What are the key principles of FUDOSHIN and why do men need to relearn it?
- Janine Pezarro
- Apr 8
- 2 min read
There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that only high performers understand.
It’s not physical.
It’s not even mental, not exactly.
It’s a kind of internal pressure that builds when every minute of your day is accounted for, every decision rests on your shoulders, and you’re always expected to be on. Even when you’re winning, there’s no room to stop. And somewhere between the last meeting and the next obligation, a part of you starts to disappear.
Most men in this position don’t crash. They fade. Slowly. Quietly. Into auto-pilot. Into numbness. Into overdrive that never switches off.
This is where ancient warrior wisdom becomes surprisingly relevant.
The samurai didn’t just train for combat. They trained for clarity under pressure. They studied the art of key principles like being unmoved by chaos not to become passive, but to remain in command of their own mind.
This mindset was called fudoshin"the immovable mind."
Not frozen, not stubborn. Simply calm, centered, and unshaken, even in the middle of conflict.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the samurai who eventually unified all of Japan, wasn’t the most aggressive warrior. He was the most composed. While rival warlords rushed into battle and tried to dominate through speed and emotion, Ieyasu waited. He listened. He made deliberate choices when others were too consumed by ego and adrenaline to think clearly. And because of that, he outlasted them all.
In today's world, many top-tier individuals are valued for their quickness. Their capacity to respond swiftly, deliver outcomes, and remain at the forefront is highly regarded. However, constantly reacting without taking time to reflect or recharge is not sustainable. It leads to friction, diminishes clarity, and causes even the most capable individuals to become careless.
Fudoshin teaches us that calm is not a retreat from power. It’s what holds it together.
You don’t need more tools. You need more stillness. You don’t need more effort. You need more discernment. You don’t need to quit. But you do need to pause.
Not permanently. Just long enough to ask: Am I choosing this, or just reacting to it?
That one question, asked often enough, will bring you back to yourself.
A Practical Reset: The Power of Deliberate Stillness
Tonight, before you end your day, try this:
Shut down every screen - your phone, your laptop, your TV.
Find a seat in a quiet room. No music. No noise.
Set a timer for five minutes.
Sit. Just sit. Eyes open or closed, it doesn’t matter.
Let the silence stretch. Notice what your mind does when there’s nothing to react to.
You might feel uncomfortable.
That’s the point.
You’re teaching your body and mind to remember what it feels like to not be under siege.
This is your baseline. And when you return to it often, everything changes your decisions, your energy, your presence.
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