by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Celebration, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools, Wellbeing
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 59 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The five pillars of ikigai
— From Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day by Ken Mogi
Not too long ago we learned about the term kodawari. This is the Japanese word that refers to the combination of meticulous attention to detail in what we do plus the pride and joy that we feel towards what we do.
Kodawari is an integral part of ikigai (pronunciation), “a Japanese word for describing the pleasures and meanings of life. The word literally consists of iki (to live) and gai (reason).” Thus, it is loosely translated as your reason to live or the reason why you wake up every day.
Author and neuroscientist Ken Mogi, in his book Awakening Your Ikigai, says that ikigai “is used in various contexts, and can apply to small everyday things as well as to big goals and achievements. […] Most importantly, ikigai is possible without your necessarily being successful in your professional life… It is true that having ikigai can result in success, but success is not a requisite condition for having ikigai. It is open to every one of us.”
To this effect, Mogi introduces the five pillars of ikigai that he believes encompass this concept and help us make the best of every moment.
Pillar 1: Starting small → Focusing on the details.
Pillar 2: Releasing yourself → Accepting who you are.
Pillar 3: Harmony and sustainability → Relying on others.
Pillar 4: The joy of little things → Appreciating sensory pleasure.
Pillar 5: Being in the here and now → Finding your flow.
Mogi points out that the pillars reinforce each other and enable ikigai to flourish, yet they are not “mutually exclusive or exhaustive, nor do they have a particular order or hierarchy.”
Ikigai is closely related to our sense of happiness. And while Mogi says that there is no absolute formula for happiness, he mentions that accepting yourself is “a low-budget, maintenance-free formula for being happy. […] Accepting yourself is one of the easiest, simplest and most rewarding things you could do for yourself.”
However, Mogi recognizes that no man is an island and draws an analogy: “A man is like a forest, individual yet connected and dependent on others for growth.” And besides learning and getting support from others, one of the fastest ways to grow is by deriving lessons from failure. “After all, in the long process of life, you sometimes stumble and fall. Even at those times, you can have ikigai, even when you are on a losing streak.”
“Ikigai, in a nutshell, is literally from the cradle to the grave, no matter what happens in your life.”
Ikigai is about being mindful and present, enjoying the little things that make up the moment we are living in, and finding our flow as we get lost in the appreciation of the details. And when something goes wrong, “so long as you have ikigai, you can muddle through difficult periods of your life. You can always go back to your safe haven, from where you can start your life’s adventures all over again.”
ACTION
TODAY: Take a look at the five pillars of ikigai. How many do you apply to your life? How many would you benefit from applying? Create the intention of being mindful and aware of all 5 pillars and applying them at least once today.
FUTURE: Celebrate who you area and your ikigai! Also, make it a habit of practicing mindfulness and being aware of the five pillars of ikigai, so that you can apply them in as many instances of your life as possible.
Please share the concept of ikigai with someone today, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 27 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: A ticket to anywhere
— From A Year Without Fear: 365 Days of Magnificence: 5-Minute Mind-Set Shifts by Tama Kieves
Today’s idea expands on yesterday’s AEIOU method (to bring clarity and figure out what you want when you don’t know). However, instead of sharing a methodology, this time my intention is to share a mind-shift.
When we don’t know what we want, we focus on the lack. We beat ourselves up because we think we are supposed to know what we want, or because we should have figured it out by now, or because _______ (fill in the blank with what you tell yourself).
In A Year Without Fear, Tama Kieves says, “When you don’t have a definition or plan, this isn’t a lack. It’s an opening. You don’t have a label, but you do have a ticket. You have a ticket to go anywhere you want to go. You have a blank canvas. You can say yes to any desire, sunbeam, divine invitation that comes your way. Something will come. You are in the exact right place where magic can find you.”
So there you have it. Don’t focus on the lack. Focus on your ticket to anywhere: a wonderful opportunity ahead that you can turn into whatever you want. Give yourself permission to explore various paths to determine which one you fully want to go through.
Happy exploring!
ACTION
TODAY: Is there any area in your life where you’d like to give yourself a ticket to anywhere? Do so! Start exploring and enjoy the ride.
FUTURE: Whenever you are stuck not knowing what you want, remember that there is an opening right there for you. Give yourself a ticket and go explore.
Give someone a ticket to anywhere by sharing this post! Email, Facebook, Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 39 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The AEIOU method
— From Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
Are you crystal clear on what you want? Often times, we are not. Sometimes we definitely know what we don’t want, but we have a hard time articulating what we do want.
How should we go about this?
Enter life designers Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, who have put together one of the most successful courses at Stanford University that teaches “how to use design to figure out what you want to do when you grow up.” Since they had lots of requests from people not enrolled at Stanford to take their course, they decided to write a book—Designing Your Life—to be able to bring this knowledge to everyone.
The book helps reframe some of our most common dysfunctional beliefs about life, and it’s full of exercises to give us the tools to design our life at whatever stage we may be. One of those exercises is called the AEIOU method. It helps us make detailed and accurate observations on when and where we are engaged and energized, and it helps us reflect upon that.
The method is quite simple, but it has profound results. In a particular situation, write down the answers to these questions:
A = Activities. “What were you actually doing? Was this a structured or an unstructured activity? Did you have a specific role to play [e.g.] (team leader) or were you just a participant [e.g.] (at the meeting)?”
E = Environments. “Our environment has a profound effect on our emotional state. You feel one way at a football stadium, another in a cathedral. Notice where you were when you were involved in the activity. What kind of a place was it, and how did it make you feel?”
I = Interactions. “What were you interacting with—people or machines? Was it a new kind of interaction or one you are familiar with? Was it formal or informal?”
O = Objects. “Were you interacting with any objects or devices—iPads or smartphones, hockey sticks or sailboats? What were the objects that created or supported your feeling engaged?”
U = Users. “Who else was there, and what role did they play in making it either a positive or a negative experience?”
The authors recommend using AEIOU to “zoom in effectively and discover specifically what it is that is or isn’t working for you.” Here’s an example from the book to further clarify how this method works:
Lydia is a contract writer. She works to help experts document their procedures in manuals. And she’d come to conclude that she hated working with people—mostly because of how awful she felt after going to meetings, and how great she felt when she got to write all day. She was wondering how she could make a living without ever going to a meeting again… When she zoomed in, she observed that she actually liked people fine—when she got to meet with only one or two of them and either work hard on the writing or do rapid brainstorming on new project ideas (activity). She hated meetings about planning, schedules, and business strategy and any meeting with more than six people in it; she just couldn’t track all the different points of view (environment). She realized that she was just an intense and focused worker, and that her intensity could be either nurtured or frustrated by other people (users), depending on the form of collaboration (interactions).
As you can see, this exercise brings much clarity. The important thing, the authors say, is to “record whatever comes up and not to judge yourself—there are no right or wrong feelings about your experience.” This info will be very helpful in figuring out what you do want!
ACTION
TODAY: Is there any area of your life (health, work, play, love) where a bit of clarity as to what you want could come in handy? Set aside some time to start this exercise today.
FUTURE: Continue with this exercise for as long as you think it’s necessary to zoom in and get the clarity you need. Remember not to judge yourself, simply observe and you will start seeing some patterns emerge. These patterns will help you figure out what you want. Do this exercise every time you feel you need to discover what is working and what is not.
Know someone who could get some clarity? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 25 ways to complete your incompletes
— From The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield
“Are there areas in your life where you’ve left uncompleted projects or failed to get closure with people? When you don’t complete the past, you can’t be free to fully embrace the future,” says Jack Canfield in The Success Principles. By devoting attention to these incompletes and unfinished tasks or projects, you are taking energy and focus away from the things you should be doing—or the things you want to do. Canfield says that we only have so many “attention units” and we should focus those units “to completing present tasks and bringing new opportunities and abundance into [our] life.”
Canfield suggests continually asking, “What does it take to actually get this task completed?” At that point you can move forward with the next steps that will lead you to completion: filing the completed paperwork, mailing in the forms, etc. “The truth is that 20 things completed have more power than 50 things half completed. One finished book, for instance, that can go out and influence the world is better than 13 books you’re in the process of writing.”
So, what to do about this?
In addition to the 4 Ds—Do it, Delegate it, Delay it or Dump it—Canfield suggests scheduling a completion weekend and devoting 2 full days to completing as many things as possible. He provides the following list of 25 categories as a starting point and suggests you add your particular items. He also recommends selecting just four items and completing them, then moving on to another four, and so on. “At a minimum,” says Canfield, “I encourage you to clean up one major incomplete every 3 months.”
Here’s the initial list for you, it contains both personal and professional suggestions. Happy completing!
1. Former business activities that need completion.
2. Promises not kept, not acknowledged, or not renegotiated.
3. Unpaid debts or financial commitments (money owed to others or to you).
4. Closets overflowing with clothing never worn.
5. A disorganized garage crowded with old discards.
6. Haphazard or disorganized tax records.
7. Checkbook not balanced or accounts that should be closed.
8. “Junk drawers” full of unusable items.
9. Missing or broken tools.
10. An attic filled with unused items.
11. A car trunk or backseat full of trash.
12. Incomplete car maintenance.
13. A disorganized basement filled with discarded items.
14. Credenza packed with unfiled or incomplete projects.
15. Filing left undone.
16. Computer files not backed up or data needing to be converted for storage.
17. Desk surface cluttered or disorganized.
18. Family pictures never put into an album.
19. Mending, ironing or other piles of items to repair or discard.
20. Deferred household maintenance.
21. Professional relationships with unstated requests, resentments, or appreciations.
22. People you need to forgive.
23. Time not spent with people you’ve been meaning to spend time with.
24. Incomplete projects or projects delivered without closure or feedback.
25. Acknowledgments that need to be given or asked for.
ACTION
TODAY: Check the list and add your own incompletes that come to mind. Determine if there is any task that you can complete today. If so, get it done — woohoo!
FUTURE: Pick a date in your calendar and schedule your first completion weekend. Make it a habit to schedule them at least once a quarter.
Know someone who could benefit from completing some incompletes? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Decisions are temporary
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
“Don’t make up problems you don’t have yet,” say Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson in their book Rework. “But what if…?” “What happens when…?” “Don’t we need to plan for…?” These are not problems until they become real problems, “Most of the things you worry about never happen anyway.”
Decisions are temporary, and “the ability to change course is [a] big advantage. […] So pay attention to today and worry about later when it gets here. Otherwise, you’ll waste energy, time, and money fixating on problems that may never materialize.”
As you start planning a project or a startup, keep in mind that the decisions you make don’t need to last forever. “It’s easy to shoot down good ideas, interesting policies, or worthwhile experiments by assuming that whatever you decide now needs to work for years on end. It’s just not so [especially for nimble projects and businesses]. If circumstances change, your decisions can change.”
As a child, my mom always told me that it was OK to change my mind after I had tried and given something my best. Today’s idea is the grown-up and business version of that philosophy. Recognize that the decisions you make today are the best ones you can make based on the information you have and the tools and resources at your disposal. If times and circumstances change in the future, trust that you will make the best decision(s) then for you/your team/your business, even if they involve changing everything that you had decided previously.
“If you never change your mind, why have one?” – Edward de Bono
ACTION
TODAY: Is there something bugging you about a decision/policy/procedure that was made a long time ago and that has continued “just because it’s always been that way” but is no longer working for you? Make a new decision that will make it better to adapt to your current circumstances.
FUTURE: Keep in mind the importance of making decisions that go with the times, circumstances, and foreseeable future. Don’t be afraid of making new decisions, if they don’t work out, you can always revert to the previous one—but it’s worth trying out, as you may be pleasantly surprised by the circumstances that the new decisions bring. This reminds me of an old business joke: The CFO and the CEO are talking about making a decision to train the employees. The CFO asks, “But what if we train them, and they leave?” To which the CEO responds, “Yes, but what if we don’t train them, and they stay?”
Know someone who would benefit from realizing that decisions are temporary? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools, Wellbeing
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 4 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 100% Commitment: The “no-exceptions rule”
— From The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” – Ken Blanchard
Being 100% committed to something is much easier than being 99% committed or less, says personal development and business guru Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles. This is a very simple concept, “yet you’d be surprised how many people wake up every day and fight within themselves over whether or not to keep their commitments, stick to their disciplines, or carry out their actions plans.”
Why the fight?
Because they haven’t yet made the full commitment. There is no need to spend the mental energy wrestling with ourselves every day as we decide whether to do something or not. “Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out… [You] never have to think about it again. There are no exceptions no matter what the circumstances. It ends the discussion, closes that door, permits no other possibility.”
This is tremendously liberating and it makes life much simpler and easier because there is no internal debate as to whether you’ll do something or not. “It’s like brushing your teeth before you go to bed. You always do it, no matter what. If you find yourself in bed and you have forgotten, you get out of bed and brush them. It doesn’t matter how tired you are or how late it is. You just do it.”
Eliminating choice and making 100% commitment can free up much time and energy that can go into other things to bring about excellence in your life and business. Canfield powerfully makes the case for why 100% commitment is so important and necessary, as he points out why the “no-exceptions rule” is critical in many areas, such as in our health and the workplace:
A commitment to just 99.9% quality would mean:
- One hour of unsafe drinking water every month.
- Two unsafe landings at [Chicago’s] O’Hare International Airport each day.
- 16,000 lost pieces of mail per hour.
- 20,000 incorrectly filled drug prescriptions every year.
- 500 incorrect surgical operations performed each week.
- 50 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors every day.
- 22,000 checks deducted from the wrong account every hour.
- Your heart failing to beat 32,000 times each year!
“Can you see why 100% is such an important percentage? Just think how much better your life and the whole world would work if you were committed to 100% excellence in everything you do.”
ACTION
TODAY: Think of an area in your life or business where you have not made a 100% commitment. What does that look like? Where does it fall through the cracks? Where do you wrestle with yourself to do it or not do it? Think of the benefits of committing 100% and having no exceptions: how could this benefit your life and/or your business? Make a list of benefits vs. remaining as you are. Once you are convinced, commit yourself. And as part of that commitment, set a time to review in a near future how you are doing. The further you move along the 100% and the more you review its benefits, the more you’ll want to continue. It’s all about building the habit.
FUTURE: Stay committed to your 100%. Once you have built the habit in one area and it’s firmly entrenched, then move on to another area. The disciplined pursuit of your commitments will lead you to your goals.
Know someone who could benefit from 100% commitment? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
