Doodle Card

 

Find your rhythm.
自分のリズムを見つけよう。

 

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Have you ever checked which one works well for you by doing an experiment on your body and mind?

I was a night owl until ten years ago. I usually stayed up until 2 or 3 AM, got some sleep, then went to work. This lifestyle worked very well except two things; I didn’t have enough sleep and often felt asleep after lunch.

Then I started thinking what would happen if I become an early bird. At the beginning, it was just painful and nothing happened. It wasn’t until I started going for a morning jog that I noticed, at least for me, waking up early is much better than staying up late.

There are millions of people who say waking up early is a good thing. There are also millions of great businessperson and creators who like working late at night. It’s not a matter of which one is better, but rather which one works for you. You may find that you’re not either an early bird or a night owl; you’re somewhere in-between. And that’s perfectly fine.

Do an experiment, and find your own biological rhythm. It can be the first step to unleash your true potential.

 

 

Get things done one by one.
一つずつこなしていこう。

 

What is the best way to deal with chaotic situation? Do one thing at a time, no matter how messy the situation is.

Things will get worse if you get panicked. You might want to look for a silver bullet, and would be devastated more as you notice that there’s no magic bullet.

The only way to remedy the situation is to surrender. Embrace the current situation and do one thing you can do right now. And repeat. If you work as a team, everyone in your team has to follow this protocol.

Be cool even when you face something in chaos. We all have the power to control it.

 

 

Play hard.
一生懸命遊ぼう。

 

Without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring.

Enough said. You need to play every once in a while. If you work hard every day, play as hard as you work. Do whatever makes you feel refreshed. When you play, don’t think about your work even for a second.

Playing doesn’t mean that you escape from reality. It’s a vital process to re-energize your mind and get your creative juices flowing again. Because of playing, we can be stronger and smarter.

 

 

Design an exit strategy.
出口戦略をつくろう。

 

In our life and business, we often run into a situation where we just have to leave without making a deal. For example:

Exit from unprofitable customers. Some people or companies just seek something cheap to make them more profitable. They treat you with no respect and don’t allow you to make a profit you deserve. No matter how their social credibility is, just leave. They are a typical “kiss up, kick down” type of creature in the market.

Exit from dysfunctional relationship. Healthy relationship is not about give and take; it’s about helping each other. If you start thinking that you’re giving more than taking or that the opponent is taking more than giving, it’s time to reflect on why. We can’t build a good relationship with anyone if we have a feeling of being victimized.

Exit from unproductive thoughts. This might be the toughest battle because it always happens within us. Even worse, we sometimes allow some negative thoughts to drain our energy unconsciously. One of the effective countermeasures is to keep a journal, especially when you feel something is wrong or uncomfortable. Dig deeply into yourself, find the root cause of your negative feeling, and just let go of it.

Have the courage not to make a deal. No deal is always a valid option, and will be a better option than making a deal under certain circumstances. To leave is not to run away; it’s a strategic action to find a better option somewhere else.

 

 

What’s undone can’t always be done.
いつも取り返しがつくとは限らない。

 

My mother passed away seven years ago today, February 16th.

When I was a kid, I often disappointed her by my wrongdoings. I didn’t like her in my teens. She got hospitalized when I was nineteen. Soon after her whole body was paralyzed, and she couldn’t say a word since then — for almost twenty years. I completely lost an opportunity for apologizing her and fixing our relationship.

What’s done cannot be undone. And the opposite — what’s undone cannot be done — is sometimes true. If you want to restore the relationship with someone, you might want to do so while he or she is still alive and able to communicate with you. If you didn’t, you might have to live with regret for the rest of your life — like I do now.

The only consolation is that I’ve now learned how to be grateful to people around me. Probably this is the biggest life lesson my mother gave me.