Victory Is Now

"The [Native American] warrior's attitude was to live life fearlessly as though each day was his last. Before every battle he'd say, 'This is a good day to die.' So, whether I'm coaching or tending a garden or chopping wood or whatever, I'm going to live this life to its fullest and this day to its fullest." - Phil Jackson¹

Bob Hurley, a high-school basketball coach from New Jersey, was just nominated to be inducted into the (national) Basketball Hall of Fame. If he is voted in, he will be one of only 2 other high school coaches to receive this honor. His philosophy? "...just being a coach. Just being in the present."

Like celebrated Bulls coach Phil Jackson, another Zen-minded basketball sage, Hurley doesn't seem interested in achieving some future glory. He's just focused on the game. Whatever that game is in any moment.

Hurley told a reporter for the New York Times, "There's no shortcut to success. If you shortcut in practice, there's no success in the game."² This may sound like a different piece of advice than "being in the present," but actually, it reflects the same wise approach to winning in any arena.

If you're totally focused on bringing the best of yourself to every moment, and not wasting energy projecting your attention towards some dream of the future, then you will understand the wisdom of not taking shortcuts in practice.

In each moment of life all future reality is created. Putting in 50% of your effort now will inevitably create an outcome that reflects just 50% of your potential. Putting in 100% of your effort now will create the best outcome possible. Not only that, whether you won or lost a game or whether you achieved a particular goal, if you gave 100% effort then you can be proud of your performance. More importantly, when the future comes, you will have evolved in a way that could only have been achieved by working continuously at your peak potential.

When Hurley returned home one day after coaching his high school students, his wife asked him, "Anything happen today?" He commented on a few details about practice that afternoon. She said, "Weren't you nominated for the Hall of Fame?" He laughed, "Oh, yeah." Hurley had spent the day engaged in his work, focusing on his students, working on their game. If, instead, he had just been going through the motions of coaching while he was lost in dreaming about being inducted into the Hall of Fame, it would have been a very different day for him, and for his students.

People often assume that living in the present means not having intent or motivation. That you can't focus on "now" and still set meaningful goals. This is a misunderstanding. You absolutely continue to set goals for yourself. The key is not to focus on the end result once you have set the goal. Once you know where you want to end up and you have determined how to get there, all that you need to do is concentrate on each step of the way. Then, the journey will take care of itself and, one day, you'll realize that you have not only achieved the goal you set, but in all likelihood you will have surpassed it. You'll just find that you were so engaged in your Work that you forgot to measure every step, and you were too busy achieving your goal to stop to pat yourself on the back.

Alternatively, if you had continued to spend time and energy dreaming about your end goal, your day-to-day focus would have lapsed. You might have gotten lost in distracting emotional tangents, such as feeling fear about the future, anxiety about whether you would succeed in achieving your goal, or despair if you sensed you were not as close as you thought you should be at any given point along the way.

Being in the present is a far more efficient, peaceful and happy way to live and work.

We have all heard the sports metaphor, "Keep your eye on the ball." But most people misunderstand what this means. It does not mean, "Keep your eye on the end goal." But rather, "Stay focused on your immediate game." If you take the analogy literally, using the example of baseball or tennis, the athlete must keep his eye on the ball or he will not hit it at its most profitable trajectory, with the bat or the racquet. The expression does not suggest that an athlete keep his focus on winning the game, but that he should focus on every swing.

Dreaming about some future outcome is unproductive at best. At worst, it's limiting and dispiriting. We should not be motivated by the transient accolades that derive from winning a trophy, but by the more lasting and significant recognition that we give to ourselves through self-respect and self-worth. By driving ourselves to excel in every moment, working at our peak capacity and with whole-hearted devotion to any task, we earn the greatest and richest rewards. Rewards that no one has the power to bestow on anyone else: dignity, self-worth and even, glory.

True glory is not delivered unto us by others, but by God. And that can only be earned and perceived through the heart of each individual looking - not out at the world and at some material goal - but inward, at the heart and the soul.

Ultimately, living in the present means living with acute awareness and appreciation of our immediate circumstances and actions. This is the way to realize, not just success, but inner power, peace and everlasting joy. Victory is not something that may or may not happen in the future. If we can learn to live wholly in the present, victory is achieved now.

Nicole Grace
February 2007

"Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act—act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to wait. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "In the Living Present"

¹No More Bull, by Charlie Rosen. Published in Cigar Aficionado, September/October 1998.
²A Coach Who Likes Just Being in the Present, by Dave Anderson. Published in the New York Times, February 22, 2007.

Satori Sciences is pleased to offer a new, extraordinary workshop that can increase productivity, improve work quality and contribute to a significant decrease in stress.

"When I was working on Wall Street, I would often head over to Trinity Church at lunchtime and, after munching a quick bite on the way there, would spend 30 - 45 minutes sitting quietly in one of the small wooden chairs of their tiny meditation room. This tranquil time, however brief, gave me a tremendous respite from the intensity of my day. Leaving the darkened, hushed interior of the church, I would make my way back to the office, replenished and ready to take on the challenges of the office with a renewed energy, balance and enthusiasm. I know many others that have found unique ways to renew their energy during their lunch break, some who found a quiet place to visit, as I did. With layoffs, threat warnings and increased pressure to break productivity records, it is an appropriate time for us to offer this very special new training for corporations and individuals: Peace Meal." - Nicole Grace

Peace Meal is a 45 minute-long meditation seminar, designed to accommodate busy workers on a tight schedule! During the workshop period, one of our exceptional master instructors, each with over 12 years experience of enthusiastic discipline, will teach participants stress-release exercises and non-denominational meditation techniques, as well as provide one or two guided meditation sessions. Held in your corporate offices, or in an outside location provided by Satori Sciences, the workshops will begin promptly at 12:10 p.m. or 1:10 p.m. and will conclude promptly at five minutes before the hour, ensuring attendees have time to return to their offices after their lunch hour has ended.

The only limit on participation is the size of the room provided. We recommend scheduling a series of four consecutive, weekly meetings at minimum to ensure that the participants have time to practice the techniques on their own, while learning how to integrate the material into their daily lives.

For more information about these sessions, or to schedule a meeting at your location, please contact our sales headquarters: info@satorisciences.com or 800-384-8815.

This unique half-day workshop provides attendees with a powerful introduction to meditation and mindfulness, taught by instructors with a minimum of 12 years of training and discipline in this art. The regular practice of quieting the mind has been proven to significantly reduce stress and feelings of negativity, as well as increase intellectual capacity and problem-solving abilities. The Art of Meditation offers a practical, non-denominational approach. (The Art of Meditation can also be combined with our Three-Fold Path to Mastery seminar for a transformational 1 1/2 day experience.)

During the powerful 4-hour session, attendees will learn:

• Several extremely effective techniques for quieting the mind
• Mindfulness
• Avoiding The Passion Reaction
• How to incorporate meditative practice into each day

*BREAKING NEWS*
Mastery At Work: 18 Keys For Achieving Success, Fulfillment And Joy In Any Profession has been declared the winner in the Best Books 2006 Book Awards in the category of Business/Motivation, by USA Book News.

From USABookNews.com:
"Mastery At Work is a rich and unique read. Combining Buddhist and Eastern traditions with modern day know-how, Nicole Grace offers readers an extremely satisfying well-written book sure to challenge and inspire you!"

Read more press and reviews about Mastery At Work:

New Connexions Magazine - "Editor's Picks"
"Combining spiritual techniques with business practices, Nicole Grace recognizes that leading an impeccable working life helps us to achieve personal growth. Her secret key to success—work as a spiritual practice and spiritual practice as work. Whether you work on Wall Street or as a street vendor, Grace’s techniques of 'acting as if,' detachment, and focusing like a warrior will help you to create a fulfilling work and personal life."

USA Book News
Mastery At Work is an enlightening and informative new book that is transforming the way people think about life and work. Drawn from proven business strategies and ancient spiritual teachings, Mastery At Work presents practical techniques anyone can embrace and use to work more productively and with greater skill, as well as to lead an uncommonly joyful life, regardless of daily circumstances. Based on The Three-Fold Path to Mastery philosophy created by the author, Mastery At Work describes the pathways that can lead to a life of success, expertise, balance and fulfillment. ["USA Book News covers unique books from both the mainstream and independent press. We look beyond the best-seller lists to find fantastic books that are worthy of attention."]

Balanced Living Magazine
Nicole Grace is one extraordinary woman: a former Wall Street executive and an ordained Buddhist monk and a black belt in karate and a former symphony orchestra violinist! More important, however, is the fact that her accomplishments are demonstrations of the program she proffers in her first book, Mastery At Work. Drawn from her experience in multiple spiritual disciplines, including martial arts, Grace distills her impressive 18 Keys into a Three-Fold Path (Soft Skills, Professional Skills and Continuous Improvement). Taken together, they comprise a powerful life-way, as appropriate for the longtime seeker as it is for the spiritual novice.

Almost all of us work, and work (especially nowadays) can be fraught with difficulties: lack of meaning, lack of security and frustrating relationships, to name a few. Grace, through this prism of work, is providing the public at large a process into deeper experience and understanding. This is a book you can give to anyone as an ultimate, self-guided, personal-growth method, whether or not they’ve ever uttered the word spirituality. To the degree that they embody and express the 18 Keys, they will open inner doors, and what they learn and experience will find its outer reflection. Mastery At Work is a book about mastery of life. It belongs on every bookshelf.
- David Langer

For more information about our life-changing, career-inspiring seminars, click here: http://www.satorisciences.com/seminars/index.html