Doodle Card

 

Make yourself uncomfortable.
「しっくりこない」状態にしよう。

 

“But you were a number guy.”

My ex-coworker texted me. He saw my doodles on Instagram. For him, it is extremely strange that I — who used to be a Finance Director of a company — enjoy drawing and share my doodles with the world.

We label people. We invent a narrative around a person. This is how our brain gets lazy; our labeling and narrative help our brain identify things easily and prevent it from suffering a burnout. They also can make us dumb because the system of our brain can easily keep us from finding new things and exploring new opportunities.

Our perception can be wrong. At any time. Especially in the Internet era – everything can change quickly. We can reinvent ourselves by making the best use of countless learning resources on the Internet.

Even when your perception is wrong, that doesn’t mean you are wrong. It’s not about your personality. It’s about your possibility.

Enjoy the situation that forces you to change your labeling and narrative. It gives you a great opportunity to broaden your horizons.

 

 

Don’t underestimate your creativity.
自分の想像力を見くびらない。

 

I always start from scratch. Every morning.

I’ve created more than 100 doodle cards and posted them on Instagram since May 2016. Creating something is now part of my morning routine.

When I wake up in the morning, I have no idea about what I am going to create. Once I start working on doodling, I try to finish it within 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes 60 minutes to finish. Even if it takes longer, I am not always satisfied with what I’ve created. People often prefer the craft I created in 15 minutes. But I keep creating anyway.

Quite often, our creativity gets lazy. We have to shake it up a bit. Our creativity is like our muscle. The more we use, the better it gets. The more tension we create within our creativity, the stronger it becomes.

Everyone has the power to create. All human beings. From ancient cave drawings to Space X. Although we are not Elon Musk, we have the power to create something that matters. We should not underestimate that.

Let us create something. Start small. Do it every day. Never stop creating.

 

 

Ignite enthusiasm.
熱意に火をつけよう。

 

No one has to work for you.

This is what we need to keep in mind when we do something with someone. People need to have a solid reason to do something with you. Even in workplace. Nowadays people don’t have to stick to one job to make a living.

I used to work under the boss who often said “someone has to do that” to force me to do something. That might be true, but his statement was too weak to convince me that I had to do that for him. Eventually I did all the things he mentioned, but I did them for ME. For my learning and growth. For the people I would help in the future by using what I just learned. I didn’t even care if he got all the credit for what I did. That’s what always happens when you work under losers.

People always need to be motivated by something. Something much bigger than a task in front of us. Something bigger than a pay check. Something bigger than themselves. It varies from person to person.

Find that thing. Ignite people’s interest and passion.

Our charisma or authority, even if any, doesn’t help in a long run.

 

 

Come out of ignorance.
無知から抜け出そう。

 

Discrimination and stupidity come from the same root: ignorance.

I used to work for a company that is sales-oriented. Non-sales employees were discriminated. Lower pay, less recognition, and less chance for promotion. My job responsibility at the company was for accounting and finance. As one of non-sales employees, I felt I was always treated unfairly. Quite often, I actually was. I quit.

A few years later, I got a job of a business development manager. It was not a sales job, but one of the profit centers of the company. The problem is, the company was finance-oriented. I was regarded as a nuisance by the financial department. I was okay as I got used to be treated unfairly. I left the company by other reasons.

In Japan, there is discrimination in workplace. Job type. Age. Gender. Academic background. Nationality. Disability. People who discriminate against others don’t recognize the opportunities they are missing. They lack a holistic view. That’s why many Japanese companies lose momentum.

When we feel we are right, ask ourselves: From other people’s point of view, what am I missing? It helps us get out of the trap of ignorance.

 

 

Get what you need, even if it’s not fun.
必要なものを手に入れよう。たとえ楽しくなくても。

 

People say, “English is fun”. But this was never the case for me.

When I was a kid, I didn’t like studying English. But I did it anyway and got a perfect score on an exam. Because I had to. When I went to the United States, learning English was a real pain in the neck for me. But I worked on it and became good enough to communicate. Because I had to.

When we learn a new skill, the skill itself does not necessarily have to be fun. Public speaking. Chopping something with a knife. Adobe Photoshop. Plumbing.

We learn a skill when we need to use it and get the outcome we want. And we successfully acquire a skill if we want it so badly and keep learning no matter what happens. It doesn’t matter if it’s fun or not.