1. Reset your desk. Clean off everything except your laptop and your favourite cup. Move your desk closer to a window.
2. The moment you can tell yourself that you’ll be fine no matter what happens in life, you will be free from money.
3. The most important thing you have is not tomorrow, nor is it yesterday. It is the moment you have right now, right here. 4. A great product is always the fruit of someone’s burning passion. A song that reaches the hearts of a million people was written for just one person. Only these kinds of things can change the world. Every person has a project in their life they should give their everything to. 5. Accept and allow yourself to be a little different than you were before. Don’t be stubborn about what type of person you assume yourself to be. Sometimes you have to relax and welcome the new version of yourself. 6. What touches people’s hearts doesn’t come from research, calculation or reason. It comes from something deeper – an invisible presence I call the soul, felt only through the body. 7. The human brain is designed to avoid risks in order to survive, and it can prevent us from taking on new challenges. That’s why the first step, which demands the most courage, is more valuable than half the entire journey. As you keep clearing small, low hurdles, one after another, the time finally comes. The highest hurdle you really have to jump is right in front of you. Then you will see how all that training has paid off. There will be no hesitation or fear left, and you’ll be able to take your biggest jump with all your strength. 8. Not taking action is what makes your life unfree. It’s not being unable to do something that we should be ashamed of, but not even trying. First and foremost, you must clear your mind and take action. It’s okay if you can’t do it well. Of course you’ll be clumsy on your first step. When you feel anxious, accept that feeling and try to clarify what you really want to do. That way, anxiety turns into a clear task you can face. You may find the task was simpler to overcome than you expected, or you may discover a clue that leads you toward a solution. 9. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People features this phrase. It shows the power of choosing one thing, making it your top priority, and giving it your full focus. A top achiever isn’t someone who can handle everything smoothly. It’s someone who can find something to love in the work before them. They face the work earnestly and take it on in their own way, without hesitation. Pour your whole heart into the main thing you can lose yourself in forever. (Except addictive screens like video games, streaming sites and social media – designed to hijack your attention and time.) 10. Anyone who focuses on one thing following their inner voice is an artist. Those who create their own life in this way are all true artists. Indeed, we are all born artists, but we’ve just forgotten along the way to adulthood. I believe that my ‘one thing’ – my calling – is to reveal the hidden artist within you. 11. The most important thing in life is sleep. Sleep is not the end of today, but the beginning of tomorrow. While you’re sleeping, your body strengthens its immunity, clears away fatigue and removes the stress that builds up throughout the day. 12. The second most important thing is how you wake up in the morning. The fact that humans are more productive in the mornings has been true since the hunter-gatherer era. When your life follows the rhythm of the sun, your body and brain work at their best. This lifts the quality of your work, your physical health, your emotional stability – and even your 運気 (Unki), a Japanese concept of overall ‘good fortune’ in life. 13. On nights when you struggle with falling asleep, turn on a relaxing radio programme or podcast at a low volume or reread your favourite collection of short stories, which you can keep by your bed. This is how I deal with insomnia. If you still can’t fall asleep no matter how hard you try, it’s okay to simply close your eyes. That’s enough to allow your body and mind to rest. There’s no need to get upset and try to force yourself to sleep. 14. If you continue to push yourself to extremes, eventually you’ll get used to it, and before long that bad habit will turn into everyday life. Soon you may no longer be aware of your own stress or weariness.