The Story

When East meets West… when Lao Tzu wrote down the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching 2,500 years ago in ancient China, he may not have realised the impact its philosophy would have millenniums later in the West and the newly-emerging profession of life-coaching.

When Julia from Taiwan met Nick from England on a coaching course, they didn’t realise at first that they had a common interest in the work of Lao Tzu. This joint interest soon became a course project. As we explored a few verses of the Tao, we began to see how Lao Tzu’s teachings could be related to personal development and coaching principles.

On this blog we intend to continue this work by exploring one verse of the Tao Te Ching each week. We invite you to join us on our journey and add your own thoughts to deepen our learning. How do you interpret Lao Tzu’s message? And how does it speak to you as a coach?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Verse 33

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Conquering others takes force;
conquering yourself is true strength.

If you realize that you have enough,
you are truly rich.
If you stay in the center and embrace death with your whole heart,
you will endure forever.


[For Personal Development]
  • Let go of desire to extend power over others and focus on knowing yourself.
  • See abundance in your life and you will experience abundance (law of attraction).
  • Identify with the source (Tao) and not your ego and you transcend life and death.

[For Coaching]

  • Self-awareness is the basis of strong personal foundation.
  • Expanded awareness changes perception and opens up possibilities for new actions.
  • Simplify your life: values first, needs second.
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