Four years ago, I took a course called Doing Business in China. On our first day, our professor introduced us to 生意 (shēngyì). This is the Chinese word for business. When these two characters are taken apart, we find that the word is made up of two different ideas:
生 = “life” or “to give birth to”
意 = “meaning” or “significance”
She said that this was how the Chinese viewed business. To them, it was what gave life meaning. My first thought was, “That’s it? Do business, make money, and life is meaningful? Really?” I didn’t think so.
But business, I realize now, is more than just the pursuit of making money. We know this. We say things like, “I’m in the business of (something)” or “mind your own business.” Business is the doing of something. Its etymology confirms:
Old English (bisignes) – “anxiety”
Middle English – “state of being much occupied or engaged” (now “busyness”)
Late 14th Century – “a person’s work, occupation, that which one does for a livelihood”
Even later 14th Century – “that which is undertaken as a duty”
1590s – “what one is about at the moment”
1727 – “trade, commercial engagements, mercantile pursuits collectively,” “matters which occupy one’s time and attention”
1856 – the phrase, to “mean business” = “be intent on serious action”
1865 – the phrase “business as usual”
1874 – the phrase “business end” = “the practical or effective part” (of something)
Over time, business has evolved from “anxiety” to what it is today. But throughout this evolution, there are some ideas that pop out. I stand by my earlier statement: business is the doing of something.
Key words: undertaken, engaged, time and attention, intent, action, work. Business is about action, intention, engagement. Yes, it’s used as a noun, but in essence, it’s a verb.
If business or 生意 is what gives life meaning, maybe meaning isn’t necessarily found in a specific job, person, place, or anything static for that matter. It isn’t a noun. It’s a verb.
It isn’t found in the end, nor is it a precursor to beginning anything. Rather, meaning is a by-product of action or the choice for inaction, which in itself is an act insofar as it was a conscious choice.
Meaning is in being engaged in an endeavor, in looking for a person, in becoming a person, in getting to a place. It is found in the doing, creating, getting busy, working on your craft, hustling, going through the grind, choosing not to grind, rebelling, resting, recovering, noticing, breathing, authentically being.
In a speech by Theodore Roosevelt entitled Citizenship in a Republic, there’s a famous quote, the “Man in the Arena” quote:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in a Republic “
Meaning is found in being the man in the arena.