Daily Yamabushi

What is it of yours you want others to benefit from?

What impact are you hoping on making? And how are the gifts you are preparing for the future going to help that impact? Of course these gifts may not be used as intended, but it’s the sentiment that counts.

Inspired by a presentation I attended tonight.

Do. Then plan. Or just do.

Before you can plan to do well, you have to plan to do. Scratch that. You just have to do. No planning, at least at first. Do first, try and get the hang of things, to some extent at least, and continue doing. Then you can plan on doing well.

You’re not done until you have.

If you want out, it’s another story, but if you’re giving up the ghost simply because nothing is working, well, you kind of have nothing to lose.

Have you tried every avenue, every idea? Even those of other people? If the answer is no, you’re not ready to give up. Try something new, and try something new again.

And more

Do everything you can to do everything possible.

Then do more. Try every avenue, lift every rock. Make the most of your limited resources and get things done. Do everything possible.

And more.

If it feels right

It’s ok to stop and smell the sunshine every once in a while. It’s even more ok when life happens. You’re such a small part of the world that it will revolve around without you in the meantime. Give yourself a break if it feels like that might be the right thing to do.

What better reason

There’s a reason you put your phone down to charge before you go to sleep. There’s a reason you don’t have an email app, or other social media on your phone. There’s a reason you make your bed every day. There’s a reason you keep your place tidy.

There’s a reason for these things, and the way to find out the reason is to neglect them. What better reason to not do something.

Hold on to the responsibility

It’s all too easy to blame things on some external factor. But we don’t need to. By blaming things on an external factor we separate ourselves from the responsibility that comes with the territory. We give ourselves over to the situation.

However, sometimes it’s not the external factor, sometimes we can have a direct influence on how things play out, only we don’t see it because we’ve separated ourselves from the responsibility.

We always could have done more, in other words. But this isn’t a lesson in regret. No use crying over spilt milk. It’s a lesson in how we should approach things in future.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

Not only will they keep you alive, they will keep you hungry. They will keep you motivated.

Your curiosities are a gift from your soul. They are to be treasured as such and given the respect they deserve.

Follow your curiosities. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The most important thing

In the moment, in the emotion, it might feel like the most important thing ever.

And it should. That’s what you’re working on controlling, that’s what you’re trying to wield influence over.

In the moment, in the emotion.

Try me.

There are many things in this world we cannot even begin to comprehend; the amount of love in a parent’s heart, the amount of potential we have, the amount of effort we can expel to make a positive impact on the world. Many times, put simply, the amount is more than we’ll ever know.

And that’s fine. We don’t need to know exactly how much there is. But we can certainly try and find out.

Do what you gotta do, to be what you wanna be.

But make sure you do it. No half-ass attempts. That’s the only way to know for sure whether it’s truly the thing you gotta do.

They can keep it to themselves

When someone overreacts, it doesn’t mean you have to. Keep your emotions at bay, and let them have their moment. No need to let it rub off on you.

Japanese people are generally very good at doing this, at letting the overreactor have their moment in the sun, and (trying to at least) giving them the chance to see their overreaction for what it is, not adding fuel to the fire.

Cut those nails

If it’s itchy, check your nails don’t need a trim. Check you aren’t exasperating things unnecessarily.

Get it done before your thoughts get involved

Act before your thoughts get dragged into the equation.

We all have things we hate to do. There’s always something that for whatever reason we find a way to put off almost indefinitely.

Don’t.

Easier said than done, of course. But we know the kinds of things that we really have to drag ourselves to do. Whenever something of the like comes up, for as long as possible don’t put your emotions into the equation. Forget them.

And act. Take the first steps to get it done then and there. If you’re lucky, you may even be able to get it done before your emotions take hold.

The problem is, of course, sometimes we don’t know if something is going to be this kind of something. Which is all the more reason to act on it before our emotions rear their ugly head.

A valuable contribution

Is your presence and or words a valuable contribution? If not, it’s probably not necessary.

When it comes to writing, on final edits you always cut out the superfluous. You always get rid of the excess and leave behind only the good stuff. This is because anything that doesn’t add is more than likely detracting.

It’s the same with us. While your presence is more than likely a valuable contribution, sometimes it’s better we lay back and let others lead the conversation. This is perfectly fine. It’s time to bide our time, and our ideas, until we have something valuable to contribute.

Only if it adds.

With the resources and knowledge you have at hand

You do the best you can with the resources and knowledge you have at hand.

Sure, you’re limited. Sure the situation could be better.

Either way, you do the best you can with the resources and knowledge you have at hand.

There’s no alternative

If you want the best results, you need the best. To get the best, you give your best. Fate will take care of everything else. If your best isn’t good enough, then so be it. It isn’t good enough. But if you have it your best, you really have nothing to worry about. That’s why there’s no alternative to giving it your best.

A eureka moment

The more experiments you do, the more chances you have of a eureka moment. Make little iterations here and there, constantly be toiling away at something in the background. Keep at it and those eureka moments will come.

Iteration by iteration, you will get better. Iteration by iteration, you will eventually reach the top.

Turn the words into motivation

If someone’s words seem harsh and affect you, it’s very possible they’re going through something, or are just that type of person. There’s nothing stopping you from rewording their response in your head to something more appropriate for the circumstances.

Accept their words on face value, but change what you tell yourself they said to be more forward-focused. Give them the benefit of the doubt, and in turn you won’t feel so harshly treated.

Just get moving

What’s the smallest amount you can do to say you have partially done something? Do that. Worry about the rest later. Let later sort itself out. For now, worry about getting out of the funk, or not getting trapped there in the first place.

Delay the procrastination.

Just get moving.

Perhaps a bit of both?

Soul crushing, or soul enabling? The fact is, sometimes it’s both. Sometimes we simply have zero idea.

Sometimes we have to take it in our stride and accept that what might be soul crushing in the moment, is soul enabling in the future. All it takes is a little patience, perseverance, and of course, perspective. But once we know, we know.

All the time

That’s what we’re doing, consciously or otherwise. The more shots, the more chances. The more concentrated shots, the more chances. Take your shots, and mean them.

Stay spontaneous

I was asked this in a workshop this afternoon, and it is a very good question indeed.

My answer:

I try my best to do things spontaneously as I feel that is a good way to keep on top of our uniqueness. Spontaneity is something that by definition we don’t think, we just act on impulse. If we were to act not on impulse, we let our thoughts cloud our judgment, and that can easily lead to stalling. So, I try to keep up the spontaneity where I can.

I also do this blog and create other stuff like YouTube videos and my newsletter. Sure I may copy some things, I know there is a lot of cliche in what does come out. However, this is yet another way to express myself, and as much as possible I try to do just that, even if it means copying or otherwise using the opinions or actions of others, making sure to add my spin on it, of course.

Why think anything else?

You’re a rarity. You’re not one in a million, you’re not even one in a trillion. Of all the people to be you, only you are you.

So if you think you want to be normal, that you just want to fit in, that’s great, but you’re special. You have the ability and the imperative to make a change, to make things better simply because you are special. Why think anything else?

The one that pushes you forward

Today I made some pretty big mistakes trying to do a live YouTube video. First of all, I made a blunder with my schedule, and was late. Second, I didn’t realize the default for YouTube lives was vertical. I guess that’s a sign of the times. Either way, I still managed to record live. I came to record live, and I recorded live. It wasn’t as I expected, but it was, and it will serve me well for the future.

I now know to check things before recording, or more importantly, why, and to also plan things a bit more in advance so I can give people more of a head’s up. It was fun nonetheless, the more important thing, and I look forward to doing more in the future. I’m glad I had the opportunity to test things out in this way, and in some ways, it was the perfect failure.

A life lesson we should all learn

Sometimes you just have to take it on the chin. Sometimes you just need a stiff upper lip.

People are going to annoy you.

But that’s on them.

How you react is entirely up to you, and taking things on the chin is always an option. At the very least, we need to practice pausing before we allow ourselves to react.

And if you can practice taking it on the chin, that’s potentially one less argument or fight you need to worry about, and potentially avoiding a whole lot of stress too.

One at a time.

Moment by moment, breath by breath, step by step.

One at a time.