A short solo YouTube monologue by Patman Senati Raja arguing that a primary barrier to personal and entrepreneurial growth is the inability to unlearn outdated beliefs. He contrasts learning versus unlearning, shares cultural/personal context, and tells a defining anecdote about Master Suzuki (the "full cup" story) to illustrate why one must empty prior assumptions to make room for new lessons. The video closes with a direct call to practice repeated cycles of learning and unlearning.
Chapters
Foreign. My YouTube family all over the world. This is the one and only Patman Senati Raja back again. So we're back on YouTube, my channel. Patman Senati Raja. Second episode finished third episode. Alright, I don't know how my team is putting this together, but I'm giving them a lot of stress by not telling them ahead of time, deciding what I'm going to speak about. And for those of you who have never seen me on social media or watch my videos before, I never plan or go into depth of thinking what I'm going to say. I just say what comes to my heart based on my experience of the day, the week, what I'm going through in my thought process, or what has happened to me. All right? And today is a closing of a Sunday. We're gonna rock it. Alright? Starting tomorrow on Monday. So it's been a quiet weekend, a lot of calls, a lot of catching up on WhatsApp and everything else. And today it's very important that I share with you one point which I want you to take back. And this is a realization I had when I started building my business. And realize that in every journey of entrepreneurship, in every journey of somebody trying to make it big on their own, either through business or whatever, okay, guys. They all talk about challenges that they face. And I am a firm believer that there are challenges out there whether you like it or not. Alright? However, I don't think the challenges we face out there, whether it's competition, whether it's market demand, supply, the economic environment, the political environment, the trends of today and tomorrow and what society really wants and all that stuff, I think one of the greatest challenges we face is ourselves. And I'm not saying this in a high level philosophical way, but I'm a firm believer that if it is to be, it is up to me. Okay? Simple fact, every success story, everyone out there who has made it at some point gave a lot of credit to their mentors like I have given to my mentors and my teachers along my journey. But ultimately the decision was mine. All right? And I realized one of the biggest stumbling blocks is not exactly our inability to learn new things. Because a lot of people think that when you start business or you start any kind of journey, you need to learn, learn, learn, learn, learn. And people go into this addictive state of mind that they want to acquire more knowledge about a lot of things. I came from a teaching and an understanding complete opposite to me. In the last 23 years of building a successful business, it was not as much as I Learned. But it was a lot to do with what I had to unlearn. Because here is my thought process. From the time you were born until the point you reach maybe 18, 19, whatever age, when you wander off from the nest or you fly away from mom and dad's nest. And every culture, every country, every community has a different timeline when they kick the kids out of the house to become independent. I'm from Asia, alright? And I have to be very honest here. I lived with my mom by choice till her last day when she left us in 2010, as a sense of responsibility of a child towards a parent who gave me everything. I wasn't dependent on her. I was for a long time, of course, growing up. And then I decided that she must live with me. There's nowhere else to live. Where else would a parent live if not with their children? Now this is very Asian. If you're coming from other parts of the world, I believe there are different cultures, belief systems and different belief systems. I'm cool. So one thing I realized is from the time you're born, alright, you go through a journey before you reach high school or college. And that whole journey is about you acquiring knowledge and paradigm shifts. Paradigm shifts is basically the way we think, okay? Everyone has a different way of thinking. That's why no two humans are the same identical. Even though they share the same ideology, they will have difference of thought. So what I realized was the greatest challenge that you will face to unleash your true potential or to become successful in life is your inability to unlearn stuff. Because what you learn at some point of your journey of life today is no longer relevant and it could be a hindrance from your growth. So it's so important for us to be able to unlearn as much as we are able to learn new things, alright? And this comes to my favorite story that was shared to me by my mentor. It's a very deep story, okay? So I'm going to try to be as serious as I can so that you get the message. And when I was young, like most 22 year old, 21 years old, I was extremely arrogant, alright? I thought I was the king of the world in many ways. Okay, guys. And this is partly to do with my upbringing in a small town where you are relevant. It's partly also of the confidence that you build up through school and your power of association or your circle of friends and your experiences, everything, layers. Bottom Line, at 21 years old, I was an extremely arrogant young man who thought he had all the Answers. Alright. And somewhere along the way, when I started business at 22, one of the first lessons that I heard from my mentor when he was sharing to a larger crowd and I was sitting there chilled out, alright, all focus on making money, making money. And this is, you know, I just got to pay the price and make money. And then he shared the story of this Master Suzuki. Alright, now this story is very interesting. Now in Japan there is a form of martial arts, life discipline. Don't get caught up with the facts and Google all this stuff, okay? I'm just sharing a story and it's supposed to benefit you. Okay? So there was a Zen Buddhism way of life, which is a way of detachment, a bit of martial arts and all that kind of stuff. And there was a well known master who basically ran a school, let's assume on top of the mountain, very exclusive, called Master Suzuki. Master Suzuki would accept like maybe a few, few kids every year to start a journey of studentship or pupilage of himself. Master Suzuki as the master. A lot of kids will come and all these kids are deserving kids with great potential referred from the farms or whatever. But one admission, one year of admission, there was a rich kid, go figure, who figured out a way of getting into Master Suzuki's teaching or his temple of teaching or school. And this kid came. Now Master Suzuki runs a very, very strict form of Zen Buddhism, martial arts teaching. Now the first year of a student, like the first year student, does nothing except daily mundane, painful chores, okay? Sweeping the courtyard, washing the toilets, washing the cutlery after dinner, maybe cooking some basic food, not even cooking food, I think just a lot of cleaning guys. No martial arts, no spiritual awareness or Zen Buddhism taught by Master Suzuki. Yet instead they just do these mundane chores for one year with very little interaction, engagement or life lessons for Master Suzuki. And after one year, Master Suzuki would come up to the kids and then tap them on the shoulder, indicating they can graduate to the next year where they learn maybe some Kung fu or some martial arts and other lessons. And those who don't qualify, he won't tap them on the shoulder. So he goes after one year. So this kid, this rich kid and all the other kids, I think 12 of them all in, went through this first year of cleaning and all that. And this kid felt good about it. Obviously he hasn't done much housework before or chores because he was a rich kid, I assume. And then it came to graduation and this kid did it diligently like others. So Master Suzuki basically passed everyone except this one kid, alright, this Aristocratic rich kid, I assume. Okay, everyone else went to year number two. This kid had to stay behind for one year, back to year one, repeat the whole thing. And Master Suzuki didn't bother to give an explanation. He's Master Suzuki. Go figure, right? So what he did was the kid had to repeat year one again. Now this kid again with a new batch of students, cleaning toilets, washing plates and all that. And of course, there's a build up of anger and remorse and arrogance. And the ego takes over, which I'll talk to you many times down the road of our greatest enemy. And this kid started building up this. But he rationalized, like many of us, he rationalizes it. Maybe Master Suzuki wants me to stay back to guide this new batch of kids. Okay, big mistake. But he felt that way. And then one year finished. He saw his classmates doing martial arts and everything else. And he was basically washing the plates of his classmates, alright? Boom. Painful. So what he did, he waited patiently. One year finish. And now Master Suzuki comes again. And he starts tapping everyone to graduate to the next year. And he didn't tap this kid's shoulder. That means this kid has to do year one for the third time, alright? And Master Suzuki walks calmly back to his hut somewhere. And this kid starts losing, all right, losing it. And starts to shout and scream and kicking stuff and all that. And probably lost it. And finally gathered some misplaced guts and Gl. And ran towards Master Suzuki's hut to confront Master Suzuki on why he did not graduate this kid to the second year for the second time, leaving him behind in the first year. Alright, so this kid burst into the hut. And Master Suzuki was sitting there very zen, with a pot of tea and two cups. And the kid burst in and started demanding answers from Master Suzuki. Now Master Suzuki, in a calm voice, told him, sit down, let's have tea. Pour me a cup of tea. The kid calmed down a little bit. He took the pot and he poured Master Suzuki a cup of tea. Naturally, he stopped, like you and me, common sense, close to the brim of the cup. And when he poured, he stopped. And Master Suzuki looked at him and said, why did you stop? I did not tell you to stop. Owe me a cup of tea. And this kid, already confused, angry, all messed up, alright, continued pouring more tea into a cup which is full. And what happens, guys? The tea started to overflow onto the saucer and then onto the table. And after a few seconds, the kid felt moronic and put down the pot and said, why are you asking me to do this stupid thing? And Master Suzuki looked at him and told him, this is the answer you seek, the reason why I did not graduate you to the second year. Because you are like this cup. You are already full. And whatever I choose to teach will only overflow. And therefore you have learned nothing. Because you don't have the ability to unlearn stuff, to give space for change and evolution of the way you think. And this story, when I heard it, became my answer to my truth. It became my answer to my success. That I was 22 years old. I thought I had all the answers. I actually graduated from law school, believe it or not. And at that point I realized that if I am ever going to succeed, I must empty that cup of mine or not. Nothing new is going to go in. And that cup represents your ability to unlearn. Emptying the cup is your ability to unlearn and learn again. It's your ability to evolve and grow and embrace change. And if you don't empty that cup, if you hang on to your self belief that you know everything, that you don't need guidance and all that stuff, that's when you screw yourself badly. And you won't be able to evolve and change fast enough, intelligently enough to gain more knowledge that will help you towards your ultimate goal. So my message on this episode three on my YouTube channel is if your cup is full, you're not going to learn, you're not going to grow, you're not going to evolve. All the ingredients required for success. So it's not about learning new stuff. It's about your ability to unlearn, your ability to empty your cup, your ability to be humble enough to recognize that in order for you to grow, you need to change. You've got to let go of some old beliefs which are no longer relevant today, which are outdated, and embrace something new. Alright, Whoever you're learning from, it's cool. So, first lesson. It completely blew my mind and changed my perspective of life. After living 22 years in this realm of I know everything and you know that realm, you know, I started emptying my cup so that I wouldn't be that kid in Master Suzuki's class who thought he knew everything, who had a sense of arrogance within him. That's the ultimate definition of that story. I didn't give you all the details. So guys, that's one of the most important lessons that I hold so near and dear to me, which I want to pass to my son and my kids in the future. Tell everyone, just learn how to end empty your cup. Then it can be filled. And then you keep some stuff and you empty the rest again. Fill it up, throw away some, keep. And ultimately, your ultimate goal is to never lose that ability to learn, to unlearn and learn and unlearn and learn, unlearn and learn and be willing to evolve and change consistently. So great lesson from a great master, Master Suzuki. All right, love you guys.
