To get well in the subjects, to take the pulse then to the businesses

(Baltasar Gracian's painting found in Graus (Huesca) Spain).

Aphorism 136 Be well the subjects, take the pulse then to business

« Go through many or the branches of a useless course, or the leaves of a tired verbosity , without running into the substance of the case. They circle a point a hundred times, getting tired and tired, and never reach the center of importance. It comes from confused understandings, which do not know how to get rid of. They spend the time and the patience in what they had to leave, and then there is not for what they left. " (1)

We believe that in this aphorism, Gracián , directs our attention, in two parallel but not coinciding directions, the title of the aphorism and the content of it.

For the first, it seems to warn of what today it is very clear to us: the entrepreneur must know well the necessary contents (Be good in the subjects) to properly develop his business, before starting to do it and, subsequently, control your performance ( take the pulse then to business ) . This is absolutely modern. First the actions are planned and then their execution is controlled.

But in its content it warns us of a mortal danger that there is in all that, as it is to derive in the nothing of the superficial and of the collateral , instead of focusing on what is now called the heart of the business. For it is not typical of a Prudent Man (2) to " leave by the branches of a useless run or by the leaves of a tired verbosity, without running into the substance of the case . "Not knowing what to do, doing other things that are not necessary, doubting and doubting about the paths of appropriate action, moving away from effective solutions, giving turns over and over again on what is best to do, move away from the center of the solution to get lost in useless details, etc., is the vice in which the most frequent is that the entrepreneur falls.

Y his reference to the loss of time and his ills is precise: " They spend time and patience in what they had to leave, and then there is not for what they left." Time, patience (perseverance), the effort, the capital, the energy and illusion that is used in things that are useless for the achievement of the objectives, prevents us from using those resources that are already erroneous spent, in others, unattended, that we would have had to pursue more profitably.

I do not know if the aphorism is pessimistic (3). I think it is not especially so, because although it refers to man in general ( Vanse many ), and in this case he states his useless discourse and to punish, without encountering the substance of the case, is no less true that his precise warning about that evil spread among many, we allows us to improve our behavior ... if we avoid the evils reported.

I say goodbye to the Roman: Follow with health and meditate on the aphorism of Gracián , it is old but it is worth its weight in gold!

Miguel Villarroya Martín/Madrid/Spain/December 06, 2015/ventasgrandes.net/FrS.003

Notes:

(1): This aphorism with its comments, was published a few years ago, in a shorter way, in my magazine More and Better Real Estate Sales , of which we will give an account soon, in this same web.

The original text of the aphorism presented (the Aphorism or: 136 And it is presented with the original spelling.

If Gracián is not known to the reader or if he had not read it before, immediately repair this absence and get hold of it. this text by Gracian. (Other works are harder to read, but not) And of course read and meditate on his wisdom. I have already told you before but now I repeat, the venerable and ancient Gracián, could pass for an excellent mentor for the sellers of today .

(2) The Prudent Man the practical man, who works in the world living the occasion, adapting to the case and the circumstances; the one who uses reason as a beacon and guide of conduct; the capable, the possessor of knowledge to direct his earthly life, correcting his defects and learning from his mistakes; the one that has a strategy and seeks the achievement of its objectives with a right conscience.

(3) The thought of Gracian is pessimistic, as befits the Baroque period. The world is a hostile and deceptive space, where appearances prevail over virtue and truth. Man is a weak, interested and malicious being. Good part of his works are concerned with providing the reader with skills and resources that allow him to navigate among the traps of life. For this you must know how to assert yourself, be prudent and take advantage of wisdom based on experience; even disguise, and behave according to the occasion .

(4) The image has been taken from the Wikipedia and, as we read in it, it is a picture of anonymous author, found in Graus. (Graus is a locality and Spanish municipality of the Ribagorza, in the province of Huesca, in the north of Spain.)