Blessing Fourteen:
Not Leaving one’s Work Undone
Not Leaving one’s Work Undone
D. STRATEGIES FOR NON-PROVARICATION
D.1 Those who are successful in work
Thus if you want to be successful in whatever you do you must:
1. Do it at the right time
2. Do it in the appropriate way
3. Get round to doing it
4. Do it enthusiastically and conscientiously
The signs of someone who will be successful in their work are as follows:
1. Approaching work in the appropriate way [paṭirūpakārī]. You must have learned from Mangala 7 and 8 before you can achieve this. When you are new to work you have to learn from your errors. You need to be observant and patient to obtain this characteristic.
2. Loving work and challenges to one’s ability [dhuravā]. Not to look down on work of any sort.
3. Keenness and quickness in work and enthusiastic, lively & active [uṭṭātā]. If you do find that you are lethargic then maybe you should take up sport.
(Āḷavaka Sutta S.i.214)
D.2 Recipe for success in worldly & spiritual work
Success in one’s work will be attained more easily, whether it be worldly or spiritual work, if one is able to put into practice the following four principles called the “Four Foundations of Success” [iddhipada] applicable to all types of work, worldly or spiritual. Practicing towards success comes in four stages:
1. initial motivation [chanda]: With work you need the willingness to get down and do the work. Without this, you will never get down to doing it. For spiritual practice it is also important to try to find the initial motivation to cultivate yourself. Don’t wait for the mood to work or cultivate yourself to accidentally happen — look for ways to create the right mood! It means looking forward to the practice of meditation. Sitting down to meditate like a mercenary or even forcing yourself to do the practice will never give you the results for which you are seeking.
2. initial application [viriya]: The next thing which you require is actually to get down to work in the proper way — starting as you mean to go on. This often means achieving an optimal balance between productivity and enjoyment (mindfulness and comfort for meditation).
3. sustained application [citta]: Starting out well is not enough however, and you have to be able to keep up the good work if you are to succeed. You need to be consistent about your work or spiritual practice meditation setting aside time for both each day — and not giving in to exceptions and excuses. For work you need to keep going until you bring the task to completion, for meditation you need to cultivate mindfulness until it is something you can maintain twenty-four hours-a-day.
4. retrospective analysis [vīmaṃsā]: you need to back over your work and give yourself feedback looking for ever better and more efficient ways to do the same task in the future. In spiritual practice you need to be observant. You need regularly to examine your own performance remedying your weaknesses as quickly as possible so that they no longer impede your worldly and spiritual progress. If you experience success, you should remember the reasons for your success so that you can apply it on future occasions.
D.iii.221, Vbh.216
If you can follow these four simple principles in your professional and spiritual work, success is only just around the corner.
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