An abundance of information is only a distraction.
大量の情報は気を紛らすだけ。
People who provide us with A LOT OF information for free has an intention. They want us to buy something from them.
Exposing ourselves to many information at once can paralyze our thinking. So always ask ourselves:
Do we really need to consume these information?
Does the information improve the quality of our life and business? Or just the authenticity of the person who provide the information?
See the things as it is.
モノゴトをありのままに見よう。
All business owners should learn how to draw so as to improve their judgment.
Why drawing? To draw something accurately, we have to closely examine it — without any prejudgment or biased perception. People often say that they are ‘not good’ at drawing, and it usually means that what they draw is far different from what the object really is. That’s because they are NOT free from such preconceptions while drawing: they are drawing based upon their prejudgements, not the object in front of them.
This kind of perceptual difference also occurs when we use ‘icons’ — a simplified, abstract drawing — in communication. Since such icons are different from what it actually is, people apply their own preconception to the icons. For example, someone draws an icon of a normal building, but others may see it as an intimidating, high-rise building.
Learning to draw forces you to use your brain differently. You have to recognize your prejudgment and let it go in order to draw the object as it is. And if you are a business owner, this practice — letting your prejudgment go — helps you observe a situation of your business (as well as yourself) clearly and make a better judgment.
Learning to draw improves the function of our brain, and it’s worth spending our time. Because what we think in our brain becomes our business.
Everything starts from a small step.
あらゆることは小さな一歩から始まる。
What is the one thing you are eager to do?
What would be the first, the smallest action — a baby step — to make that happen?
Why not take that tiny step today?
What would be the next baby step?
Why not put that into action tomorrow?
Why not keep the ball rolling bit by bit until you get what you want?
Go back to basics to advance.
進歩するために、基本に戻ろう。
No matter how successful you are in your career, you will hit a plateau at some point. Especially when you work really hard. It is unavoidable.
Plateau itself is not a bad thing – it doesn’t mean that you do something wrong or have no chance to grow further. It just tells you where you are now. Most of the time, in order to make progress from there to the next, what you need is to go back to basics — not to learn advanced skill or knowledge.
There might be something that you think you know, but you might not be able to do it well as you think. You might have forgotten some basic skills because your current role does not require them. Or, even if you are well equipped with various professional skills, you might have a huge room for improvement in cultivating a rich humanity — it is THE basic required for any kind of successful life.
When we assume we know nothing, we create a big window of opportunity ourselves.
You won’t make it if you fake it.
ごまかしたら、うまくいかない。
Nowadays you can purchase social media followers if you want. Of course it is AGAINST the terms and conditions, but some people do purchase fake followers to make up the numbers.
Does this work? At least the people who purchased followers believe this will work. But it usually won’t work in a long run because, in addition to the breach of the terms and conditions, they rely upon quick-fix approaches rather than real solutions.
We can make a real difference only through continuous improvement of ourselves and constant dedication to our work. If there is time and energy to fake something, it’s much better to take time to make our work better — even a tiny fraction of it.
