Balancing goal setting and having a no-mind approach to life

[charlie cho]

You know, enlightened people say sages don't plan things. To me, this is referring to how our inner dimension works. For example, with a business plan, programming something, systematizing something, going to war and strategizing, one needs to set goals however free you are from a goal-oriented mind. I've felt this dichotomy to be stretched most when reading two books. one is from Sun Tzu, art of war, and the other is Miyamato Musashi's the book of five rings. They both say in summary systemizing is the essence of war, discipline, strategy, planning, concentration is the essence, yet one must maintain a flexible, almost like air be empty in dueling the other whether it is one on one, or thousands against thousands. One quote particularly strikes me, "just like our guitar has only 4 strings to play with, in war, there are certain rules, formations, orders that need to be followed to lead troops in to battle, and yet with just 4 strings, the guitar is able to play myriad amounts of musical pieces and make the listener delighted. This goes same with orders in war, where with a few rules followed, myriad amounts of ways are trodden to lead the general and his army to victory. 

my question to you: How do you balance goal setting, and meditation? 

[How to be wise]

@charlie cho The first few years of meditating, your mind will certainly be quieter. In that time, it’s best to live a simple life. After you get used to meditating, your analytical mind will return, and then you can go back to goal setting.

[Nahm]

The key in a sense is that there is no thinker to begin with. If you stand in front of a dry erase board, thoughts arise about what you want, and about goals and timeframes. It’s effortless, like meditation. The potential ‘issue’ is the attachment to outcomes & expectations, which are also thoughts, which are not thought by a thinker. Which is why attachment feels, off.