Daily Yamabushi

Sputtering Into Action

Sputter enough you make a start. If the car keeps moving along, and it can start rolling forward off its own power, you’re in the clear. Until then though, you’ll be sputtering. Is that where you want to be? Is it worth making more of an effort to get into action? Are you ok with it sputtering? Or should you put on the breaks and call it quits? I’d say at least give it a decent chance to get on a roll, see how you like it, and go from there.

Repeat the Question

For the most part at least, people who speak slower sound smarter. It’s like you get smart credits for taking the time to think through your words.

One technique I’ve noticed of the best interviewers (Tim Ferriss is great at this) is that they ask the question in the middle of a short preamble. That short time between the question and the end of the preamble gives the interviewee extra time to think through their answer. This shows the interviewers respect to the person being interviewed, and also gives us better answers, which is what we want after all.

Well, you can increase the quality of your answers too during any kind of interview, job or otherwise, by simply repeating the question.

We can still keep the conversation going, but with these techniques we can also give each other breathing space, which in theory should lead to better answers too.

Get it so it works. Then adjust accordingly.

Set up a process, however bad. Your first port of call is simply whether it works or not. Even if it splutters and breaks, as long as the process works, all that’s left is to fine tune it again and again. Before long, the wheels will be running smoothly, and you’re well on your way to glory.

The hardest part is getting it started. Everything else from there is mere adjustment.

Fix the process, fix the results

It’s the process you should worry about. Not the results. The results are merely a symptom of the process. If the results aren’t what you want, you are just too early in the process. Fix the process, fix the results.

Don’t forget to appreciate

Bad things don’t happen in a vacuum. At times it does indeed feel like they feed off each other too. But there is good to be taken from every moment. There is good even in the worst of circumstances. If the situation doesn’t change, your attitude will. There’s always something to look forward to, and there’s always something to be thankful for. We just have to remember to take the time to appreciate.

Understanding which makes all the difference

Is it the product, or final result of the process? Or is it a byproduct? Something that comes of the process that isn’t the final result?

If you focus on process enough, everything is just a byproduct. There is no end, and there is no end to the byproducts either. The product, on the other hand, the final result, is what happens at the end of the process.

Which can you get more out of, producing a byproduct, or a product? Which can more reliably be made? Which are you focusing on?

Your creativity is at stake

‘You’re Making it Hard For Yourself’ was basically my dad’s catchphrase, but as I watch other people I can’t help but feel it. Even worse, I find myself saying this about myself more often than I’d like to admit.

When it comes to the creative, do all that you can to get it out. Take it to its barest form if necessary. Short is fine. Short is good actually. It’s better than not done. If it were to be easier, how would it be done? Ask yourself that and see if you can’t change things up. How do other people do it differently? Is there something to be learned from there? And the age-old question: are you making it hard for yourself? Your creativity is at stake. Don’t.

Depends how you see it

One time I was playing airsoft and my gun kept curving the bullet to the right. It was a faulty gun, but you can get used to it by aiming slightly to the left, which was effective enough, but where this gun really excelled was when someone was cowering behind something. Turn the gun on its side, and the curve would go up and then eventually down. You can’t do that with a normal airsoft gun.

What at first glance feels like a fault, can actually be turned to your advantage, with a little creativity.

Wrong Answer.

Who do you most want to please? Who are you trying to make proud?

The answer is you. The answer is always you.

Do it for other people, of course, but make sure you’re looking after number one.

We only care if you do. We only care if you’ve made yourself proud. Go and do that, then get back to us.

No contest

Sit in meditation and time feels like it lasts an eternity. Sit and watch tv for the same amount of time, and time goes by in a flash.

Which is more real? Which is more beneficial? Which are you going to prioritize?

Take your time

Does it have to be done fast? Do you need to rush it? Can doing it slower show you yet another side of why you should do it at all? If it’s something worth doing, it’s something worth savouring. Try it. You might find you like it.

Mindset is not set

Your mindset doesn’t have to be set. You don’t have to do something just because you think you have to, and likewise things don’t have to happen a certain way because you think they do. Mindset isn’t something that’s set in stone. It’s malleable. All you need is the belief that it can be changed, and it can be changed.

Out there

What are you doing here? All the fun is out there. No point sticking around. Get out there, get it done, and have some fun while you do.

I’ll be me.

If a job needs to be done that you can’t do all by yourself, you train someone. Thing is though, you shouldn’t expect them to do it exactly the way you do it, nor should you want them to either. If something’s worth being done, it’s worth being done right, and that means with full enrolment. If things can’t be done the way you want them done, even a little bit, it creates friction that is hard to get rid of. Best to develop your own style while allowing others to too. This way they don’t get stuck in your shadow, and if they outdo you by doing it their way, well, that’s a good thing.

I’ll be me. I need you to be you.

Do it once, do it right.

If it needs to be done, it needs to be done right. That’s why slowly grinding away at it works wonders. No need to rush. No need to run someone else’s race. Focus on the step ahead, and that’s it. Slowly grind away at it, and you’ll find yourself at the finish line better positioned than anyone else.

Literally

Take a walk. Literally. It’ll do you a world of good. We humans are built to walk. We are built to run. It’s one theory as to why we outlasted the Neanderthals. We’re built to move. We’re built to be mobile. And that means we’ve been conditioned to think while moving. So take a walk. It’ll do you a world of good.

Let your subconscious take charge

Your subconscious can come through with great breakthroughs if you treat it right. Doing new or different things, or sometimes doing nothing, helps keep your subconscious working in the background.

Fresh eyes can give you perspective you never knew you had. Just don’t rely on it entirely. Make getting fresh eyes a priority, but just make staying within the time limit a greater one.

Find one

If something is inherently boring but you have to go through it, find a way to make it interesting. Count how many times something interesting happens. See if you can break the record. Think of ways to break the monotony, and get through with it.

Understand it. Then act.

The storm is coming. Let it. But when it does, get a taste of it before you decide your reaction. Is it better to fight it head on? Can you take it? Or is it better to join in the flow itself, and use its energy for yourself.

Stop before the storm. Understand it. Then act.

Don’t rely on relying on it

Most of the time, there’s no need to use the sixth gear. It helps to keep in mind that it exists, but it’s also a reminder that more often than not, the lower gears are more than enough. Keep the sixth gear in mind, but don’t rely on relying on it.

That’s all there is to it

You flinched. I moved. That’s all there is to it. Granted I had done all the prerequisite checks, and all the preparation required to be able to move as soon as you flinch. I made it so all that needed to happen was for you to flinch. And you did. Next time I won’t even wait.

You die as you live. 

If you want to do something extraordinary, do something extraordinary. 

Live like this, die like this. Live well, die well.

Your clue to get on with it

Anywhere there’s an anyway, it’s time to change tack. Either that or it’s time to backtrack a bit, and fix things up so that the anyway doesn’t exist anymore. Anyways are what you say when the idea has run its course. Or the strand of that idea, at least. If you find yourself saying anyway, either it’s time to move on, or it’s time to revert back to a former time. Anywhere there’s an anyway is a clue to get on with it.

As good a time as any

It starts now. As good a time as any, or the only realistic time to get anything done. You want it done? Move. Get it done. It starts now.

Take it

There are some things you should take your sweet time with. Pretty much anything to with looking after yourself, or anything to help others. Work is another. You want to do your best job, and that means taking the sweet time needed, to an extent of course.

Take your sweet time.

Living your best life

What use is elongating your life if you aren’t making the most of it right now? How can you make the most of your life right now? The answer is obvious, but obvious and easy to implement are two completely different things. That doesn’t mean we can’t try though.

What is that thing?

Live in the now.

The past is stuck in itself, the future hasn’t decided what it wants to do yet. All we have going for us is this current moment. When you feel the urge to do something good that doesn’t harm others, go ahead and do it. Live in the now.

In reality? Or perception?

Is the inadequacy in you? Or how you see the world? Is the inadequacy something you’re stuck with, or just your perception?

Inadequacy can be a great reality check. It can also be a great motivator too. And all it takes a a change in perspective.

Yours.

If you can’t do things on your own terms due to work commitments, whose job is it? Who really owns the job? Are you occupying the space because you need to, or because they need someone to?

They say it’s your job. But is it really? If it was truly your job, you would have more control over what goes on.

Once you have a financial buffer, it’s fine to take back time for yourself, even more so it should be encouraged. It’ll make you better at your job. That’s whose job it is.

Take away one, take away the other

Take away the risk, take away the opportunity. How much of the risk is in your head? How much is your head ruining your opportunity?

Choice and ability

A full calendar is not freedom. It’s a trap. It’s a way of fooling you into thinking you’re in control. Being ok with not having any plans is real freedom. Being ok with being able to choose what to do when you want is real freedom.

Real freedom is having choices and the ability to make those choices. It’s not having things laid out for you.

Less truly is more. Work for less.