So over the course of teaching BaZi Module Two last weekend, I had a couple of brand new ideas.  I was trying to give the students some pointers/tips on how best to go about making use of their newfound mind-boggling knowledge and it struck me.

Get Guinea Pigs.

Not the real things. The human kind. No, I’m not asking people to capture a person and put them under 24-7-365 monitoring although that is…kinda what they do to guinea pigs…

When I say you need guinea pigs, I mean you  need people whom you can observe on a more or less day to day basis (or week to week basis) and have insight into their life, and to whom you can offer BaZi guidance to and then see what happens when they follow (or in most cases, disregard) the advice.

One of the best ways to learn BaZi is to have a few guinea pigs – different Day Masters right? Whenever a significant event happens to them in their life, your objective is to attempt to understand why that event happened to them, sometimes by reverse engineering the chart. You can then attempt to formulate some advice in order to assist them find the cheese, navigate the maze…run the wheel.

Please note that I do not generally advise beginners to attempt this kind of experiment. Advice-giving is best reserved for those who have somewhat advanced in their practice – remember, you want to observe, not send your guinea pigs on a suicide mission through life’s maze. Plus, they’re hard to get so try to keep them alive or at least, not scarred for life by your BaZi knowledge. So start out just by putting them in a nice glass box, give them a little wheel, don’t forget to feed them (in case people are wondering about whether or not giving free advice sends you down the wrong karma creek) and just sit back and do what the ancient sages did when they were trying to figure out this whole Destiny thing.

OBSERVE.

WATCH.

LEARN.

Repeat. OBSERVE. WATCH. LEARN. OBSERVE. WATCH. LEARN.

So, get yourself some guinea pigs. Just make sure they have signed consent forms first.

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I really am.

I’m solution-orientated and goal driven as a consultant.

So if you don’t know what you want, I’m a terrible Bazi Consultant.

I’m all about the bottom-line and practical, sensible advice.

So if you’re looking for someone to hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be alright, I am a terrible BaZi consultant. (I suggest you look up the Beatles and Sweetbox instead for such messages of re-assurance).

I do not believe there is such a thing as the magic bullet, golden answer, one element-career that rules them all and makes a person rich.

So if your life is in the toilet, and you think paying me is going to give you the secret of the universe, then I *definitely* am a terrible BaZi consultant and please, do not come and see me.

I am all about fiscal-responsibility and Amish-like work-ethnic.

If you want to know if you are going to strike the lottery…or find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…

Say it with me people – I am a terrible BaZi consultant.

I tell people to cut up their credit cards, pay off their debt and cut their clothes according to their cloth.

I tell certain people that money WILL buy them happiness.

I give people bad news all the time.

I start my sentences more often than not with the word ‘No’.

I cannot identify with housewives, and have been known to refer to problems as ‘housewife problems’.

I believe that women should own their own property, work for self-fulfilment,  attain excellence in life, be all they can be, and live life to the fullest.

I have no problem telling women to toss unfaithful, abusive, mean, stingy and boring husbands.

I do not answer questions about when someone is going to die because I believe that is a stupid reason NOT to do something.

I insist that clients make their own decisions in life, and walk down the path of their choice. I will not stop you from stepping into dog poo, if that is your decision and you do it with your eyes wide open.

I subscribe to the notion that everyone is responsible for their own actions, and advice is exactly that, advice.

I believe that self-actualisation and self-awareness are more important than anything a BaZi consultant can possibly say.

I tell people to see lawyers, draw up contracts, and do expensive things to cover their ass.

I encourage clients to pay their income tax and be good citizens.

I get annoyed with married male clients who ask about their ‘peach blossom’ – if you have an itch, do you have to scratch it?

I don’t believe that results are possible, without change.

I do not subscribe to motivational brainwashing of clients.

I do not believe in scaring you into doing something.

I CRUSH DREAMS.

I believe in hope, as long as it isn’t without a good dose of reality.

I’m devastingly forthright. Infuriatingly practical. Annoyingly sensible. Irritatingly detailed.

I get irritated with silly questions. I have no patience with people who don’t know what they want. I do not suffer fools gladly. I get cranky with people who whine on about how their life sucks but don’t want to take the advice they’ve paid for. If I had a stick, I’m bang it on the table or smack someone’s ankles.

I am the Gregory House, MD, of the Bazi world.

I don’t care if you hate me, as long as you do what I tell you and FIX YOUR LIFE.

I am a terrible BaZi consultant.

Or a damned good one.

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I saw this great article by  Margaret Carlson on Bloomberg entitled “Sex, Fame bring no joy to Masters of the Universe“. I just came off teaching my Bazi for Relationships class, wherein I harped on the subject matter of why relationships matter for probably far longer than my students wanted to hear (I am sure they just wanted me to get to the point and give them the salient points). In any case, I found this article interesting because it obviously affirmed my argument about why relationships matter.

Side note: whilst very few people will ever say relationships don’t matter, you will be surprised at how many of them actually know WHY.

Anyway, in the article, Carlson talks about attending something called The Ideas Festival, where she heard a speech about the subject matter of ‘The Happy Life’.(all emphasis in quotes is mine)

“The Masters of the Universe, political and financial, don’t have time for such reflection, which is too bad. What drives them to live so close to the edge that having to say they’re sorry is a foreseeable event? They have no idea what will lead to a happy life, the prize we are all after.“

Carlson sites a study done by Harvard University, studying students from the classes of the 1930s through their lives, and looked to find what made those who were happy and healthy (“happy well”), well, happy and healthy.

“The most reliable predictor turned out to be having warm relationships by at least age 47. A good marriage is important (even if some didn’t get it right until their second or third), but strong relationships based on trust and respect and continuity can also be with relatives, friends or mentors.

Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 were close to a brother or sister. Also predictive were starting a sport or physical activity while young, and adaptability. Resilience and optimism saw the happy-well through the loss of jobs, fortunes, spouses, children and health.”

Anyone wonder why relationships still matter and why having good relationships matters in this lifetime?

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