Who Will Cry When You Die\?: Life Lessons From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari pdfdrive com

80.
Make a Vow of Silence
The Buddhist monks have a favorite strategy to build willpower—one that has
been used by many cultures over the years to create enormous amounts of inner
strength and resolve. It is the vow of silence. Staying quiet for even short periods
of time builds willpower and self-control because you exert force on your will
by not giving in to the impulse to talk.
So many people talk far more than they have to. Rather than speaking
precisely and communicating only what needs to be said, all too often we go on
and on. This in itself reveals a lack of discipline. Discipline involves saying
exactly what needs to be said and preserving your precious mental energy by not
talking more than you have to. Measured, precise speech is also a sign of clear
thought and of a serene mind.
A strategy that you can apply today to improve your personal discipline is
to keep a vow of silence for one hour a day over the next seven. Don’t speak at
all during this silent time. Or if you must, speak only in direct response to a
question and offer a clear, crisp answer rather than rattling on about everything
from what was on TV last night to where you hope to vacation this summer. The
vow of silence can be adopted politely and warmly. The idea is to make you
stronger and to enhance your will, not to hinder your relationships. Within a
matter of days, you will feel a sense of mastery and strength growing within you.
Judge by the results: they will speak for themselves.

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81.
Don’t Pick Up the Phone Every Time
It Rings
The telephone is there for your convenience, not for the convenience of your
callers. Yet, as soon as we hear the phone ring, we act as if we are firefighters
rushing to a five-alarm fire. We run to pick it up as if our lives depended on the
call being answered at once. I have seen people interrupt quiet family dinners,
dedicated reading times and meditation periods to answer those seemingly
urgent phone calls, many of which turn out to be ones that could have been taken
later.
Voice mail, though not perfect, is in many ways one of the great blessings
of the modern age. It frees you up to do the things you want by allowing you to
answer calls when it suits you. You no longer need be interrupted by the ringing
phone and can spend your time on life’s more important pursuits.
The habit of picking up the phone every time it rings is a hard one to break,
as I know from personal experience. It is so easy to run to it, simply because we
want to know who is calling us. Often, picking up the ringing phone is just
another way to put off doing something you don’t really want to do. But once
you get good at letting it ring and staying focused on the activity at hand,
whether it is reading a good book, having a heart-to-heart conversation with your
life partner or frolicking with your kids, you will wonder what the hurry to pick
up the phone was all about in the first place.

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