Important Quotes:

• "All the difficulties you have in zazen should not take place outside your mind. Your efforts should be kept within your mind. In other words you have to accept the difficulty as not being other than what you are." -Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
• “Dogen Zenji was enlightened when he heard his master strike and say to the disciple sitting next to Dogen, "What are you doing? You have to make a hard effort. What are you doing?" That effort is Zen. That effort is to observe the precepts. If we make our best effort on each moment with confidence, that is enlightenment. When you ask whether your way is perfect or not, there is an insidious idea of self. When you do your best to observe the precepts, to practice Zen, within the Big Mind then there is enlightenment. There is no special way to attain enlightenment. Enlightenment is not some certain stage. Enlightenment is everywhere. Wherever you are, enlightenment is there. Whatever you do with your best effort, enlightenment follows. This is very important for our Zen practice and for our everyday life. We should make our best effort in our everyday life as well as in practice of Zen.” -Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
• “In today’s standard, hustle culture can be defined as the state of overworking to the point where it becomes a lifestyle.” -Afrina Arfa

Key Takeaways:

• Imagine a what your day would look like in flow. Would it be all work and no play, or all play and no work? You’ll find the answer is neither. There is a harmony between the two that occurs when you’re in flow. A harmony between purpose driven thinking, and a purposeless ease of just being. 
• If you swing the pendulum towards all things being purposeful and productive, you’ll fall prey to overworking or overtraining. If you swing the pendulum towards all things being pleasurable and fun, you’ll eventually run into the existential crisis of meaninglessness. Aim at the sweet spot that respects the value of both in your life.
• Too much of a challenge leads to perfectionism and fear of failure. To easy of a goal leads to apathy.
• Failure in a serious and rigid state, feels painful. It sucks to be wrong when you give too much significance to anything. When you fail in a playful state, you laugh, you learn, and you move on.

References:

• Joe Rogan - How To Workout Smarter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fbCcWyYthQ&t=669s
• The Flow Model: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/flow-model.htm
• Alan Watts - How To Create Without Forcing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhNRpiY1Lc0
• Right Effort in Practice: http://www.chzc.org/SR6.htm
• Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/business/against-hustle-culture-rise-and-grind-tgim.html
• The Truth About the Hustle Culture: https://university.taylors.edu.my/en/campus-life/news-and-events/news/the-truth-about-the-hustle-culture.html
• Every Inspirational Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSYJ5Ehbo3U