Skillful Means: Patterns for Success

Skillful Means: Patterns for Success
Tarthang Tulku
Dharma Publishing
ISBN: 0-89800-231-1
Non-Fiction, Self Help, Spirituality
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

How much work do you actually get done each day? Be honest. How much time do you spend putting off tasks that you hate, making excuses about why something isn’t complete, or playing little scenarios in your head about what could happen if you don’t get that job complete? Maybe you find yourself filling you coffee cup more times than you should, chatting with a colleague about last night’s hockey game, or find yourself planning your weekend. The end result is usually hurried work filled with mistakes.
Although work apathy is common, it doesn’t have to be. Much of the problem is that we find no value in our work. Basically, we spend eight hours working today and tomorrow we have to come back to do it all again. However, if we mindfully focused on the job at hand like it was the most important thing to do, like we had a deadline in one hour, and like it was our life’s passion we’d get more quality work done in far less time.
Skillful Means: Patterns for Success teaches the reader about how to get rid of work apathy while increasing self confidence, self esteem, and personal energy. Some of the topics explored include caring about work, wasting energy, relaxation, concentration, time, how to cope, superficiality, competition, communication, and cooperation. Most of the sections are complete with easy to try exercises to increase skills in these various aspects.