Empty Your Cup and Allow Your Business to Fill with New Information
I recently read this small story (source):
A university professor visited Zen Master Nan-in to inquire about Zen. But instead of listening to the master, the scholar kept going on and on about his own ideas.
After listening for some time, Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and kept on pouring. The tea flowed over the sides of the cup, filled the saucer, spilled onto the man’s pants and onto the floor.
“Don’t you see that the cup is full?” the professor exploded. “You can’t get any more in!”
“Just so,” replied Nan-in calmly. “And like this cup of tea, you are full of your own ideas and opinions. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
As an entrepreneur, you can never be beyond learning more. You can never reach the end of your journey and say “that’s it, I’m done learning. I’m done moving forward. I’m done expanding my mind.” You must stay hungry. Stay committed to learning new things. Stay open to what other people have to say. Because once you stop that, you’ll cease to exist as a visionary, as an entrepreneur.
David,
Thanks for getting the site back up. I checked it out a little while back and wanted to leave a comment. I think that Zen story is awesome. I have more thoughts too… but I will shut up for now and listen more!
- Mike