Toolkit to Become the Best Version of Yourself
Know your purpose – Have you ever watched the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In this film, an 85-year old named Jiro Ono is considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef.
Check out a clip here, where you can see the perfect craftsmanship of Jiro himself. The sushi that Jiro creates is so good that famous people from all over the world fly in to enjoy their $300 sushi dinner—often booked several months in advance. So how did Jiro become the best sushi chef? He had one simple mission: to pursue his lifelong quest to create the perfect piece of sushi. For Jiro, it was as simple as that. He didn’t aspire to have a chain of restaurants or create the largest sushi mall in the world. Just one perfect piece of sushi. To become the best version of yourself, you have to know your purpose.
Embrace fear of failure. 75% of businesses fail within the first 10 years. That does not mean you give up. The people on the top are the ones who take calculated risk. When you are running from a pack of wild dogs, you will be 100% present in the moment. And goals that are not frightening are not worth having.
Control your mind. Fear is the killer of success… but mind wandering is the killer of dreams.
During Covid times, I started gardening. Now I spend a couple hours a week tending to my garden. During this time I am 100% focused and relaxed. In a study it has been found that 50% of people are mentally wandering during their conscious time. And a wandering mind is unhappy mind. That means, for almost half the time you are conscious, you are also unhappy. If you accept your circumstances as they are, you are the camel as in the story above. Be mindful in your actions. Present in the moment.
Believe in Luck. I can assure you—if you believe you are lucky, good things will happen.
Assimilate your expectations. Try believing in expectations. Align your expectations with your goals. A growing body of research shows that expectations can influence everything, from our perception of taste and enjoyment of experiences, to our performance on specific tasks. Setting high expectations for yourself and those around you can help those beliefs become reality.
Don’t strive for perfection, but strive to do the best you can. And then do more. Even if you strive to do 1% better every day, you will be 100% better in just over 3 months. Be great, not perfect. Remember, no matter who you are or how successful you have become, You will have bad days, you will make mistakes, and you will have hurdles.
Be a good listener. Listening to others, and really hearing them out with an open mind, is one of the best things you can do for another person and for yourself.
Live with integrity. Integrity is your personal compass, and it will shape the kind of person you become over time. Living with integrity means being true to your ideals. It means that your outward actions reflect your inner beliefs and values.
“If you plan on being anything less than you’re capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”- Abraham Maslow
Be Open to Change. Whether trying a new restaurant, traveling to an unknown part of the world, or doing something that has always scared you, you should always be open to change. This allows you to grow because you experience something new.
Be Respectful of others’ time, thoughts, ideas, lifestyles, feelings, work, and everything else. You don’t have to agree with any of it, but people have a right to their opinions and yours is not necessarily correct.
