The Crux Statement (and Life in France)

Paris

We’re in Paris now, after a smooth Eurostar “flight” from London. France is gorgeous, of course, and the people wonderfully friendly and accommodating. The $10.00 per gallon gas is interesting as is the $500 per night hotel (yes, it’s modest) and the $8.00 bottled water (small size). Also curious:  how a 20% tip to the cab driver or restaurant garcon makes a friend-for-life (do people not tip here? Oui, they do, by French law it’s included in the restaurant billing…but in the real world, said “tip” may or may not be passed on).

I wonder how it is here for every-day Parisians, although we have a suspicion. I hadn’t planned to ask for this but would very much like to sit down with someone local in order to discuss business here. Linda and I did this last week with a particular business owner in London and think it would be good to do that here, too. We’ll certainly do the same in Amsterdam next week, as we have a presentation there Sunday afternoon.

I’m adding a new appendix essay in the upcoming third edition of “Work” and will use this from-the-streets feedback to give it legs. So if you are a French business owner and would like to share coffee with us either Thursday, March 31 or Friday, April 1st, in Paris,  please email me ASAP at info@workthesystem.com. Like our new friend in London, you’ll remain nameless if that is your preference.

On the Eurostar, I polished a systems mindset/Work the System crux-summary statement. I’ve always wanted to put the essence of the concept in a short description that would fully explain it. The shorter the better. It consolidated itself in my head yesterday in London in our intense film-studio session where my business partner Mike and I sat in front of a camera all day explaining what the methodology is and how it works. Yes, I took two years to write a book about the idea, and then it’s taken me three more  years to put together a nutshell explanation that I can live with. I’ve never been satisfied until this morning, as Linda and I  hurdled  across the pastoral French countryside at 180mph. Here it is, as it will be when I insert it in the upcoming new edition of the book. Will the statement change in the future? Sure, if I can find a way to make it better. I’ve ensconced the statement within surrounding copy:

“For a decade and a half, although the simple reality had been floating right there in front of me, the mental turbulence of my fire-killing approach had relegated this simple earthshaking reality to invisibility: A life’s condition is not the result of luck or of being good or bad. And it’s not about intelligence, karma, education, social class, political stance, religious affiliation, or how hard one works. Life is about simple mechanics—the dispassionate mechanics of the systems that compose it.”

“What I now knew for sure was that there was a very simple difference between happy people and unhappy people: People who are not in control of their lives spend their days coping with the unintentional bad results of unmanaged systems. People who are in control of their lives spend their days enjoying the intentional good results of managed systems.”

“My new perspective was not just an interesting new concept; it was an electric, life-changing revelation. Late that night, the moment the switch flipped in my head, there was no going back. I was a changed man.”

I could easily replace “People who are not in control of their lives/People who are in control of their lives” with “Unsuccessful people/Successful people.” -sc

Photo by Sam Carpenter