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Don’t give advice.
助言をしない。

 

The first rule is not to give advice when people don’t ask you for it.

The second rule is not to give advice if they’re not willing to hear it and/or follow it.

The third rule is not to give advice if they don’t even know what they don’t know.

The fourth rule is not to give advice if they randomly approach others and ask for it.

The fifth rule is not to give advice that you don’t follow yourself.

The sixth rule is to forget all the rules mentioned above, and think about your own rule about giving advice.

 

 

Beat perfectionism.
完璧主義を打ち負かそう。

 

One of the easiest ways to make someone mentally unstable is to force them to be perfect all the time.

We often see this kind of situation in a workplace. Probably your boss does the same thing and makes you crazy.

We can’t always be perfect. It doesn’t mean that it’s okay to be careless and do a lousy job; we just need to admit that we can’t make everything perfect all the time, no matter how hard we work.

Focus on getting better, not making things perfect.

 

 

You deserve more.
もっと多くを求めよう。

 

When someone doesn’t give you what you deserve, that’s a clear sign you sold yourself short in the past.

The first step to turn things around is to leave the people who force us to sell ourselves short. Leave the people who constantly hurt you or annoy you. Avoid the people who have a passive-aggressive personality. Stay away from the people who push you around and give you nothing in return. They will never take you anywhere meaningful to you.

You deserve more. Don’t settle for anything less than you deserve. Otherwise other people treat you with less respect than you deserve.

 

 

Be resilient.
回復力を高めよう。

 

It’s quite common for us to get disappointed with outcome of our challenge. It often happens when we try something new. Even when we get better at something, we still feel disappointed about what we did.

Of course it is possible to learn something new or meet a new challenge successfully without getting disappointed. We can improve in something without failure. But if we did so, we might have missed an opportunity to make us stronger.

Whenever you feel disappointed, see it as an opportunity. Because comeback from disappointment gives you strength—the inner strength to overcome every obstacle that stands in your way—and improvement. Be resilient, and enjoy the ride.

 

 

Family always comes first.
常に家族が一番大事。

 

If you are in the position of managing people in a workplace, one of the things you should never do is to disrespect a family member of your people.

My ex-boss, who never wrote my last name correctly for seven and half years (see Doodle Card No. 389 for detail), did that to me. His rudeness left me speechless, and even after I quit the job, I still have a difficulty with forgiving him.

People can bear an insult toward themselves. But if an insult goes to their family, people have zero tolerance. Once the damage is done, you’re finished. “Family Always Comes First”—this concept means a lot if you want your people to fully engage in their job.