Author: Satoru Hirose

 

Labeling is boring.
レッテルを貼るのは退屈。

 

People sometimes treat me as an artist nowadays. It’s funny. I’m NOT an artist; I’m a businessperson who draws to help people think clearly, solve problems, learn effectively, and communicate well.

Labeling is an easy way to understand something. Entrepreneur, lawyer, writer, artist, designer, salesperson, accountant… whatever it is, labeling someone — including ourselves — gives us a certain impression of the person. It also creates prejudice, either consciously or subconsciously. In other words, labeling is a sign that our brain gets lazy about seeing something as it is.

If we describe someone — again, including ourselves — in a sentence, not a word, that’s a different story.

Instead of ‘artist’, how about saying “he creates the things that inspire people with awe”? Instead of ‘salesperson’, how about saying “I deliver the value that customers desperately need”?

We all are dynamic creatures. Let us stop using boring labels.

 

 

Always be learning.
いつも学び続けよう。

 

The most fatal mistake to small business owners is to become dispensable.

To be and remain indispensable, we need to keep learning new skills while refining existing ones — and create a unique set of the skills by actually using them, evaluating them and choosing what works.

We need to be relentless in our choice. The world around us is rapidly changing. We don’t have the luxury to have obsolete skills with us. “Always be learning” is our karma. We have no other option.

 

 

Think positively with care.
注意して前向きに考えよう。

 

Confession: I don’t always think positively, but I do believe the power of being positive.

In our life and business, there are times that we need to prepare for the worst. It is the essential task at the planning phase.

It doesn’t mean that we have to be pessimistic about everything. We just need to consider that anything — both good and bad — could happen and that there is something we can do even when the worst thing happens — as long as we are alive.

Being positive helps us face a tough time. Believing in our resourcefulness, we can figure out what we can do to overcome or utilize the situation — or run away from it if we face a crisis of life.

But if you want to do something and there is nothing you can do when the worst thing happens, just don’t do that… It’s just a recklessness, and being positive won’t help you in that situation.

 

 

Live now to the fullest.
いまを精一杯生きよう。

 

Yesterday is the history we cannot change anymore. Learn from the experience, then forget it.

Today is the first day of the rest of our life. Start the day with hope, and stay focused on what matters most to you.

Tomorrow is the future that is created by what we do today, but we cannot precisely predict what is going to happen. So don’t even think about it now.