THE BUSINESS SAMURAI - SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESS AND LIFE

It’s not uncommon to reach into the past to learn some of the timeless lessons from ancient masters that still applies today. I often utilize Stoic philosophy and Zen principles to help guide me in decision making, and we know that many people utilize passages and principles from the Bible to guide them in theirs. These are all examples of ancient wisdom and principles being utilized as a guide for modern life and, while they can often give us great insight into how some things never change, some of that ancient wisdom can also give us insight into business as well.

If you’ve never been introduced to the life and lessons from Japanese swordsmen, Myamoto Musashi, let me introduce you. He’s one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history and for a few good reasons, which I’ll touch on in today’s episode. While many of the great lessons from history were written by the students and followers of great teachers, Musashi actually gave us his playbook. The actual name of his playbook is called (Go Rin No Sho) ‘The Book of Five Rings’, although I like to call it the ‘Business Samurai Playbook’

In this episode, I’m going to share with you seven takeaways from studying the life and lessons of Musashi for the last 30 years or so and give you some ancient wisdom that I believe applies today maybe even more than it did 400 years ago.

For those of you not familiar with eastern philosophies and practices, it wasn’t uncommon for the Chinese and Japanese masters to refer to their teachings and principles as a ‘way’, or a path that leads to something better or more enlightened than where the student is today. In Japanese, the word is ‘Do’, as in Aikido, Karatedo, or Kendo. The ‘Do’ at the end refers to those martial arts being paths toward some greater understanding instead of just being a physical art of self defense. In Chinese, the word is ‘Tao’, again meaning something like a path, a way of living or seeing things, and a method or a set of principles, not just techniques.

Since I’ll be sharing principles from a well know Japanese sword-master, I’m going to refer to each of these seven principles just as Musahsi did, which was to refer to them as ‘the way’, as in, ‘the way of discipline’ and ‘the way of adaptability’, so as to make the point that each of these principles is just that, a greater principle to be digested as such and not a hack, a strategy, or a quick fix to something in life or business.

Much of what I find myself coaching on from day to day, not only with my coaching members, but also within my own businesses and my own staff, are the bigger principles at play within certain strategies and tactics. I often listen as very smart and well-intentioned entrepreneurs lay out some kind of tactic or strategy they want to employ to deal with a challenge or to grow their business only to realize that they’re often missing a bigger principle at play. And, lest you’re wondering what I mean when I use the word ‘principle’, I’m referring to the part of any strategy or tactic that is rooted in some kind of timeless truth or a rule of reality that does not change regardless of the business, the day of the week, or the person.

So, before we get into these seven principles from Miyamoto Musashi, since I’m not going to spend any time talking about the history of Musashi and all his sword battles, I’ll just encourage you all to Google Musashi if you have any interest in learning about the man. One of the reasons I’m a fan of the lessons and principles that Musashi left us is because he wasn’t just a mindless killer samurai. Later in life he was an artist, a sculptor, a carpenter, a poet, a teacher, a master painter and calligrapher, and something of a renaissance man.

One could just focus on his military and battle strategies and take something away from that study that might apply to business and life. But when you understand that Musashi was teaching his students to see and experience life from every angle and every discipline, not just martial or fighting disciplines, you realize that he was teaching the students of his day, as well as every person who might come across his teachings well into the future, that becoming a fully formed human being was not only a never-ending pursuit, but one that required fully accessing all of the various aspects that being human entailed.

Which leads us to the first principle from Musashi, the way of discipline. Discipline is a big word for a lot of people because it’s often pointing more to the areas we’re all lacking in it and less to the ways to cultivate it. Essentially, Musashi taught us that mastery of anything begins and ends with mastery of the self. Discipline means doing the things that need to be done because you know they need to be done absent the motivation to actually do them.

If you can't control your own time, for example, how can you possibly expect anyone to value your time? Mastery begins with the self. If you can’t control your own emotions and impulses, you’ll never be able to gain control over your circumstances. If you can’t master and control your habits, you’ll never be able to build the routines necessary to withstand the constant challenges that come with building a successful life and business.

I say all of this with full recognition that I have not mastered these things myself. Remember that I said just a few minutes ago that becoming a fully formed human being is a never-ending pursuit. To me, that’s the good news and the bad news. It’s good news because it means it’s never too late to start. The bad news is that it never ends.

The big takeaway from the ‘way of discipline’ is that mastery of anything lies first with mastery of the self. Those of you thinking there is some missing tactic to getting your phone ringing with more business are likely missing the most important lesson of all: the answer isn’t out there somewhere, the answer is within. There is something you aren’t being disciplined about in your daily life and/or business now that could change everything for you if you would just start it even without the proper motivation or guarantees of success, or even a result at all.

Yes, I can teach you how to build a killer website that will help you increase your non-lender business. Yes, I can teach you the scripts and dialogues for accelerating the know, like, and trust factor with leads and potential clients. Yes, I can give you an almost guaranteed blueprint for building a principles-based business that will set you up for life. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the last 8 years or so for free on this podcast.

Yet, I still get people reaching out every week who’ve been listening to me all these years and haven’t yet implemented the things I tell them to do. That’s not a strategy and tactics problem; that’s a discipline problem. If you can’t master yourself first, there’s nothing I or anyone else can tell you that will create fundamental change in your life or business. Mastery begins at home, and it begins with the self. Although this first principle is called ‘the way of discipline’, it can be summed up simply by saying, ‘discipline IS the way’. Get your shit together, get off your ass, and do the things you know need to be done and do them simply BECAUSE they need to be done, and do them now. You don’t have as much time as you think.

The next principle for life and business from Musashi is called ‘the way of adaptability’. If ever there was a path to follow in 2025 heading into 2030 with all of the changes that AI and machine learning are bringing, an entire world in chaos, and as close as we may have ever been in our lifetimes to world war, it would be the path of adaptability. If ever there was a principle to focus on in an appraisal business, it would be the principle of adaptability.

Musashi taught that victory goes to the one who can change weapons and tactics mid-battle. Yes, he taught this as part of his Niten-Ichi style of sword fighting, but he also taught this as a more broadly accepted principle of strategy and acceptance of the way things are, not as we wish they would be. It’s a philosophy of being adaptable and not attached to any one particular path or tool.

Markets shift, technology changes, competitors evolve, and new ones emerge. The businessperson who clings to one model, one strategy, one market eventually loses since nothing stays the same forever. We’re seeing a lot of chatter right now about this very thing as lots of appraisers are announcing their impending exit from the industry with the upcoming change to UAD 3.6 and all that comes with it. These are people who don’t have the discipline to buckle down and learn a new skill, and they are signaling their inability to adapt to the natural and inevitable changes in the world. Most of them would rather head over to Facebook and spend their precious time writing a multi paragraph post than spending a few hours delving into the changes.

Victory goes to the one who can a change weapons and tactics mid-battle. The current battle is demanding that we change tactics and weapons and those who can’t, will either find another battle to fight or they die in the battle. Whether it’s a change in tactics and weapons to focus on the non-lender side of the business, or the changing of tactics and weapons is simple a shift in your thinking about picking up a digital tablet, a laser measuring device, and laying the clipboard and graph paper to rest, the times we’re in demand adaptability. How adaptable are you? How adaptable is your business model? The answer is: ‘you’re about to find out.’

The third principle of the Business Samurai is called, ‘the way of simplicity’. You’ve likely heard me say this phrase before, although it doesn’t come from me, that simplicity scales, complexity fails. The way of simplicity is one of the best rules for life and business, in my opinion.

The law of simplicity is a principle that demands that we cut away the unnecessary. Get rid of the overly complex strategies and processes you’ve built up to make yourself feel good. Simplify down to the point where you find yourself saying, ‘this seems like it should be more complex’. Focus on the absolute essentials in your life and business that create impact, influence, profit for yourself and your family, and make it possible for you to live the life you envision for yourself.

This principle, path, way, or philosophy is, like all the other principles we’re talking about, timeless in that it has always and will always make sense in almost every situation and scenario. Simplicity almost always wins the day. Focus on the essentials whether in life, business, relationships, negotiations, contracts, partnerships; whatever it may be. Whenever you find yourself asking the question: ‘what will solve this, fix this, end this, move this, grow this, or make this better?’, the answer is almost always the simplest and easiest path.

In fact, it's often so simple that most skip over it and head right toward more complexity thinking, ‘since this presents as an issue or challenge, if the answer was simple, I would’ve figured it out by now.’ But that’s not what most people do and it's not how most people think. In fact, there’s a name for it and its called ‘Complexity Bias’, which is where the brain tends to favor more complicated explanations or solutions to problems when the simple path or answer is the correct one. The human brain often factors the more complex answers because it assumes simple can’t possibly be enough.

I see this often when coaching people and I saw it on a daily basis in the corporate world where teams of people would spend hours, days, weeks, sometimes months trying to solve a problem, likely one they created themselves, only to make the problem more complex over time instead of just settling into the simplest solution possible. The ‘way of simplicity’ is a simple call to cut away the unnecessary in favor of the essential.

The next principle of the Business Samurai is called ‘the way of detachment’. This one is tied closely with the way of simplicity because it is a calling to not let the wins, the losses, your possessions, your goals, or your ego control you. Detachment from things, from ideas, from results, and from emotions is not a call to not have desires or goals. Instead, it is a simple command to not get attached to those desires and those goals.

I know this one might be hard for some to understand because we’re taught in Western culture to set goals, make vision boards, if you want something bad enough, you’ll stay up late and work your ass off to achieve it, and so on. What we’re not taught in our culture is how to set a goal and then detach from the outcome. We’re not taught how to create a vision and then detach from the ‘how’ of achieving that vision. We’re not taught the difference between want and need, so we tend to think if we want it then we must need it.

The way of detachment simply says, don’t chase trends, vanity metrics, shiny new objects, and things we simply don’t need. The way of detachment implores us as business owners to focus on the things that truly matter and not get attached to what your ego says is important. The way of detachment is a clarion call to never get attached to seeking another’s approval. We build for durability and longevity, not for applause or adulation. Lead with principle, not your ego. Focus on and fall in love with the process, not necessarily the outcome.

The fifth principle of the Business Samurai is called ‘the way of preparation’ and, just as it sounds, it’s a call to never stop preparing for eventualities. Musashi taught, as did other great philosophers and strategists, that battles are won before the first strike ever takes place.

I had the great fortune to have spent the better portion of my life studying a martial art called Aikido, whereby one of the pillars is based on a Japanese concept called, ‘ai nuke’, or mutual preservation, as opposed to the idea of mutual destruction. The latter refers to the idea that when two are engaged in combat, the best trained may win the battle, but still ultimately lose the war. It’s a concept often talked about regarding nuclear war in that there are no winners when two nations bomb each other into oblivions. This is referred to as mutually assured destruction.

Mutual preservation, on the other hand, refers to the idea that, when two highly trained masters face each other, both prepared to the utmost degree, they will both recognize in the other, not only the resolute acceptance of death, but that there will never be an opening to attack the other one, so they both bow in recognition of that mastery and then go have a beer.

The way of preparation is a call to never stop training, never stop growing, never stop learning, never stop evolving, never stop sharpening your sword AND to never stop training with it. It’s a command to always be researching, analyzing, anticipating, and planning. Study your business like your way of life depends on it, because it often does.

I remember a very distinct and poignant conversation I had with Mr. Toyoda when I was living in the Zen and Aikido dojo in Chicago about keeping your sword sharpened while sheathed. We were discussing my situation where I would eventually be moving back to my hometown to open my own Aikido school and the challenges I would face from some of my former friends and teachers who expected me to come home and immediately start teaching at their school. I had full intentions of opening my own school and dictating my own future, so he started explaining what my mindset needed to be by using some samurai logic and philosophy.

The philosophy was that you are always preparing, always keeping your sword razor sharp, always keeping your technique swift and powerful through practice, and always anticipating the worst scenario you may find yourself in, but, when not training, to keep your sword sheathed until you absolutely needed to use it. He was essentially saying, go home, do your own thing with confidence and with no obligation to apologize to anyone for being the best trained and most capable version of yourself.

The message was received. Prepare, practice, train, workout, war-game scenarios, have multiple options, study the terrain (market), anticipate a variety of scenarios, and then plan for success. You do all of this so that execution feels effortless and as if merely an extension of your natural efforts when its time to strike, so to speak. And, oh by the way, it never ends. He was sure to remind me of this fact. You never arrive at a point where you aren’t practicing and sharpening your skills and your sword, even if it never leaves the sheath to do battle. The way of preparation is to win the battle before you ever need to.

The next one is one of my favorites because its one of the ways or paths that turns some of these somewhat hardcore military style principles into a set of principles and philosophies for a life well lived as a fully formed human being. The next principle, and one of the most misunderstood, is called ‘the way of balance’.

In essence, what Musashi said with this principle is that a true warrior is also an artist. What he meant is that, by studying and practicing other arts and other artists (businesses, business owners, business philosophies, etc.), the individual learns to see patterns and principles that transcend any single domain. On a side note, I talk about this particular concept in another podcast where I talk about the differences between having just expertise versus having authority. I never reference Musashi in that episode, but the philosophy speaks to the same principles: don’t just become an expert in one narrow domain, study and practice a variety of different things so as to see and feel the patterns that encompass and transcend all domains.

It’s much easier to understand math if you’re a musician. It’s much easier to understand music if you also paint. It’s much easier to understand painting if you also do martial arts. It’s much easier to understand martial arts when you also paint, play the drums, read and write poetry or fiction, and so on. Why? Because the more varied all of the arts and skillets one undertakes, the more easily it becomes to see and feel the intertwining thread that flows through all of them.

Timing, syncopation, natural rhythms, flow, movement, the differences between hard and soft, and the importance of understanding all of it makes one simply a more capable human being. The way of balance is a call to become a more complete individual, a more complete business strategist, and a more complete leader by venturing outside of your comfort zone, as well as your narrow domain of expertise to explore all of the similarities in seemingly unconnected and disparate things.

You love lifting weights and going to the gym? Awesome, do that while also taking up something completely non-physical like writing poetry or studying philosophy. Love doing analytical things? Awesome, do that while also taking up something like archery, martial arts, powerlifting, or boxing. These are just a few simplistic examples of what the way of balance suggests. The sword teaches precision and timing. Aikido teaches the subtle use of one’s own energy and power. Painting teaches flow, detachment from outcomes, and patience. Calligraphy teaches economy of motion. Pottery making teaches the subtle application of power and transfer of energy from the center. Together, they shape a balanced mind, body, and soul.

Musashi understood what many modern thinkers and entrepreneurs miss: a person who is only strong is brittle. A person who is only artistic lacks power. A person who unites the two is unshakable. A true warrior, and I’m using the term ‘warrior’ more as a euphemism for someone fighting each day to be better than they were yesterday, fighting for the weak and less privileged, and someone trying to leave the world better than they found it, cultivates both the martial and the aesthetic, because mastery in one sharpens the other.

As a strictly modern-day business principle, strength without artistry leads to burnout, lack of vision, rigidity, and transactional thinking. Artistry without strength and the ability to defend oneself leads to fragility and detachment from reality. Balance creates leaders who are decisive, yet thoughtful, powerful yet compassionate, disciplined yet creative.

The business samurai has a warrior side that builds systems, drives strategy, fights for her people, defends her mission and the vision, and executes with decisiveness. The business samurai also has an artistic side that shapes that vision, develops the brand, makes compelling content, tells the story, designs beautiful customer experiences, and is disciplined yet creative. Build culture and beauty, not just profits. That’s the way of balance.

Which leads us to the last one of the seven principles of the Business Samurai, ‘the way of mastery’, which is a simple principle that I touched on during the way of preparation, which is that the way has no end. The way of mastery exclaims that one remain always a student. The Japanese refer to this as ‘shoshin’, or beginners mind. Regardless of how far one comes on a particular path, its important to never lose the beginner’s mind.

Following the way of mastery, or the whole Business Samurai framework, means never arriving, which is why its such a difficult thing to understand for so many. All our lives we’ve been undertaking things with a sole goal of completing those things. Finish the assignment, start the new project. Finish that project, start the next one. The way of mastery is seeing each of the steps in that process as merely steps on a big circle with no end. The end of one circle is also the beginning of the next circle.

In Japan, the concept of Kaizen, or continuous improvement for the good, embodies this idea that mastery is not a destination, but instead a journey, and the journey never ends my friends. Discipline, adaptability, simplicity, detachment, preparation, balance, and mastery. Seven principles of the modern-day samurai in both life and business.

If you’re interested in learning more about how these seven principles get applied to life and business, swing by the Appraiser Increase Academy and join one of the most tuned in and turned on communities of appraisers out there. These are appraisers who don’t waste their precious time complaining about what was, they simply get after it and build successful businesses that serve their lives. You can try it out completely free for 30 days with no obligation by going to www.coachblaine.com/freemonth . In addition to going much deeper on these topics and how to build the most profitable life and business possible, we do weekly live market and industry updates, skills training, we talk about AI and its use in your business, and a ton of other stuff to help you build a killer life and business.

Successful businesses are built utilizing success principles like the seven I talked about in this episode, not just hacks and tactics. If what you’ve been trying isn’t getting you the results you hoped for, look for the underlying principle that is likely being violated and you’ll find the answers.