U PSTREAM E FFECTS #6: A VOIDANCE

THE MATAHACHI PROBLEM

Sometimes fiction turns the best mirror on reality. 

Take that grand work of historical fiction,  Musashi  by Eiji Yoshikawa. It follows the real-life and duels of one of the greatest real swordsmen in Japanese history, Miyamoto Musashi. It fills in the blanks of his life with plausible other events that are period accurate. It’s a masterful study in character.
 
I don’t want to spoil too much of it for you — go read it — but I want to take you through a scene about halfway through the book.

Musashi, now a famed swordsman, runs into an old friend he’d been separated with who had made bad decisions with his life.
 
***
 
MATAHACHI PROBLEM I
 
Here’s Yoshikawa’s work, from Book IV, Chapter “A Drink of Milk” —
 
As they walked away from the inn, Musashi asked, "What are you doing for a living?"
 
"Work, you mean?"
 
"Yes."
 
"I don't have any special talents or skills, so it's hard to get a position with a daimyō. I guess I can't say I do anything in particular."
 
"You mean you've been loafing all these years?" asked Musashi, vaguely suspecting the truth.
 
"Stop it. Saying things like that brings back all sorts of unpleasant memories." His mind seemed to drift back to those days in the shadow of Mount Ibuki. "Where I made my great mistake was in taking up with Okō."
 
"Let's sit down," said Musashi, crossing his legs and dropping to the grass. He felt a twinge of exasperation. Why did Matahachi persist in considering himself inferior? And why did he attribute his troubles to others? "You blame everything on Okō," he said firmly, "but is that any way for a full-grown man to talk? Nobody can create a worthwhile life for you but you yourself."
 
"I admit I was wrong, but ... how can I put it? I just don't seem able to alter my fate."
 
"In times like these, you'll never get anywhere thinking that way. Go to Edo if you want, but when you get there, you're going to find people from all over the country, everyone hungry for money and position. You won't make a name for yourself just doing what the next man does. You'll have to distinguish yourself in some way."
 
"I should have taken up swordsmanship when I was young."
 
"Now that you mention it, I wonder if you're cut out to be a swordsman. Anyway, you're just starting out. Maybe you should think of becoming a scholar. I suspect that'd be the best way for you to find a position with a daimyō."
 
"Don't worry. I'll do something." Matahachi broke off a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. His shame weighed him down. It was mortifying to realize what five years of idleness had done. He'd been able to brush off stories he'd heard about Musashi with comparative ease; confronting him in the flesh like this drove home the contrast between them. In Musashi's overpowering presence, Matahachi had trouble remembering they had once been the best of friends. Even the man's dignity was somehow oppressive. Neither envy nor his competitive urge could save him from the painful awareness of his own inadequacy.
 
"Cheer up!" said Musashi. But even as he slapped Matahachi on the shoulder, he sensed the man's weakness. "What's done is done. Forget about the past," he urged. "If you killed five years, so what? All it means is you're starting out five years later. Those five years may in their own way hold a valuable lesson."
 
"They were lousy."
 
***
 
MATAHACHI PROBLEM II
 
In the book, they go on to talk for a while longer, and Musashi admonishes his old friend to do something better. Eventually, Matahachi relents —
 
Matahachi's tears dropped onto their clutched hands. Despite the resemblance of Musashi's words to one of his mother's tiresome sermons, he was deeply moved by his friend's concern.
 
"You're right," he said, wiping away his tears. "Thanks. I'll do what you say. I'll become a new man, right now. I agree, I'm not the type to succeed as a swordsman. I'll go to Edo and find a teacher. Then I'll study hard. I swear I will."
 
"I'll keep my eyes open for a good teacher, as well as a good master you might work for. You could even work and study at the same time."
 
***
 
MATAHACHI PROBLEM III
 
Does Matahachi turn his life around? Well… Musashi promises to meet his old friend on Seta Bridge, to help him turn his life around.
 
As Matahachi goes to gather his belongings to meet Musashi and get his life together, something intervenes. Here’s Yoshikawa again —
 
As suddenly as it had begun, the rain ceased. The black clouds parted, the sunshine streamed through, and before long the street had returned to normal. Somewhere in the distance Matahachi could hear the plinking of shamisen. As he started to move on, a woman dressed like a geisha crossed the street and walked directly up to him.
 
"Your name's Matahachi, isn't it?" she said.
 
"It is," he answered suspiciously. "How did you know?"
 
"A friend of yours is at our shop now. He saw you from the window and told me to come get you."
 
Glancing around, he saw that there were several brothels in the neighborhood. Though he hesitated, the woman hurried him along toward her own. "If you have other business," she said, "you don't have to stay long."
 
When they entered, the girls virtually fell all over him, wiping off his feet, removing his wet kimono and insisting that he go to the parlor upstairs. When he asked who this friend was, they laughed and told him he would find out soon enough.
 
"Well," said Matahachi, "I've been out in the rain, so I'll stay until my clothes dry, but don't try to keep me here any longer than that. There's a man waiting for me at the bridge in Seta."
 
***
 
MATAHACHI DECONSTRUCTED
 
… with predictable results, once he’s dragged into the brothel.
 
Yoshikawa, the author, is truly a master. Musashi is one of the finest works of fiction ever written.
 
Let’s look at a few of Matahachi’s issues —
 
Issue #1: Failure to Face Reality 
 
"I don't have any special talents or skills, so it's hard to get a position with a daimyō. I guess I can't say I do anything in particular."
 
"You mean you've been loafing all these years?" asked Musashi, vaguely suspecting the truth.
 
"Stop it. Saying things like that brings back all sorts of unpleasant memories." 
 
Matahachi realizes he doesn’t have any skills, and thus can’t be employed doing any sort of noble samurai work under a daimyo (samurai lord).
 
Musashi asks the logical question — well, what are you doing then? Loafing?
 
Matahachi can’t handle it — “Stop it. Saying things like that brings back all sorts of unpleasant memories.”
 
Umm, hello, Matahachi — they’re not memories, that’s your life . He runs from the pain.
 
Issue #2: Lack of Agency and Blaming Others
 
"Where I made my great mistake was in taking up with Okō."
 
"Let's sit down," said Musashi, crossing his legs and dropping to the grass. He felt a twinge of exasperation. Why did Matahachi persist in considering himself inferior? And why did he attribute his troubles to others? "You blame everything on Okō," he said firmly, "but is that any way for a full-grown man to talk? Nobody can create a worthwhile life for you but you yourself."
 
"I admit I was wrong, but ... how can I put it? I just don't seem able to alter my fate."  
 
He could, of course, alter his fate — in fact, fate just gave him a rare and wonderful chance to fall in with a fantastic opportunity, an elite excellent-charactered potential mentor and ally who will help him set himself up in the capital of Edo (Edo, rustic at the time, evolved to be modern Tokyo.)
 
He says he can’t alter his fate, but an opportunity to do so is right in front of him! Why can’t he see it?
 
Issue #3: Non-Introspective Rumination and Focus on Losses
 
"I should have taken up swordsmanship when I was young."
 
"Now that you mention it, I wonder if you're cut out to be a swordsman. Anyway, you're just starting out. Maybe you should think of becoming a scholar. I suspect that'd be the best way for you to find a position with a daimyō."
 
"Don't worry. I'll do something." Matahachi broke off a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. His shame weighed him down. It was mortifying to realize what five years of idleness had done.  
 
The past is dead and gone — in front of Matahachi is an opportunity to do much better, but he just focuses with regret on the past.
 
Issue #4: Too Much Hot Fiery Emotion, Not Enough Cold Determination
 
Matahachi's tears dropped onto their clutched hands. Despite the resemblance of Musashi's words to one of his mother's tiresome sermons, he was deeply moved by his friend's concern.
 
"You're right," he said, wiping away his tears. "Thanks. I'll do what you say. I'll become a new man, right now. I agree, I'm not the type to succeed as a swordsman. I'll go to Edo and find a teacher. Then I'll study hard. I swear I will."  
 
We all have moments of awakening — but on large-timescale projects, like becoming a scholar or adjusting one’s character and social circle, there needs to be a cold determination of walking a long path.
 
It’s perhaps counterintuitive, but I’ve found that people who get fired up — “I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” — don’t actually do it.
 
You need cold determination, not hot determination, to work on long timescales.
 
Issue #5: Rationalizing Being Drawn Off the Path
 
"A friend of yours is at our shop [brothel] now. He saw you from the window and told me to come get you."
 
Glancing around, he saw that there were several brothels in the neighborhood. Though he hesitated, the woman hurried him along toward her own. "If you have other business," she said, "you don't have to stay long."
 
When they entered, the girls virtually fell all over him, wiping off his feet, removing his wet kimono and insisting that he go to the parlor upstairs. When he asked who this friend was, they laughed and told him he would find out soon enough.
 
"Well," said Matahachi, "I've been out in the rain, so I'll stay until my clothes dry, but don't try to keep me here any longer than that. There's a man waiting for me at the bridge in Seta."  
 
Matahachi recognized his problems — he falls in with the wrong people, like the virtueless Oko (a petty criminal and former prostitute), and when he finally has the opportunity to reboot his life, he’s given a critical test immediately — he’s summoned to a brothel, while his genuine friend and ally is waiting for him at Seta bridge.
 
What’s in the brothel for him? Nothing that alters his destiny, of course. No true friend of his, of course.
 
Does he run from the place as fast as possible?
 
No.
 
"I've been out in the rain, so I'll stay until my clothes dry, but don't try to keep me here any longer than that. There's a man waiting for me at the bridge in Seta."  
 
How many of us, in life, get stuck in dreary life-draining places while waiting for our clothes to metaphorically dry?
 
***
 
NOW, REGARDING TIMESCALES…
 
We’re discussing Upstream Effects — how the past moments of your life are what flowed into this moment, and how you can alter your life this moment, this day, this week, this month, so that the Downstream from here is more thriving, healthy, productive, engaged, good.
 
Last issue we discussed the Micro-Upstream — those things you can control and adjust relatively quickly. You can normalize a sleep schedule, get better hydrated, clean up a little mess around you, plan tomorrow and next week better — all these can happen quickly.
 
But now we turn to the Macro — those arcs of your life that take years to improve.
 
***
 
THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF MACRO-IMPROVEMENT IS YOUR OWN FEELINGS
 
Take Matahachi. Poor bastard. But he brings it all on himself.
 
He’s so focused on blame and past errors — trying to cheer himself up and avoid pain — that he can’t confront the patterns of his own behavior that have brought him to this moment in the stream of his life.
 
The steps to improving one’s life in Macro — building skills, building habits and patterns of solid operations and management of your own life, establishing a reputation as someone very effective and dependable, surrounding yourself with high-caliber people who are supporting and positive, connecting with and being accepted into solid organizations and institutions, gradually stripping away and correcting your own liabilities and character flaws, building a base of resources and assets and opportunities —  these are actually not very difficult to do .
 
There’s seven billion people on the planet. We’ve got high-quality books of histories, biographies, philosophy, and skill going back around 3000 years. Many, many, many people have figured out how to build solid macro-life foundations.
 
It takes a while, but not that long.
 
The biggest enemy to doing so, you can see all of that in what Matahachi does:
 
1. Failure to Face Reality
2. Lack of Agency and Blaming Others
3. Non-Introspective Rumination and Focusing on Losses
4. Too Much Hot Fiery Emotion, Not Enough Cold Determination
5. Rationalizing Being Drawn Off the Path
 
***
 
AND TRYING TO DO IN A MOMENT WHAT’S BETTER DONE IN MONTHS
 
You see in Yoshikawa’s book, as well, that people who try to behave expediently get into trouble.
 
Such is life.
 
We’ll discuss Trajectory  next so that you can manage all the resources and opportunities you need to succeed.
 
For now, burn this into your mind:
 
It’s axiomatic that bad people are more accessible than good people.
 
Think about it: bad people to associate with — people who make excuses, do wrong, people for whom failure seems to follow in their midst — they’re constantly seeking new people to leech blood from. People don’t want to do repeat business or collaborations with them.
 
Meanwhile, people that engage in really fantastic partnerships, collaborations, and friendships — their life gets full of great people, and they do repeat business and engage repeatedly with the same people.
 
They don’t need to be in a hurry to “gamble” with life. They don’t need to constantly persuade other people to throw in with them.
 
I almost work on more projects with my oft-collaborator and good friend Kai Zau than everyone else in my life combined.
 
The top 10 or so people in my life account for 80-90% of the projects I do in collaboration.
 
As such, I’m not particularly in a hurry to throw in with anyone in particular.
 
And I find that’s true with most successful people I meet. They’ve met, gotten to know, and vetted a lot of people to find a few that they really fantastically collaborate with.
 
***
 
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: PROJECT PARTNERS
 
The biggest piece of advice on this topic, the topic of getting to know great people, is take on Project Partners .
 
It’s not a business partner; it’s someone you work on something short and of limited scope and duration.
 
It can be as small as planning a dinner or small get-together.
 
If you don’t have a really fantastic cadre of great people you can collaborate with, the best way to start establishing that is to do small scope things and see who you click with. Even planning a small party or dinner with someone tells you a lot about their punctuality, their character under stress, how much they like to discuss ideas vs jump into action, how they handle disagreement and compromise, etc.
 
If you’re not in the middle of an excellent upswing of great action, there’s no reason you can’t do at least one small project a month with someone you don’t know that well yet. Do that for a year and you get to work with at least a dozen people. One or two of them will likely click well with you, and this builds a foundation.
 
Breakout success comes later — Kai and I wrote more about this in  Gateless , which we co-authored together and which has terrific reviews — the key here is regular small action, over many months, which aggregates to having a fantastic set of people you can go to work on projects with.
 
***
 
CULTIVATING COLD DETERMINATION
 
The following is one of those pieces of advice that is correct, or incorrect, depending on where you’re at.
 
If you’ve been caught in some lethargy or idleness, you might want to take the “jump into action!!!!” advice when you get inspired. Tony Robbins says something along the lines of, “Never leave the scene of a goal without taking a massive action.”
 
I agree with that — if you’ve been stuck.
 
If, however, things are going broadly well for you but you often fall off the long-term initiatives you plan, I’d recommend considering the opposite.
 
When you have a new major initiative you want to do, maybe do that first frenzied burst of work and inspiration — buy the running shoes on a whim and go for that first run, outline that novel, whatever — but for people who are already doing a lot but are somewhat scattered, I’ve found doing the opposite can have a lot of value.
 
Schedule some clear time for yourself to plan out how you’ll see that next goal or project to conclusion  — and then, rather than getting pumped up about it, get very critical and actually look at all that’s required, the downsides, the places you could fall off.
 
If you can look at the cold, hard logic of doing something, and commit to it — not in a burst of hot-blooded raw enthusiasm, but with grim determination — success becomes far more likely.
 
***

RECAP AND ACTION

There's times in my life that I would have flinched when I realized the errors Matahachi was making — because I made them too, and it hurts  when you realize you're making them.

But that's why people remain stuck. They see the truth of the matter, it hurts, and they flinch from the pain.

Right now, the opportunities you have, the reputation you have, the people around you... these are a result of what you've done in the past months and years of your life.

You can change these areas drastically for the better, if you're willing to work at it.

Start doing small projects with people you meet who seem like good people. It can be as small as a dinner party. Start proposing or joining very small things; it doesn't need to be grand and gigantic. Project Partners are one of the fastest ways to vet people and find really good friends and allies to be in harmony with.

And then, start cultivating cold determination. Next time you have a major project, yes, accept the initial burst and frenzies of work... but then sit down and ensure the project will get completed. It's easy to stay motivated and inspired for a short time, but things always happen. It rains outside. If you can lock down excellent planning and cultivate cold determination to succeed on your projects, it leads to success and building all those factors that give you opportunities for a marvelous life.
 
Remember that life doesn’t change when swearing a hot-blooded promise like Matahachi. And it doesn’t change when blaming others or ruminating.
 
When great opportunities come, they need to be met with steadfast and great determination. The concerns of the moment — a wet overcoat — don’t matter, in the grand arcs of time, whereas following one’s path day-in and day-out leads to a tremendous life.