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January 4 - January 29, 2024
You must set and accomplish new goals (of one form or another) each and every day, until the day you die.
Every moment of your life is either a test or a celebration.
we lack the conviction and willpower necessary to see a long-term goal to its completion. Unfortunately, we humans often find it difficult to engage in the self-directed pursuit of a lengthy project, especially when there are no external drivers prodding us to action. Momentous life goals require us to commit to the completion of strenuous activities each day. But inactivity is the default state of man.
Your brain exists to help you survive, not to thrive.
Our mind often seems to be pursuing two contrary sets of goals. The activities that we should be doing are often not the activities that the lower mind necessarily enjoys doing.
Ikigai is a Japanese life strategy that emphasizes the importance of finding your “true calling.”
“Lingchi,” is a Chinese term that is commonly translated in the West as “death by a thousand cuts.”
You may have noticed that your most glorious life failures did not result from just one problem. Rather, they originate from a “thousand little cuts”—a thousand little ruinous decisions that come together to create a quagmire.
The third concept is called “Hansei” (honest self-reflection). Hansei is a Japanese method for understanding “what went wrong.” It’s about seeking clarity of thought through careful consideration of past mistakes.
“Kaizen,” — often translated as “continuous improvement.” With Kaizen, we understand that the answers to life’s biggest quandaries do not come in the form of a magic pill. Instead, our most momentous accomplishments are typically the result of years of concentrated effort and dedication.
My reason to get out of bed in the morning.
“When you wake each morning, how do you feel about the workday that awaits you?”
this quest. First, you can think of your Ikigai as being comprised of four parts: Passion Vocation Mission Profession It’s best to ponder these four attributes in the form of four questions. Each time you encounter a new career opportunity, ask yourself: Could this be my Passion? How much do I love this skill? Could this be my Vocation? How good am I (or could be) at this skill? Could this be my Mission? How much will this skill benefit the world? Could this be my Profession? How likely am I to get paid well for this skill?
So don’t be like the contestants on American Idol! Instead, it’s best if you work to become intimately familiar with your strengths and weaknesses.
[The “flow state” occurs when] people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.
It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself (rather than for ulterior motives), that we learn to become more than what we were.
To procrastinate is to voluntarily delay an intended course of action—despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.
Procrastination is your brain’s way of telling you that it doesn’t see the immediate value in expending the energy that you’re asking it to devote to the task at hand.
Innovative people often have a love-hate relationship with their careers. They may genuinely “love their job.” But creative output and ingenuity typically require many solitary evenings of intense labor:
Because productive human effort is no “walk in the park.”
In Greek mythology, the Sirens swam in the waters that Ulysses sailed, waiting for the opportunity to lure sailors from ships with their enchanting music. In the same sense, your emotions (doubt, fatigue, boredom, despair, listlessness, and fear) will forever be lurking in your proximity, waiting for an opportunity to convince you to abandon your goals.
Most of us (despite our many personal flaws) are actually quite restrained.
We are the sum of the five people closest to us.
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
No matter how much success you have in life, there will always be room for improvement.
It’s easy to forget how much you have learned and how far you have come.
What small step could I take today which may (in the long run) improve my situation?
we understand that big rewards usually follow the accumulation of a million tiny victories.
We don’t become Kaizen practitioners because we aim to devote a minimum amount of time to our labor. Instead, we practice Kaizen because we appreciate how very short our time on this planet is.
There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
People think “focus” means saying “yes” to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying “no” to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying “no” to 1,000 things.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Your lizard brain doesn’t understand why you’re asking it to lift metal bars or run in a circle. No wild animal is chasing you. No band of marauders is hunting you down. So why are you running?
Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and cannot control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.
Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today.
Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.
There will be no final destination. The journey is the destination.
