Doodle

 

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.

 

 

Get a reality check.
本当かどうか確かめよう。

 

Perhaps you believe you don’t lie to yourself. What we need to check is that, however, our brain often creates a false story about others and tries to make us believe the story.

When someone smiles at you, you might think that person sneers at you. When someone says something out loud (so that you can easily hear), you might think that person yells at you.

Such a false storytelling can destroy someone’s good intent as well as a healthy relationship. Before doubting someone, doubt the story your brain creates.

 

 

Spell other’s name right.
人の名前は正しく書こう。

 

When I worked for a Japanese manufacturing company, I had a boss who always wrote my name incorrectly. My last name, Hirose, is written in Kanji as 廣世, but he wrote it as 広瀬. These Kanji characters have the same pronunciation but different meanings. He never wrote it right while I worked under him—for seven years and six months.

You may think it’s because Kanji characters are complicated (even though my ex-boss is Japanese), but people spell my name wrong in alphabet as well. When I worked for American/British companies, people in the U.S./U.K. headquarter often spelled my first name as SATURO—although SATORU is the correct spelling.

I used to feel insulted when other people spelled my name wrong. Now that I never feel that way—I just see it as a lack of interest and attention. It just tells a lot about the person who spelled other’s name wrong. And more importantly, it’s not my problem; it’s someone else’s problem. I’m busy fixing my own problems and becoming a better person day by day.