Atomic Habits highlights something the Japanese have known for millennia
Plus feature in BBC Travel!
My foray into YouTube has been enough to tell me that, well, YouTube is a lot of work. The people who are successful at YouTube are either extremely lucky, or extremely adept at hard work. It’s honestly something to be admired.
My problem, as with a lot of things, is that I take things slightly too lightly. I understand things will be tough, or that there will be tough things, but I sort of nonchalantly go about things without thinking too much into it. Then when things get too tough, as they inevitably do, I’m pretty good at just giving up, or just doing the bare minimum to get by.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
- James Clear
What James Clear’s Atomic Habits teaches us is that, having goals is all fine and dandy, but the real answer lies in having systems. Systems where goals are the byproduct.
I’m not too worried that my foray into YouTube hasn’t gone as well as I would have liked. For one thing, you can probably tell, but I had no idea how to edit videos before I began. Now I can confidently say that I could make an at least somewhat good video.
I also very much enjoy the process of making videos. Although it is a lot of work, it is fun figuring out what I want to say, and how to portray that on screen.
What I am worried about, however, is that I’m failing in one of my goals. That of showing just how amazing the Tohoku Region is. I feel the need to do a better job at consistently pumping out quality videos that make people want to come and not just visit this area, but stay here for a while.
Now armed with the knowledge that it is systems not goals I should be worried about, I’m going to take a completely different tack. I’m going to have systems in place so that when things get tough, I have a fallback plan.
One step at a time though.
In the meantime…
Feature in BBC Travel
This week, I was featured in an article by BBC Travel. If you want to learn more about our experiences, check out yamabushido.jp (not the link they give).
Here’s what I’ve been reading
If you like what I do, introducing lesser-known aspects of Japan, try Diane Neill Tincher. Diane has been in Japan for longer than I have been alive, and she has picked up a plethora of knowledge along the way.
This week I loved (well, the reading part, not so much the reality) learning about how Japan not only persecuted the Christians, but also a particular sect of Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu Buddhism (which Gassan represents the principle Buddha of). I hope you enjoy Kakure Nenbutsu — The Little-Known Hidden Buddhists of Southern Kyushu.
I also just finished reading A Wild Sheep Chase that I introduced last week. The book has a sad twist at the end, but it’s the sort of thing that makes you happy to be alive.
Yamadera
On Tuesday, I went to Yamadera for an interview with Mai Goto of Yamaderans, a tour guide company she helped set up. Actually, it was Mai and myself who were being interviewed. A few years back I was part of a team trying to help put Yamagata Prefecture’s spiritual culture on the map. Besides the Dewa Sanzan, Yamagata also has a huge number of mountain temples and shrines to explore, and Yamadera is one of the better known.
I put forth the idea of a group of guides like Yamaderans, and Mai went ahead and established it! Amazing!
Way back when, Mai was kind enough to show us around the original, but hidden, side of Yamadera. It’s something out of a novel (like A Wild Sheep Chase), but there is a side of Yamadera that only the initiated know about. If you ever want to see a side of Japan from the perspective of a local (who speaks great English!) I highly recommend checking out Yamaderans.
(P.S., Kohei one of my good friends is the only dude in the main photo. Someone you ought to meet if you ever get the chance! Fluent in English and Chinese).
What I’m Writing (Week of January 6 to 12, 2023)
This week, I was a bit enamoured by the work of James Clear after hearing it on the Tim Ferriss podcast. It was my first time coming across any of this, and I felt a lot of the ideas Clear shares are things that I have found myself thinking, but lacking the nous to go through with it. Inspiration abounds.
Either way, here are my blog posts for this week:
Zen and the art of Savouring Borrowed Time
The irony that it came from the first Beatle to die isn’t lost on me, but the concept of borrowed time is something we should always be cognizant of.
Play your own game
Beware the comparison
It’s easy to compare ourselves with people like us. People who had the same upbringing, people in the same demographic, people in the same psychographic.
How to gain from any situation
A tip for constant evolution
My Favourite Hikes in Yamagata So Far
Until now, I have summited 29 of the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.
Stuck in your creativity? Try Third-person thinking
How to get through the resistance
Atomic Habits highlights something the Japanese have known for millennia
Systems thinking versus goal thinking
The unseen advantage of Atomic Habits
Systems thinking is more than just building great habits. It’s about getting through too.
That’s it for this week.
Let me know what you enjoyed, and what you didn’t. I’ll try and get more of the good stuff out to you.
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Ka kite ano.
Tim.