Comments on: Curing Bad Professional Habits for Personal Growth

By: rick d.

rick d. — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:17:26 +0000

Parsing pet peeves:
If everything is phenomenal, nothing is.
If everything is surreal, reduce recreational drug use.
Starting one’s line with “Look,…” or “Listen,..” is boorish.
Lemme tell ya! I gotta tell ya! Mr. Hayes, Thank you for a code to live by, which includes thoughtfully expressing the truth, and speaking purposefully from the heart.

By: Marc D.

Marc D. — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:07:20 +0000

It’s funny because I had the same kind of problem with the quotation marks a few years ago
To keep improving ones hard earned skills is the mark of great men. To share that knowledge and make sure it helps others is even greater. Thank you.
Your books had a great impact on my life (I’ve read them all numerous times, finding new things as I go along) and the long phrases did not (quite the contrary) discourage me. Though I understand and agree that it makes sense when adressing a large audience.
I am really looking forward to your next work.
Greetings from Brussels.
Yours in Budo.
PS pardon my English (not my native language).

By: Jeff K.

Jeff K. — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:42:52 +0000

It would be intriguing indeed to read a new version of those original tomes and see what changes time has wrought to those early explorations.

My own personal wishlist would include a sequel to Tulku. A look at what Ken Odate and ol’ Kozo are up to in this world we now live in would be no doubt as gripping as the first book still is.

An-Shu, I would offer a reference that I have found invaluable ever since my late uncle first put me onto it. “Writing on Both Sides of the Brain” (http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Both-Sides-Brain-Breakthrough/dp/006254490X) is a book I’d consider almost essential reading for a writer.

BTW, greetings from Toronto. It’s been a while since the closure of the old barn dojo but those memories are still fresh…

By: Russ Nemhauser

Russ Nemhauser — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:39:05 +0000

It sure would be interesting to read one of the NInja volumes 1-5 from years ago, then read the same Ninja volume as re-written or edited by the An-Shu Stephen K. Hayes as he approaches September 9 2009 and see how differently the book affects me.

By: Kevin Casey

Kevin Casey — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:13:43 +0000

Mark, there is a way. It’s a long-term process that requires much bravery and good guidance, but from my experiences as a student so far, it is certainly worth it.

By: Mark H.

Mark H. — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:43:54 +0000

I’ve learned to push the negative feelings
out of the way, but it would be nice to stop feeling
them. Is there a way to do that?

Mark H.

By: skhayes

skhayes — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:11:33 +0000

No.
I am not confusing anything, Eric.
The purpose of my writing was to explore our views – our personal inner reaction – when we receive growth input.
I used professional skills as an example of what could trigger ego resistance.
It is all about personal growth, as is everything about To-Shin Do training eventually.

By: Jenn Zuko Boughn

Jenn Zuko Boughn — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:08:41 +0000

Oh my gosh, I was appalled at how many typos and larger mistakes the proofreading committee found in my book after my precise, English-professor eye had already looked at it countless times! And my editor! How could there still be glaring errors there??

I highly recommend a book called _Eats, Shoots, and Leaves_ by Lynne Truss. It’s a book about punctuation, but about so much more.

By: eric

eric — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:58:22 +0000

Interesting article but aren’t you confusing professional habits with personal growth?

This is what I was referring to in my previous comment about paramters of understanding. If we link our understanding of budo within the limits of the times we live in, then we really can’t be said to be studying anything other than what is already being offered.

One must make a clear line between budo knowledge and temporary knowledge.

Thank you for allowing me to respond to your post.

By: Vance West

Vance West — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:05:21 +0000

An-Shu Hayes.

Very ironic. I recently got a piece back from a trusted editor – i think the notes/suggestions contained a higher word count than the original manuscript! Eeeek.

Slowly learning to say more with less noise; kind of like our taijutsu.