I realize not everyone grew up watching TV in the 1970′s. This became abundantly apparent when a young acquaintance of mine didn’t know what the term ‘Grasshopper’ meant. Let me clarify for those blessed with youth or no television and offer the productivity perspective.
From 1972-1975 there was a weekly television series called Kung Fu staring David Carradine. You can read all about it on Wikipedia.com. Here’s the condensed version.
After becoming a martial arts master (Shaolin priest) at the Shaolin Monastery, Carradine’s character, Caine, flees China to the western United States to find his roots and half-brother. There are often flashbacks to when he was training as a boy, which emphasized his rigorous spiritual and mental training. The blind Master Po referred to Caine as ‘Grasshopper,’ which was an endearing term that meant novice or student. When Caine was not ‘getting it,’ Master Po would often say, “More training, Grasshopper.”
I loved that show. Talk about an intense work ethic! Prospective students would have to wait outside of the Monastery every day sometimes for months or years in the rain and all kinds of inclement weather just to be granted an opportunity to meet with a Master to be considered for discipleship.
But the rewards for the hard work to become a master become apparent when you see the result via watching the Kung Fu episodes. To follow up from last week’s issue about ‘luck,’ Caine demonstrated how being supremely prepared helped him in many different sticky situations.
So, the reason I named this newsletter Productivity Tips for busy Grasshoppers is because I’m hallucinating that you have an insatiable appetite for learning — like me. If you don’t, why are you still reading?
I love learning. In fact, I’d put it up there pretty close to breathing. Unlike some college students who mistakenly believe that they know everything once they’ve graduated. Every successful person I know is deliberately and consistently increasing their knowledge in some form or fashion.
My karate teacher, Sensei Steve O’Riley, has been studying martial arts for over 25 years and is a 6th degree black belt. He is constantly reminding us that we will never be perfect, but we can always be better than we were.
If you want to be more productive, if you want to make more money, if you want to have more fulfilling personal relationships, if you want to have excellent communication skills, if you want to experience better health, more energy and more happiness or improve in any other way, adopt and maintain the habit of life-long learning and always remember: “More training, Grasshopper!