Brett: How can I get a promotion at work?
• 13:21
  Brett: And day by day, you make these micro habits that help you get to that position right.
• 13:28
  Brett: So think about those things in your life that you want to achieve, that you want to get better at, and that's your long-term goal.
• 13:35
  Brett: What daily actions can you take to get there?
• 13:38
  Brett: I think it's important for all of us to think about.
• 13:44
  Brett: Now I want to go back to the story I mentioned at the beginning, where he just walks up in the introduction at least, he walks up to this guy who let me actually just talk about this story for a second.
• 13:56
  Brett: So it's April 13th in 1612.
• 13:59
  Brett: And his rival is Sasaki Kojiro, and he's the master of the shallow cut, which I looked this up, and it's a sword strike that was said to be incredibly quick and precise.
• 14:09
  Brett: So this guy's fast with a sword and he summons Musashi to a small island and all these officials show up, these onlookers and eager nobles, they all gather together to watch this battle.
• 14:22
  Brett: Musashi, he oversleeps on purpose, so he's like I'll show up, but it's not going to be when that guy wanted me to.
• 14:30
  Brett: I'm just going to roll up on my own time.
• 14:34
  Brett: And by the time that his boat drifts to shore, kojiro is boiling in the sun and he's pissed Like.
• 14:41
  Brett: He's like why is this guy so late?
• 14:42
  Brett: He's so late.
• 14:44
  Brett: I'm hot.
• 14:44
  Brett: I'm out here waiting for this dude.
• 14:46
  Brett: Where is he?
• 14:48
  Brett: And then Musashi, he jumps off the boat and he's carrying an oar that he carved, that's three inches longer than Kojiro's.
• 14:55
  Brett: Bear with me, nodachi.
• 14:58
  Brett: It's a sword.
• 15:00
  Brett: And so he's walking up to this guy.
• 15:03
  Brett: Kojiro draws and he swings and he misses, but Musashi cracks his skull with one overhead blow and the legend says that the tide sweeps Kojiro's sword away as Musashi steps back into his boat, already eyeing the next horizon.
• 15:19
  Brett: So this guy shows up late and he's carrying a wooden oar and then he just cracks this guy in the head.
• 15:27
  Brett: He's done, drops to the ground, boom.
• 15:32
  Brett: What can we learn from that?
• 15:32
  Brett: Well, again, I think it's courage and strategic deception, because he's facing japan's sharpest blade and arguably one of the best samurais in the land, with a piece of wood.
• 15:47
  Brett: That's courage again, and I don't know if, like musashi, was thinking, yeah, this guy's pretty good, if I go in with swords like, I'll definitely have an upper hand, but if I go, go in with a wooden oar, maybe he'll have a chance.
• 16:00
  Brett: I don't know if he's thinking about that thing and he just wants to challenge himself.
• 16:03
  Brett: Either way, I think it's courage.
• 16:06
  Brett: But him showing up late, it's a little bit of a gray area with the samurai Bushido code, because Gi debates Yu, so rectitude debates Yu, which is acting in spite of fear.
• 16:19
  Brett: And so the first rule of war is win.
• 16:23
  Brett: And bushido isn't naive at all.
• 16:25
  Brett: It balances principle with outcome and, like I said, musashi's entire goal was to win these battles.
• 16:32
  Brett: And here's this quote that is from the book of five rings that fits in here perfectly.
• 16:37
  Brett: It's so good.
• 16:38
  Brett: He says if you make the opponent flinch, you've already won.
• 16:42
  Brett: And so him sleeping in on purpose, showing up late and bringing a wooden oar I think we're all strategic to get this guy throwing off his game and it's just a crazy story.
• 16:56
  Brett: That is a crazy story.
• 16:57
  Brett: That is a crazy story and it shows how good Musashi was at mastering the samurai skills, being a great swordsman and ultimately getting after it.
• 17:10
  Brett: He got after it.
• 17:13
  Brett: What's a modern-day drill that we can do?
• 17:14
  Brett: Let's call it use the oar, because Musashi shows up with something that's unpredictable in this fight.
• 17:20
  Brett: He doesn't necessarily know what the outcome is going to be, but it's something that's going to be an advantage to him because it's a little bit longer than the other guy's sword.
• 17:27
  Brett: And so before your next duel, you can call it, and that could be a sales pitch, a race, a negotiation, a conversation, whatever it is.
• 17:35
  Brett: Whatever your next duel is, identify one unconventional asset.
• 17:40
  Brett: It could be a strange stat that you have.
• 17:41
  Brett: It could be a story, a slide deck that everyone else might ignore, but have something that is unconventional that you can use.
• 17:51
  Brett: With this podcast, I think a great example is like I'm different than other podcasters.
• 17:55
  Brett: I bring my own voice to the table and that's unique.
• 17:58
  Brett: And so that is my unconventional asset, is my own uniqueness.
• 18:02
  Brett: But then I want you to rehearse it until it feels like part of your hand, like it's so natural for you, and then deploy it.
• 18:11
  Brett: First, force the room to flinch and surprise, surprise is leverage.
• 18:16
  Brett: You can use that in your daily life.
• 18:21
  Brett: Like, again, musashi would show up late to other places.
• 18:23
  Brett: Sometimes he would dictate where they wanted to fight, like a samurai might be like, hey, let's go fight at the temple grounds and Musashi would be like, okay, and then like an hour later he would be like, actually, let's go fight in the woods, and they'd be like whoa, I was ready for the temple grounds but just like trying to throw them off a little bit.
• 18:41
  Brett: So think about that.
• 18:43
  Brett: What is something unconventional that you have that you can use to your advantage?
• 18:46
  Brett: Because all of us do.
• 18:47
  Brett: All of us are unique, kind of like I mentioned with this podcast, everyone has something that can benefit them in a way that they are unique with Everyone, benefit them in a way that they are unique with Everyone's unique.
• 19:00
  Brett: Now, kind of shifting focus a little bit.
• 19:03
  Brett: I want to talk about his focus on service and teaching others, because that's another piece of the Bushido Code and getting after it in general.
• 19:13
  Brett: So, going back to a couple stories here.
• 19:18
  Brett: But power was no longer his focus at this time.
• 19:23
  Brett: His entire focus was shielding apprentices and teaching them and really helping them along their way, which is Jin benevolence.
• 19:33
  Brett: He's trying to help other people during this time and, after a lifetime where he's masterless, musashi ties himself to the Hosokawa family, and not out of a paycheck but out of a purpose, which is, again, chugi.
• 19:46
  Brett: He's loyal to this family now and he wants to teach them all the things that he's learned, and he has this quote from the book Five Rings where he says Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior which to me says that he was a lifelong learner Over the years doesn't mean that he goes to college for four years and he's done Over the years, in my opinion, is a lifelong journey, just like how getting after it is.
• 20:11
  Brett: And he was a learner and he had a lot that he could teach, and so part of getting after it even Musashi knew it was teaching other people how to do the same thing, which is probably the number one reason why I have a podcast is so I can hopefully help others understand and learn principles that I follow that they might be able to use in their own life to help them accelerate their own growth in whatever capacity they're trying.
• 20:37
  Brett: But it's so important to give back Like service teaching.
• 20:41
  Brett: Anything that you might have that's an asset to you can also be an asset to others.
• 20:46
  Brett: So get creative in the way that you think about it and get creative in the way that you share those things, and I would say, if you want to try this, you can block out one hour this week or next to teach a skill to someone who might be like two steps behind you.
• 21:04
  Brett: Don't ask for a fee, don't brag about it.
• 21:08
  Brett: Do it out of pure love.
• 21:13
  Brett: Teach them something that you wish that you would have known Strength shared is strength multiplied.
• 21:20
  Brett: I don't like all this conversation like, oh man, he's a podcaster, I'm competing with that guy.
• 21:26
  Brett: Or man, that guy's in sales too.
• 21:29
  Brett: I don't want to teach him my techniques.
• 21:31
  Brett: If he's going to be better than me, yeah, they might be better than you.
• 21:34
  Brett: Sure, there's podcasters out there that have a huge following compared to me, but you know what strength helps.
• 21:42
  Brett: Or strength shared is strength multiplied.
• 21:44
  Brett: And if there's someone whose podcast I really enjoy, that's way bigger than me.
• 21:49
  Brett: I'll rattle off a few nick bear, cameron haynes, joe rogan, jocko, um, siblings of.
• 21:55
  Brett: That's my wife's podcast and I love it, but she's doing better than me.
• 21:58
  Brett: There's no point in holding that up.
• 22:02
  Brett: That just makes you.
• 22:03
  Brett: That's icky, that's gross.
• 22:04
  Brett: If you're thinking, oh man, I'm the only one that should be successful, no, hell, no, that's the wrong way to look at it.
• 22:12
  Brett: And Musashi even knew that this guy who destroyed 60 people in his battles never won or never lost any of them.
• 22:19
  Brett: He knows the value that he can give to others and he's not holding it back.
• 22:23
  Brett: And you shouldn't do the same if you have something that could be valuable to someone in need, because think about the times when you were in need and someone stepped in and helped you.
• 22:33
  Brett: How good did you feel?
• 22:35
  Brett: Now, go do that for someone else.
• 22:37
  Brett: Think about what that might be, and I want you to take action towards it this week, because but life isn't a competition.
• 22:47
  Brett: We're meant to learn from each other.
• 22:49
  Brett: We're meant to grow together.
• 22:51
  Brett: It's not a perfect thing, and that's another reason why I love this podcast is because I have about seven guests scheduled that are coming on and I'm so excited to talk to all of them because they've all done things, they've all experienced certain things that I haven't, and so I can learn from them, and they're gracious enough to come on this podcast and actually talk to me about them.
• 23:12
  Brett: But I don't know everything.
• 23:15
  Brett: I understand that, even when I'm talking about Bushido, I'm not an expert in it.
• 23:20
  Brett: I just understand the principles and I really like what they talk about, and I think that there's things that you can listen to with this code that can also help you in your own life and help you improve.
• 23:30
  Brett: So let's talk about the void, because during the 1630s to 1645, around those areas, musashi is getting old and he retreats to what he calls the Spirit Rock Cave, which is on a hill outside of one of the villages, and he writes the book of five rings, so five short scrolls titled earth, water, fire, wind and void, kind of like we talked about, and he hammers one idea home that strategy is life and life is strategy and swordplay is only a metaphor.
• 24:09
  Brett: So I talk about that with running.
• 24:11
  Brett: I say running is a great life metaphor.
• 24:13
  Brett: Musashi says swordplay is a great life metaphor.
• 24:16
  Brett: I don't fight people with swords, but I believe him.
• 24:18
  Brett: One thing that I think is very important for this topic specifically is he says think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world Meaning, throw the ego aside and contemplate the world, think about what other people are feeling, trying and piece together what nature is telling you, like there's so much out there that we don't understand, but don't let your ego make the decisions in your life for you.
• 24:47
  Brett: He talks about the void, and the void is where nothing exists.
• 24:52
  Brett: It is the place where everything begins.
• 24:54
  Brett: Let's pause there for a second because he's talking about reflection, taking a moment every single day to be with yourself, to have complete silence and to figure out what ways that you can improve.
• 25:07
  Brett: And this is something that's rare to have nowadays and I think it's rare because it's just the way that our culture runs.
• 25:14
  Brett: We are bombarded on social media.
• 25:16
  Brett: It's calling and craving our attention, our jobs.
• 25:21
  Brett: They take a lot out of us.
• 25:22
  Brett: Our families requires.
• 25:25
  Brett: It requires a lot, of a lot of time to build up your families, to make sure everyone in your family is taken care of.
• 25:34
  Brett: Like I always want to make sure that my wife has everything that she needs, that she's good to go, and that requires time.
• 25:42
  Brett: It's not a bad thing, but it requires time.
• 25:45
  Brett: And so having specific time carved out where you can just be quiet and think it is hard and it is rare, but it is powerful.
• 25:54
  Brett: And, like he says, it is the place where everything begins.
• 25:58
  Brett: When you're sitting there thinking, that's where you can understand how your thought process works.
• 26:04
  Brett: It's how you can understand your own life, where you want to improve, and I think it's just important to be quiet.
• 26:11
  Brett: Some of the best we can call them revelations for myself have come from moments of silence, and I would push you to do that Because, like I said, we don't get it a lot and it is a powerful tool to have in your belt.
• 26:27
  Brett: So sit with silence and we'll get into some of my challenges that I have here for you a little bit later on.
• 26:38
  Brett: But Musashi, he lays down his brush and he senses that his death is approaching when he's in this cave.
• 26:47
  Brett: So what does he do?
• 26:48
  Brett: He dresses in full armor, he kneels facing east and dies in Cezanne meditation at sunrise.
• 26:57
  Brett: That's like the most glorious death for a samurai.
• 27:01
  Brett: I feel like he just puts on his armor and he goes and he sits outside.
• 27:03
  Brett: He's like, yeah, I feel like my age is getting old.
• 27:08
  Brett: I'm getting old up here, my body's creaking.
• 27:10
  Brett: I'm getting old up here, my body's creaking, I'm going to call it, and then he just passes away.
• 27:14
  Brett: That sounds amazing.
• 27:17
  Brett: I want to go that way, in a full, pseudo armor, looking out at the sunrise.
• 27:21
  Brett: Good night, if I had my way, that's how I would do it.
• 27:26
  Brett: That would be pretty cool.
• 27:26
  Brett: But he meets his death the way he met life, with his eyes open and his mind clear like water.
• 27:35
  Brett: Okay, so here's the biggest challenge I have for you.
• 27:39
  Brett: We're going to call this, the five rings reflection For the next five Sundays.
• 27:44
  Brett: Spend 30 minutes in silence focusing on each of these following elements.
• 27:50
  Brett: So earth, that's the first scroll.
• 27:53
  Brett: What are your foundations?
• 27:59
  Brett: What is your sleep, your diet, your schedule?
• 27:59
  Brett: Look like those are your foundations.
• 28:00
  Brett: Water is adaptability.
• 28:01
  Brett: Where are you rigid?
• 28:03
  Brett: Where can you be more flexible?
• 28:05
  Brett: Excuse me, fire is controlled aggression, and if you remember what, if you know Jocko, he talks about being default aggressive.
• 28:14
  Brett: That's kind of the gist that I'm getting from controlled aggression or the fire.
• 28:24
  Brett: And the question I want you to ask yourself is what deserves a push?
• 28:26
  Brett: Where can you be more aggressive in your life, your job, whatever?
• 28:29
  Brett: Think about that.
• 28:30
  Brett: And then the wind.
• 28:31
  Brett: That means study your rivals, study the competition.
• 28:35
  Brett: What can you learn from them?
• 28:37
  Brett: What is something that they're doing that maybe might help you in your own process?
• 28:41
  Brett: Because, like I said, rivals do a couple things they help you understand where you can improve.
• 28:48
  Brett: And two, they push you to be better.
• 28:50
  Brett: It's competition, and competition is good if it's used properly.
• 28:53
  Brett: So think about that.
• 28:55
  Brett: What can you learn from your rivals?
• 28:56
  Brett: And then, finally, the void Real stillness.
• 29:00
  Brett: Turn your phone off, go into a dark room and just sit with your thoughts for 30 minutes.
• 29:08
  Brett: This is going to be a two and a half hour exercise.
• 29:11
  Brett: You can split it up throughout the day, but I really think it's important that you reflect on these things your foundations, your adaptability, your controlled aggression, your rivals and stillness with yourself.
• 29:23
  Brett: Think about those things, the five rings.
• 29:26
  Brett: Now you can journal about these things, you can share something with a friend to anchor accountability.
• 29:32
  Brett: But the first step, I would argue, is just do it for yourself and see how you feel you can practice this over time.
• 29:41
  Brett: But I would say for the next five Sundays, you do this two and a half hour exercise.
• 29:46
  Brett: You're going to be a different person in five weeks, I guarantee you that.
• 29:51
  Brett: And if you're not, write in the comments, brett, you suck.
• 29:55
  Brett: Write that in the comments, exactly that Brett, you suck.
• 30:01
  Brett: Now I want to reflect again on each of the seven principles of Bushido and then just give you a five-minute challenge for each of them, or just kind of explain them a little bit better.
• 30:12
  Brett: So now we'll talk about each of the virtues.
• 30:15
  Brett: The first one is gi, which again is rectitude.
• 30:18
  Brett: And think about yesterday's choices.
• 30:20
  Brett: Rewrite one you'd proudly read aloud, be proud of your choices and if you're not, make some changes.
• 30:29
  Brett: You courage.
• 30:31
  Brett: Do the hard call, send the email, have the difficult conversation you've been putting off within 24 hours.
• 30:40
  Brett: Jin benevolence Send one sincere thank you note to a person who helped you.
• 30:45
  Brett: It could be a voice note, it could be an email, it could be a handwritten one, it doesn't matter, but show someone that you appreciate their time, respect or ray, learn and greet every barista, janitor, people at work.
• 30:58
  Brett: Call them by name, look them in the face and respect them because they're a person just like how you are.
• 31:04
  Brett: And then makato honesty.
• 31:06
  Brett: Record yourself stating your biggest weakness and listen twice.
• 31:10
  Brett: Plan a fix.
• 31:11
  Brett: That's going to be hard, but I've done it.
• 31:15
  Brett: It's really interesting and it at least just allows you to understand that you're being honest with yourself.
• 31:21
  Brett: So start with honesty with yourself and then focus on how you can be honest with other people.
• 31:26
  Brett: Don't hide yourself behind closed doors.
• 31:28
  Brett: Be the person that you are behind closed doors as you are in public.
• 31:30
  Brett: Marcus Aurelius also talks about that.
• 31:33
  Brett: Mio is honor.
• 31:34
  Brett: Ask three people that you know and love and respect for the first adjective they think of when they hear your name and adjust your actions to earn the one that you want.
• 31:45
  Brett: If they say that you're fearless, maybe you want to be courageous and be brave in spite of the danger that's ahead of you and change your actions so you can be.
• 31:58
  Brett: Or maybe they say you're a hard worker but you want to be disciplined, then become disciplined.
• 32:03
  Brett: Chugi is loyalty and block a three-hourfocus Sunday for your life's main mission no multitasking, no phones.
• 32:12
  Brett: And again, I would argue and actually recommend you do the five rings reflection that we talked about, that two-and-a-half-hour exercise.
• 32:20
  Brett: Centuries ago, a wild ronin he forged victory with with driftwood and he wrote the book of five rings and he had relentless self-interrogation.
• 32:35
  Brett: He was always thinking about how he could get better.
• 32:39
  Brett: Bushido is not cosplay, it's an operating system to follow.
• 32:43
  Brett: Decide with justice, act with courage, serve with compassion, greet with respect, respect, speak with honesty, guard your honor and stay loyal to your purpose.
• 32:54
  Brett: I promise you that there is truth behind these virtues.
• 33:02
  Brett: It's clear to me why so many samurai followed these Because if you live a life of justice, courage, compassion, respect, honesty, honor and purpose, you're going to have a greater life.
• 33:17
  Brett: But you have to do it all internal first.
• 33:20
  Brett: It's a lot of internal work.
• 33:21
  Brett: It will pay off.
• 33:22
  Brett: It's going to be hard.
• 33:24
  Brett: It might feel like homework, but that homework is what gets you the grade that gets you to pass, and it's a lifelong journey.
• 33:34
  Brett: These samurais they all practiced this code over centuries not them personally, like samurais in general practice this for centuries and, like I said in the beginning, a lot of martial artists now still practice the same code.
• 33:46
  Brett: They still follow these principles with exactness.
• 33:51
  Brett: I want you to succeed and I hope that some of these principles, these virtues, can help you get to where you want to go.
• 34:02
  Brett: And the biggest thing I would say to learn from this whole episode is challenge your fears, do what it takes.
• 34:08
  Brett: Yes, it's scary that's why it's called fear but you're not going to die.
• 34:15
  Brett: You're not going to die if you step into that fear a little bit, and it doesn't have to be anything crazy.
• 34:23
  Brett: For me, starting a podcast came with a lot of fear.
• 34:25
  Brett: Running a sub three came with a lot of fear.
• 34:27
  Brett: Marrying my wife it came with a lot of fear because I wanted to be the best husband for her and I wanted to live up to that.
• 34:33
  Brett: But everything has come to me and all those experiences have been for my own personal benefit.
• 34:41
  Brett: And looking back now, I would take those steps way sooner than I could have and the only thing I was doing was delaying those lessons because I was scared.
• 34:55
  Brett: And I don't want you to fall into that same pit.
• 34:57
  Brett: I don't want you to fall into that same loop where you just continually talk yourself out of the things that you want to do because you're scared.
• 35:05
  Brett: Take that wooden oar, go fight the devil of the Western provinces, like Musashi did, and knock him on the head, do it.
• 35:17
  Brett: Do it today, get after it.
• 35:18
  Brett: And it's a little bit of a shorter one, but I figured.
• 35:28
  Brett: I am not an expert on Bushido, but I know enough to talk about it and I wanted to teach some of these principles to you all.
• 35:34
  Brett: I'll put all the principles in the show notes so you can do a screenshot, put it on your phone and keep it there.
• 35:39
  Brett: But I would love it if you rated the show, shared it with someone else that was maybe going through something where they're looking to grow and looking to get after it themselves.
• 35:50
  Brett: Until next episode, everyone, draw your sort of habit steady your heart like water and keep getting after it.
• 35:57
  Brett: Thanks guys.