A Mason's Work

Something that comes up, particularly when you're trying to figure things out, is that

there seems to be a conflict between the different types of advice and guides you might get

out there in the field.

One of those conflicting pieces of advice or what seems to be on the surface conflicting

is something you've even heard here on this podcast.

One of the notions that we've discussed is to not be focused on the outcomes in terms

of how you execute.

What we mean by that is when you look at things like the work you're trying to do, understand

that the results are going to come in their own time.

That doesn't mean to disregard your impact on the outcomes you're creating.

For example, if it's easy to use the seed or some sort of farming example or analogy,

when you plant a seed, it's important to water it and make sure it gets out of it with

sunshine.

Watering a different part of the garden is not going to help you achieve your outcomes.

If you plant a seed and you don't water it, good luck.

It's not necessarily going to work to your objective.

That said, watering the seed is also a meaningful guarantee of when that specific result is going

to happen day time, that kind of thing that seed itself may not be viable for other reasons.

When you start to put these things together, it looks like you have conflicting advice.

Focus on the process, not the outcomes, and at the same time, focus on the outcomes,

not the process.

When we reconcile both of these conflicting pieces of feedback, it's important to understand

what we're talking about is time.

Being in the moment and focusing your efforts on things like the process and being present

while you execute, being present while you do the things you do is really important.

This is how you do things like in weightlifting with a mind muscle connection.

This is how you are open and full of care and compassion when you talk about things like

customer service or any other kind of emotional, emotionally responsible jobs.

All of that sort of work, all of that expression is a temporal in the moment expression.

That said, it may not any of those kind of expressions in the moment in that period of time

may not be productive for your long-term goal.

Being present and open in the moment in a customer service job when you want to go and

work in a mechanical field, for example, seems like those aren't the same thing.

It's quite clear that they're not.

As you're beginning the process of learning how to execute these things, understanding

that you should have an end in mind and work towards that end and use the moments you

have to create the best possible outcomes in the moment should take some of that perceptual

conflict out of the conversation a little bit so that you can both be in the moment and

not focus on the outcomes.

At the same time, working towards a longer strategic objective.

If you have questions, comments or concerns on this as you're moving forward, please don't

hesitate to reach out.

I know it seems like conflicting advice and you're going to see it in a lot of the literature

and the lore out there in the different spiritual texts.

You be mindful that when you are trying to reconcile these perceptually conflicting notions

that a lot of tension and stress and anxiety will come up as you're trying to figure out,

am I overly focused on the outcomes or am I not focusing well on the moment or am I being

strategic or am I being present as those conflicting expressions arise.

And that they're going to probably create some tension and anxiety in the system.

And you should find someone that you can talk to or work within your social life, your

lodge, but have you that you can work through some of these issues with as they arise.