Author: Satoru Hirose

 

Learn by doing, not by hearing.
耳からではなく、実践から学ぼう。

 

“I want to speak English well. What should I do?”

After I came back from the U.S., people often asked me for advice.

I said, “Use it often. Speak. Write. Every day. Then you’ll be better.”

No one followed my advice. After spending a lot of money on language schools and learning materials, most of them gave up on it. Because they did not spend their time on doing.

Schools and materials give you an opportunity to learn, but they can never be a substitute for your own experience.

 

 

Be mindful of what you tune in.
意識を向けているものに注意しよう。

 

We receive so many signals and noises. Every moment.

If we could focus only on signals — the information that help us move toward our goals and missions — our life would be easier. But it never happens. We always have noises, i.e. distractions, inside and around us.

Even if we go on information diet, we still receive both signals and noises. So it’s not the matter of how we get information. It’s the matter of what kind of information we choose to have.

Be aware of what you choose now. Choose carefully. Channel zapping is not a good strategy.

 

 

Go beyond social norm.
社会的通念を超越しよう。

 

“I think he is smarter than you.”

One of my ex-bosses always rated people based upon the college they graduated. According to his criteria, I was a B-class. Then he considered me as a piece of sh*t when I left the company.

People evaluate you on their criteria. They don’t value or care about you if you don’t meet the criteria. Not rich. Not good-looking. Not famous. Not working for a large company. Not giving them ‘Like’ on Facebook. And so on and on. Their evaluation is almost always inconsistent and makes us confused. Above all, it’s not the purpose of our life to meet their criteria.

When we start doing something, we cannot be somebody from the very beginning. Who cared Google in 1998, when they were just one of 20+ search engines existing on the Internet? Who thought of Facebook as something in 2005, when it was a networking site only for college students?

Don’t be afraid of being nothing. Enjoy being ignored. That’s the beauty of getting something started. Do whatever you can do to be better. Keep doing. Until you become ‘too good to ignore’. And see what happens.

After all, you are the only person who can prove yourself and make yourself remarkable. Social norm won’t help you make that happen.

 

 

Anger is another form of insecurity.
怒りは、自信のなさが形を変えたもの。

 

I was always mad at something in my twenties and thirties.

Family. Friends. Strangers. Apartment I lived. My employer. My appearance. My colleagues. My job. And above all, myself. I got furious when I felt threatened. I got mad because I wanted to hide my fear and insecurity.

Getting mad is a fight-or-flight reaction. Even animals do the same. We, human beings, can choose how we behave, thanks to our advanced brain functions.

Nothing in this world has power to threaten us. Unless we allow someone or something to have the power. Unless we admit we are fearful or insecure.

We don’t need to manage anger. We just need to find its root cause: our fear and insecurity. And let them go. Anger is only a byproduct of them.