Learn the Way Broadly: How to Learn The Fundamental Principles of Life While Doing Any Activity

Hey Everyone!! I'm reading this amazing book that was recommended on the Joe Rogan Podcast. It's called The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.

Learn the Way Broadly:

Joe Rogan mentioned this quote in his podcast which is what brought my attention to this book. The following quote has become my favorite quote of all time:

“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything.”

-Miyamoto Musashi

The reason why this quote is so profound to me is because of it's application to literally everything we do. Whether you read books, listen to podcasts, work on cars or even play video games, there is value in what you do.

If you continually ask questions and do what you love with thoughtfulness and character and if you always strive to improve and progress, you will live a good life and you will be successful - however you may wish to define success.

Learning the way broadly (to me) means that you learn the fundamental principles of life through whatever it is that you love to do. If you love to read books, then there is more to it than just reading books. There is far more to learn about discipline, patience, etc. from the practice itself of reading.

If you're playing a video game (an example I'm using because many think that it's a complete waste of time) you can learn the fundamental principles of life - patience, discipline, repeated practice, the benefits of muscle memory, problem-solving etc. etc.

There is an important caveat to all of this: if you aren't paying close attention and working with a sense of thoughtfulness and awareness, then these lessons will pass right over your head. You'll be like the average person who just coasts through activities without learning the fundamental principles that they are trying to teach you.

---

I wanted to add my own little personal example to all this talk of finding the principles of life by doing any activity. I read a lot, so I'll use that activity for this example:

Reading requires a great deal of patience, especially in our society. If I were to ask 10 of my twenty-something year-old friends if they read books or not, how many do you think would say yes?

Well, I thought about this and then I actually went ahead and asked 10 of them and not a single 1 of them had a consistent practice of reading books. 2 of them claimed to read "ocassionally" - when I asked them what that meant, they said that they may read 1 or 2 books a year if something caught their eye. That's better than nothing.

Patience is a hard virtue to attain and build up. Some days I sit down to read and I can't wait till it's over. I'm checking my timer every 5 minutes just waiting for that 1-hour clock to be up.

Other days I'm really invested in what I'm reading and I'll read to the 1 hour and say "oh, that's it already?!" and then I'll set another timer for 30 mins or 1 hour and keep going if I'm in the mood.

Reading has taught me that patience isn't something you attain, it's something you work for... constantly. It's something that is variable - some days, you will be far more patient than others.

Reading has also taught me that patience is one of the most enjoyable virtues. If you are patient enough, then nothing can make you angry. Nothing can frustrate you. You can clearly look at your life and evaluate your options. You can make decisions with both a clear head and a clear heart.

---

What is a lesson that you have learned recently and did you learn it at an unexpected time/place/activity?