Get by without

Can you get by without? Get by without. You obviously don’t need it. Only working with the bare minimum is a work of art. No frivolous stuff, just the right amount. Get by without. It’ll save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

The more you step on, the further you get

Until you take a step, you never know whether a stone will slip, shift under its own weight, or hold up right. Testing the stones is a good way to get ahead, and the more you step on, the further you get.

You’re in touch

If you have to worry about whether there is a thunderstorm or not, you’re in touch with nature. If you have to worry about whether the rain will ruin your day or not, you’re in touch with nature.

Worrying is a sign that you’re concerned. It shows that you have a connection to whatever it is you are worried about. That connection is not to be taken for granted. If you have to worry, you’re in touch.

Stay on your toes

There’s an advantage in being a first mover. There’s one in not moving at all too.

If there’s a chance your plane won’t leave due to something like the weather, get on last. Don’t check in until absolutely necessary. Keep your luggage with you until you’re sure the plane’s leaving to stay mobile in case it doesn’t.

Test that inkling

I have an itch. It’s a bad one. It needs a scratch.

So give it a scratch. Test it out. See what it’s like. Find out if your inkling is correct or not.

Or stay itchy. It’s up to you.

Leave it out there

Leave it out there. Warts and all. No need to overly self-edit, it just gets in the way of the work. That’s your true self coming to the fore, and it need not be suppressed.

If people don’t like it, they probably wouldn’t have liked it without warts either. If you won’t take advice from them, don’t take criticism from them either.

Leave it out there. Warts and all.

What is

Reminiscing of a time gone by, and then thinking of what could have been, are fun thought experiments, but they don’t serve you well. By all means have these thought experiments, but remember they are just surface level.

If it’s not what is, nor what could ever be, it’s not worth worrying about.

Stumbling is a point of pride

Sitting there in the dark, staying with the familiar, not venturing out, these are all recipes for mediocrity. If you’re ever to stumble upon something great, if you’re ever to find your true calling, you first have to stumble. You first have to get out in the world and see it for what it is. Stumbling isn’t something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be proud of.

You can always do more

You can always be better, so why even try in the first place? Being able to be better is not an excuse to just give up. It’s reason enough to put your best foot forward every single time and know that if you do so, that’s enough.

You can always be better. You can always do more. However, if it comes at the expense of not putting anything out, then yeah, you can always do better.

The real answer.

If you have questions, you go searching for answers. This searching, and what you discover along the way, is what really matters. If you have answers, you have no need to go on the journey. That is the real answer.

This post is inspired by Master Hoshino and Master Takeharu Kato, who talk about the journey in itself being what’s really important, or as Master Hoshino puts it, ‘the answer lies in what you sense’.

Look for the reminders. They’re everywhere.

As long as you’re on this earth, there’s always a positive. Sometimes you just need the perspective to find it.

The most extreme example I can give is the passing of my father. Horrible, worst thing that could happen to anyone, even my worst enemies. But that helped light a fire in my belly. I finally got around to doing things I had put off, and I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you had that not happened. It’s a reminder that our time is finite, and to err on the side of action.

Then something simpler. A friend complained that when they arrived at work a bird pooed on their windscreen, and then it rained and smeared everywhere. But then they remembered that having a car in the first place is not something to be taken for granted, nor is having a job to get to. The bird was a reminder of that.

Look for the reminders. They’re everywhere. They may not be so obvious, but a slight change in perspective helps dig them up. There’s always a positive. You just have to look.

The good kind of territory

Unfamiliar territory represents the unknown. The unknown represents fear. But it also represents opportunity. This is something we must never forget. Fear can be a good thing if you let it motivate you to do something positive. In other words, fear leads to action, action leads to opportunity. Don’t fear the unknown territory. Embrace it. You never know what opportunity knocks.

Even when you’re not sure it will work

Even when you’re not sure it will work.

Try me.

At the very least you eliminate one possibility. At the very best, you find one.

If you think it won’t work, but you aren’t entirely sure, there’s only one way to find out.

And don’t you forget it

The laps you ran.

The essay you wrote.

The degree you earned.

The job you did.

The cash you earned.

The time you had.

The fun you had.

They can’t take that away.

Your moment in the sun

Having a moment. Is it a moment in the spotlight? Or is it a moment you’d rather people not know about? If it’s a moment when you’re in the moment, does it really matter?

Having a moment is a good thing. You’re fully present in the now. You’re experiencing the now for what it truly is. Having a moment is not something to be ashamed of. It’s something to be embraced. And it’s something to cherish.

Everything is cause to honour the occasion

I’m here. You’re here. The sun isn’t shining, but it’s certainly there. And even if it were, that wouldn’t matter. Everything is sekkaku.

‘Sekkaku’ is a phrase often uttered in Japan that I struggle to find a direct translation for. Something like ‘reason enough to’, ‘to honour the occasion’, or something along the lines of: ‘since [reason], let’s [action].

For example,

• since the sun’s out, let’s go to the beach.
• since you’re here, let’s have a toast.

That sort of thing.

Sekkaku is a powerful force. It’s a reminder that the circumstances we are in are reason enough to do something. That if we find ourselves in the company of someone special, at a special time of the year, in a special place, that we should do something to honour the occasion.

But the thing is, everything is sekkaku. That we’re here is a miracle. That I’m writing this and you’re reading this even more so. Everything is Sekkaku, and we should treat it that way. Let’s honour the occasion just because it’s the occasion. It’s Sekkaku after all.

Is all it takes

Judge yourself on your last performance, so the saying goes.

It’s just one game, though. Don’t be too quick to judge. There’s not really enough context there for true analysis.

It’s just one game, though. Just one time you need to push to the max. Effort is temporary. Glory is permanent.

Just one game.

And build from there

When you’re trying to get back into the swing of things it’s often hard to get started. Once you’re started, it’s all good because you have the momentum to carry you forward, but from then on, it can still be a mission. One thing I like to do to make sure I maintain the momentum is to think in percentages of effort. I like to think I am operating at different percentages, and that I will up the effort or lower it depending on my feelings and needs at the time. The key here is simply to not go to zero, to not stop. The key is to just keep things moving at whatever pace you feel comfortable. It’s also interesting to experiment with different percentages, for example I often try to go at 70, then 80, then 90, then 100 percent for as long as possible, and then back down to 70. This is I find a sustainable way to keep momentum going and to build from there.

Get started

Getting started is the only way to get started. Getting started and staying started is the only way to have a chance at hitting your stride.

We all want to be our best. We all want to hit our stride. Sometimes the only thing in the way is getting started. So get started hitting your stride.

How big is your canvas?

Old Chinese ink paintings work precisely because of what they don’t paint, the canvas left blank. You could almost call them un-paintings. These works leave the real work up to the parts they don’t even need to bother about.

How big is your canvas? How much is necessary to paint?

Not just to do your job

I’ll always remember something Sachin Tendulkar said,

“Personal milestones are created along that path where you have got a bigger goal” – Sachin Tendulkar

You’re there to do a job. It’s not to do what your job outline tells you. It’s not just to follow your passion. It’s to get the win, to truly get the job done. Are they Signal? Or are they noise? Do they contribute to your mission? Your real job?

You’re they’re to win the game. You’re not just there to do your job.

Do the things that contribute to the win. Everything else can wait.

Realizations after realizations.

The role of a teacher is to give realizations, the more you can do that, the more everyone learns.

And the best way to do that? Do the thing. You’ll get it if you do it enough. Do it enough and you have realizations. Realizations that push you forward and on to better.

Success begets success.

Assume success. Always. This could otherwise be construed as the power of positive thinking, but it’s much more than that. The power of positive thinking is the theory of thinking you will succeed, and your psyche following suit. Which is great, and I believe beneficial to any endeavour.

What I’m saying here is that, if that endeavour were to succeed, how could you make it even more of a success later? What could you do to chain that success into something greater? Something even more positive? Well, now you know what you’re going to do next.

This works retroactively too. If something wasn’t deemed a success in the first place, assume that it was. Find the aspects of the thing that can be construed as success (there is always something), and ask the same questions as before. Of course be sure to base it in reality, otherwise you risk delusion. But still,

Assume success. Always.

Stop and pause

If someone acts irrationally, they get in your way or otherwise put you off, intentionally or otherwise, stop and pause.

And that’s it.

No need to react. No need to stoop to their level. No need to get involved.

Stopping and pausing is the first step on the way to acceptance. It’s the first thing we do when things don’t feel right.

Don’t partake. Don’t react. Just accept and move on.

It’s that simple.

When things go seriously wrong, or don’t work the way you want them to, you do a hard reset. You push whatever combination of buttons is necessary to start over, and you start again. It’s that simple.

Use it or lose it

What’s happened, happened. Use it, or lose it.

If it doesn’t help you, learn from it and let it go. If it does, great! Learn from it and let it go. Shat happened, happened, and it’ll never happen again. But the lessons last, and that we must never let go of.

Let the talk take care of itself

When you walk the walk, the talk takes care of itself. Focus on waking the walk. It makes for better stories.

Yet out in the world

‘Unpolished, but polished enough to be ready by the deadline’

That’s the standard you want. That’s the sweet spot.

Anything more is superfluous, and once this standard is reached, it is your cue to start polishing the next project.

We can polish all we want, but it’ll just get more shiny. If the underlying work has been done, there’s not much use in sticking around.

Don’t polish it more than necessary.

Let the good work shine.

Before we can do our best work, we have to do our work. We have to put foot to pavement and make tracks. In the moment it might not feel like our best work. In the moment it might feel substandard. But out in the world is always better than in our head If you’ve put something out in the world, however the standard, we have more to work from.

Get your bad work out of the way quickly, and let the good work shine.

Otherwise we never change

To change, we must first embrace ourselves. We must first come to terms with the changes that have happened both to us, and by us. To change, we must embrace the change. Otherwise we never change.