Work place politics

Very often in the work environment. To win. One would do well to always remember, it is never a textbook case of merely uploading a super duper thoughtware like the seven habits of highly effective people into one’s head that guarantees success.

As it remains the very pressing challenge of how to intelligently navigate around the seven habits of highly ineffective people so that they don’t sabotage your chances to win decisively.

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‘A detached state of mind doesn’t mean you have successfully managed to convince your brain and heart that you no longer give two hoots about a stressful and unpleasant situation. That is not the real detached state of mind. That is indifference. Ambivalence. Resignation. Acceptance. Callous disregard. Dereliction of duty. Failing in your role! That is bochap lah. Any bloody fool can do that.

A genuine detached state of mind is when your intellect and every cell in your body is 100% conscious of what is happening around you and to you and yet you are able to retain your composure to exert control over your emotions to allow you to select the best way to respond to the situation.

Detachment doesn’t mean doing absolutely nothing and folding your arms like a wooden figurine. While everything around is going crazy. That is happy resignation. No skill there again! Any bloody fool can do that.

True Detachment or specifically the ’empty mind’ is the highest state of human consciousness. It is by it’s nature proactive. Not reactive. It can respond effectively. It is not dead like a door knob.

For example, if someone is trying to irritate you to bring out the very worse in your character. You are able to detach yourself from being a being swept away by the tsunami of fear and anger. You are still fearful and angry or both. But because you are mindful of how your fear and anger speeds up your heart rate and threatens to cloud your judgement. This insight enables you to detach yourself from these primal emotions that will force you into the corner of the fight or flight mode. You are able to trust yourself completely to respond effectively to that stressful situation.

The ’empty mind’ is not empty. Not at all. It does not imply nothingness. If there is nothing there, then nothing would come out of it. It is none other than the highest state of alertness and preparedness in all martial disciplines. This is the most effective stage of mind to adopt when managing yourself and others.’