The Financial Philosopher

Reflection & Introspection: Quotes for the End, Beginning & Present Moment

Every year at this time, as the hustle and bustle begins to wind down, my thoughts straddle between looking back and looking forward.  While I try to stay in the present moment as much as possible, the end of a year and the beginning of a new one has more weight on my mind than just the passing of any other moment, any other day, or any other month during the year.

Reflection is a healthy thing to do at any time; but since most people, and probably most of you reading this, tend to be more reflective this time of year, I thought a post with quotes on reflection would be useful for you in some way. 

As you read and reflect, keep in mind that reflection is not just a "looking back" -- it is giving mindful attention to lessons learned from experience and applying them to future growth and well-being -- it is a reinforcement -- a looking inward -- an introspective inquiry with oneself.

After reflection and introspection, go back to living in the present moment.  Perhaps you won't need any New Year's Resolutions this year!

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." ~ Confucius 

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him." ~ John Locke

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

"The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing, it rejects nothing. It receives but does not keep." ~ Chuang tzu

"People usually fail when they are on the verge of success.  So give as much care to the end as to the beginning; Then there will be no failure." ~ Lau Tzu

"What the butterfly calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

"Between the conception / And the creation / Between the emotion / And the response / Falls the Shadow." ~ T.S. Elliot

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"What is to give light must endure burning." ~ Viktor Frankl

"Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer." ~ D.T. Suzuki

"Only this actual moment is life.  Don't be attached to the future.  Don't worry about things you have to do.  Don't think about getting up or taking off to do anything.  Don't think about departing." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh 

Thanks for joining me in 2009 -- I'll be back early in 2010!

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Related: Quotes Pages

Questions for You...

"Ultimately man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked." ~ Viktor Frankl

When you read a question that challenges you to think of your own life and reflect upon the path you are currently taking, do you recognize that it is you that is asked the question or do you treat the question as rhetorical in nature?

Today, I have some questions that will actually make you think -- not only about where you have been, but about where you are going -- and how that direction relates to money, happiness, career and the course of your life in general. 

Here's a helpful hint:  Do not force yourself to answer the questions -- simply let your mind freely go where the questions lead...

At the end of the questions, I will provide the source of where you can find many more like them...

When has your life dramatically changed as the result of some seemingly random external influence?  How much do you feel in control of the course of your life?

Is it easy for you to ask for help when you need it?  Will you ask for help?

Where would you choose to be if you could place yourself anywhere on a scale from one to ten, where one is hardship, struggle, and extraordinary accomplishment and ten is comfort, peace of mind, and no accomplishment.  Why?  Where are you now?

If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone?  Why haven't you told them yet?

If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience would you do so?  If not, why not?

Would you rather be extremely successful professionally and have a tolerable yet unexciting private life, or have an extremely happy private life and only a tolerable and uninspiring professional life?

Do you have any specific long-term goals?  What is one and how do you plan on reaching it?

For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

Does the fact that you have never done something before increase or decrease its appeal to you?

If 100 people your age were chosen at random, how many do you think you'd find leading a more satisfying life than yours?

Would you like to know the precise date of your death?

Would you accept a guaranteed, lifetime allowance of $50,000 per year (adjusted annually for inflation) if accepting it meant that you could never again earn money from either work or investments?

If you learned you would die in a few days, what regrets would you have?  Were you given five extra years of life, could you avoid those same regrets five years hence?

What would you like to be doing five years from now?  What do you think you will be doing five years from now?

Since so many people place an emphasis on a happy private life, why do people often wind up putting more energy into their professional lives?  If you feel your private life is more important to you, do your priorities support this?  Are you simply unwilling to admit that work is more important?  Do you use work as a substitute?  Do you hope professional success will somehow magically lead to personal happiness?

Do you feel you have enough time?  If not, what would give you that feeling?  How much has your attitude about time changed as you've aged?

Can you envision how you are likely to look back upon things you are doing today?  If so, how much do you try to live now as you think you will one day wish you had lived?

"Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Did you answer the questions or did you allow your mind to go where the questions lead you?  Did you discover anything of value?  Were there certain subjects, such as money, happiness or career, that made you pause to think more than others?  Why do you think that is?

Often it is not the answers that help us in reflecting on our own lives but by going where the questions take us -- to a vision of the past, present and future -- to a place where the answers may be revealed to us as individual people and what steps we may want to be taking going forward...

For more questions like these, I recommend The Book of Questions.  The book sure clarified a few things for me...

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Related Post:  Life Planning Part III:  Creating the Plan

A 'Factory for Unhappy People'

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught." ~ Oscar Wilde

Why does one pursue higher education?  Is it to acquire knowledge?  What do we do with the knowledge once it is acquired?  Do we ultimately want money, power and social status or do we want to learn more about ourselves?  What can a classroom teach us of life?

A recent article in BusinessWeek, "What I Learned at Harvard Business School," provides some rather interesting perspective into the pursuits of business school students, as written in the book, Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, by Philip Delves Broughton.

Here are some selected excerpts from the BusinessWeek article that highlight Broughton's Harvard experience:

Broughton provides an insightful and entertaining, behind-the-scenes glimpse at a powerful institution that he sees as generally succeeding in its mission of transforming students into business leaders.  But he views HBS as failing them in almost every other way.  It is, in his persuasive account, a 'factory for unhappy people...'

Broughton found little to criticize and much to praise about the HBS case study method, which gets students to find fixes for company problems...

But ethics is another matter...

Many of Broughton's classmates came to HBS ethically challenged, he says; some qualified for financial aid by depleting their savings with the purchase of expensive cars...

The pressure to follow conventional paths is a recurring theme, with classmate after classmate either battling the forces of conformity or succumbing to the siren song...

[Broughton] gives insight into daily life at Harvard and the 'fear of missing out' that leads many students to attend every event, no matter how trivial...

He came away appalled by the power that business wields in our society and by the ability of an institution like Harvard to perpetuate that state of affairs.  'Has society allotted too much authority to a single, narcissistic class of spreadsheet makers and PowerPoint presenters?'

It's interesting how Broughton reveals the unhappiness that is produced by the pursuit of money, power and social status via higher education.  I wonder if most of the HBS students truly believe that their degrees will bring them the kind of success that produces real fulfillment -- what they believe to be happiness?

"That's one thing about a little education.  It spoils you for actual work.  The more you know the more you think somebody owes you a living." ~ Will Rogers

I touched on this issue before in a previous post called, The Knowing-Doing Gap, where I pointed to studies of behaviors and teaching methods in business schools that would have their graduates learning how to "talk smart" and strategically climb the corporate ladder but never really learning how to "do" much of anything.  After all, knowledge is power. Actually applying this knowledge is not necessary for "success" in the world of big business today -- one only needs to look and act "smart" and let others do all of the "doing." 

I say knowledge may be power but it is certainly not wisdom and that the word, student, has no boundaries...

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." ~ Buddhist Proverb

I have a personal view on higher education and should disclose that I am less than one year from completing my masters in business administration (MBA) degree studies.  When I began the program five years ago, I was looking to advance my career -- to climb the corporate ladder.  Now, when I look back, I realize that I was pursuing the MBA to make me a faster runner in the rat race -- a pursuit that brought more stress and unhappiness -- not happiness via money, power and social status.

I now see that the knowledge acquired through "higher education" is still beneath the self-knowledge acquired through the highest form of education, which is found within ourselves...

...And when I "graduate" from business school and hang that MBA diploma on my wall, I will be able to look at it and be perpetually reminded that the greatest lessons I learned during those five years were learned outside of the classroom...

Related Posts:

The Knowing-Doing Gap

Enabling Opportunities

Curing Affluenza