August 14, 2023

Below is a lesson from Mind Cafe on Japanese techniques to achieve success, as well as our key learnings.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

8 Japanese Techniques to Overcome Laziness & Achieve Success

Discover ancient wisdom condensed into bite-sized chunks

by Andy Murphy

Laziness is a modern pandemic.

According to gitnux statistics, 1 in 4 people feel that they are chronic procrastinators or lazy.

According to the Lancet (a U.K. medical journal), that costs the global economy $67.5 billion every year.

Personally, I’m not so concerned with the financial ramifications of being lazy as much as the impact it has on mental health and physical well-being.

So, I echo the words of Zig Ziglar:

“There is no such thing as a lazy person; he is either sick or uninspired.”

This makes perfect sense. When I don’t want to do something, I find a million and one things to distract me.

When I do want to do something, on the other hand, I have a laser focus and an abundance of energy.

As someone who’s invested in personal growth, I’ve tried to find many life hacks over the years that combat my tendency to be lazy, procrastinate, and play small.

I love it when I find a step-by-step guide that acts as a sort of roadmap.

Continue Reading Here.

Key Learnings:

1. Ikigai - A reason for being: how to discover your purpose in life. Finding our Ikigai or purpose can look a million different ways. The joy of aligning our actions with our purpose is that life gains a deeper meaning and motivation becomes a natural driving force.
2. Kaizen - Taking small steps toward big progress. Once you establish your purpose, you then need to take the necessary steps to make it real. Find what works for you to ensure you are continuously working toward your purpose -- such as an actionable daily list that you can check off completing items and see the daily wins.
3. Pomodoro Technique - Managing time to become more focused and productive. We often feel as if there isn't enough time to do everything. Finding processes and techniques to help keep you on a productive track (High Flow!) will help you accomplish things of priority. Pomodoro technique is one, that recommends working for 25 minutes straight with laser focus, followed by a 5-minute break. In those 5 minutes, sit and meditate, get up and make tea, lay down and surrender completely -- something to provide a refueling mind break before starting again.
4. Hara Hachi Bu - Eating mindfully. This principle isn't always easy as it encourages people to stop eating when they're 80% full to avoid over eating and being put into a post-meal slump that can affect productivity. While this technique may not be for everyone, eating more mindfully -- slow down on your eating, eat less when you can, eat healthy and nutritious meals -- can help to keep you energized and productive.
5. Shoshin - Embracing the beginner's mindset. This encourages curiosity. You don't have to worry about having all the answers or being flawless from the start but allows for learning, unlearning, and trying something new. This helps turn the fear of failure into an opportunity to learn and grow (change of perspective).
6. Wabi-Sabi - Accepting imperfection. This is all about building upon the beginner's mindset. Every beginner recognizes they have a lot to learn so they're less hard on themselves. This graces them with more room to make mistakes, grow, and ultimately evolve.
7. Forest Bathing - Recharge in nature. In a world governed by technology, getting into nature allows for you to focus on your thoughts, creativity and ideas, allowing them to flow.
8. Kakeibo - Master your finances. Sometimes the hardest things have the most simple of solutions. Keep record of all your incomings and outgoings to see where you are spending unnecessarily.