In karate, there is an image that’s used to define the position of perfect readiness: “mind like water.” Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact.

The power in a karate punch comes from speed, not muscle; it comes from a focused “pop” at the end of the whip. It’s why petite people can learn to break boards and bricks with their hands: it doesn’t take calluses or brute strength, just the ability to generate a focused thrust with speed. But a tense muscle is a slow one. So the high levels of training in the martial arts teach and demand balance and relaxation as much as anything else. Clearing the mind and being flexible are key.

Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. Responding inappropriately to your email, your staff, your projects, your unread magazines, your thoughts about what you need to do, your children, or your boss will lead to less effective results than you’d like. Most people give either more or less attention to things than they deserve, simply because they don’t operate with a “mind like water.”

Your mind is a great place to have ideas, but a terrible place to manage them. Getting your head clear is not easy—it requires work to keep it on your mind as well—but the rewards of having a clear head on a regular basis will pay you back many times over in ways you may never have thought possible for feeling in control and getting perspective.

Anytime is a great time to clear your head. Don’t wait.

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.”
-Shunryu Suzuki