Doodle

 

Look into the unknown.
未知のものを調べよう。

 

Do I really want to make friends? The latest article by Eric Barker (@bakadesuyo), “This Is How To Make Friends As An Adult,” posed this question to me.

I used to have 400+ Facebook friends. Now it’s around 60 or so because I’ve unfriended most of them. I usually ignore a friend request. I rarely see my Facebook timeline because I’m not interested. I do have a LinkedIn account but only use it to log on to Lynda.com. I launched a social group at meetup.com, about 40 people joined the group, but have never held an event.

While I always do my best to maintain a good relationship with my best clients, I often avoid interacting with people at a personal level. I still don’t know why, and need to dig deeply into myself. I want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. When we have a big question mark about something, that’s a sign of a turning point in our life.

 

 

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.