Today is the last day I will be promoting Subtraction Method, a free training by Tom Grundy.
Tom’s a London banker who writes great daily emails about career and life success. He was once in my Write & Profit coaching program.
True to its name, Tom’s Subtraction Method is about how to subtract the actions and ideas keeping you stuck.
The way I figure, Subtraction Method can be relevant if you feel stuck in your current job or role… if you get distracted and do too much of what’s NOT important… if you’re not making progress the way you feel you should be… and if you worry that there is something uniquely wrong with you as a result of all this.
But maybe a story can explain this better? Here’s an ancient story I read recently, which struck me:
There was a time when Alexander the Great wasn’t “Great” yet. Was a time when Alexander was just an ambitious 15-year-old at the court of his father, Philip of Macedon.
A horse dealer came to Philip, offering a horse for sale, for the fabulous price of 15 talents of silver.
“Yes, the price is high,” said the horse dealer. “But look at this magnificent animal.”
Sure enough, the horse he was selling was a huge wall of muscle. It had a huge head, too — hence its name Bucephalus, which in Greek apparently means “ox-head.”
The only problem was that Bucephalus was not only huge but wild. It kicked, bit, and reared up on its hind legs whenever anyone tried to ride it. It was powerful but more dangerous than useful.
Philip of Macedon took a look at the rampaging horse and said, “Thanks, I’ll pass.”
But Alexander (not yet Great) asked his father for a chance to tame Bucephalus.
Alexander noticed that the beast was made aggressive by seeing its own shadow playing on the ground.
And so, with the entire court of Philip watching, Alexander approached the giant horse.
Alexander spoke gently to calm Bucephalus a little. He took it by the bridle, and he turned its head towards the sun.
With its shadow no longer visible, Bucephalus, the ox-head, turned calm and manageable.
Bucephalus became Alexander’s lifelong companion. He carried Alexander across Alexander’s greatest conquests. He became part, parcel, and mechanism in the success and legend of Alexander the Great.
And maybe, maybe there’s an analogy in there that speaks to you?
The Subtraction Method is not my expertise. I don’t know exactly what Tom is going to be teaching.
But maybe Subtraction Method can tame your own wild and unruly ox-head — no offense meant — by turning it towards the source of light, and away from the shadows playing on the ground, distracting you, upsetting you, giving you doubts and fears, eating away at what you’re capable of?
Tom’s training is happening tomorrow, at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST.
I won’t be sending more emails before then.
If you’d like to tame your own mind, ox-headed or not, here’s where to go: