日報

There was a ramen shop near my office when I was a salaried worker that I used to frequent.

After quitting the company, I stopped going in that direction, so I stopped going to that shop. Yesterday, I passed by it on the way to a meeting with a manufacturer, so I visited for the first time in a long time.

The ramen was as delicious as ever, but I was surprised that there was only one customer.

It was a bit early, but it was such a popular shop that I’d never seen it without a line. The moment I wondered what had happened, I thought,

"Oh, I haven't been going there lately."

Why do I think of myself as a barometer of popularity? When people start lining up behind me after I've lined up, I sometimes think, "Oh, did I just ignite their popularity?" I feel like I'm the center of it all. It's a misconception, but I momentarily think that.

A similar feeling is when I'm watching sports, I think,

"They mess up when I watch, so I'll avoid watching this important moment."

It has absolutely no relation, but for some reason, I think that.

Visiting a shrine to pray for success and happiness is, in a broad sense, the same thing, I think. It must be human nature to try to connect events that happen to oneself.

Anyway, I think the popularity won't reignite unless I go, so I have to go to that ramen shop more often.

When I wake up in the morning, I have no motivation.
Come on, come on, it won't come.

I've never had motivation in the morning, so
I probably don't possess such a thing as motivation.

I was appalled when I read somewhere that motivation
apparently "doesn't appear unless you do something."

Motivation doesn't appear unless you do something.
I don't do anything because I lack motivation.
...Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

I was at a loss as to what to do, but
I came up with a method: first, to spark a little motivation,
I'd start doing something I could do even without motivation,
and hope that motivation would eventually kick in.

In conclusion, when I wake up in the morning, without thinking,
I decided to put away the dishes I washed yesterday.
Even for the toilet, if I can hold it, I put away the dishes before going to the toilet.

This is quite effective.
Putting away the dishes is a bother, but
it's not a task I dislike, so
when I do it absentmindedly,
by the time I'm done, a little bit of motivation awakens.

Since I'm in the kitchen, I might make a drink,
or start preparing breakfast, and so on.
One task leads to another, like a chain reaction,
and while doing various things, I suddenly wake up,
open my computer, and start writing this daily entry.

That's my recent motivation routine.

I recommend having one task decided upon
for when you wake up in the morning as
a motivation-inducing routine.
　
　

Ever since I quit my salaryman job and started kikkake, I've hardly had any "meetings."

Sometimes we have "discussions" when we get a promotional project, or when ordering and manufacturing new products. But actual "meetings" are almost non-existent.

I haven't looked up the exact definitions of the words, but I generally feel that "discussions" are about coordinating things that have already been decided, while "meetings" are about making decisions about future plans and policies. That's the image I have.

Since it's just a small company with me and Konnegi, who is in charge of photography, we're flexible when necessary – to put it positively. To put it negatively, we tend to just chat idly.

There was one time when our conversation wasn't flowing, and we both had this "what should we do?" kind of vibe.

There were many things I wanted to say. Many things I wanted to decide. But due to hesitation, or not being fully confident yet, or not having the confidence to articulate things well, I somehow couldn't express myself properly.

At that point, we decided, "Let's actually have a proper meeting." We sat opposite each other at a table and had what you'd call a "proper meeting."

And it was really good. Everything was good. The atmosphere, the progress, the feeling of satisfaction from being able to say what I wanted to say, and the feeling of suddenly having a clear vision. It was full of good things.

During my salaryman days, there were many days when I couldn't get any work done because of constant meetings, and to be honest, I didn't like them much. But meetings where people gather with a clear purpose are important.

We didn't have a whiteboard or a large display, but I'm satisfied that we were able to have a proper meeting. Now that the meeting is over, it's time to execute!

A core player from the gaming team I support left and transferred to another team. Since it's a three-person game, it means 33% of the team has changed. They were such a prominent player that "key player" feels like an understatement.

It's like if the vocalist of a three-piece band, who wrote all the songs and founded the band, left to form a new band. At that point, you'd think it's practically a different band.

This brings up a question for me: "Which one do I support now?"

Hmmmm. Probably the team they transferred to. But I used to support the old team because of their team colors (orange) and logo, so it feels weird to see him in a different color (all black) uniform. I wonder if I'll get used to it.

A while ago, we all had a lively discussion about whether we could still support our favorite baseball team if all the players changed the next year. "I'm supporting the team, so I can keep supporting them." "It's a different team now, so no way." Opinions were split, and I think we never reached a consensus.

In this case, since the player was so central, I probably won't keep watching the original team. The question is whether I'll support the team the core player transferred to. My biggest fear is that I'll end up not supporting either and just stop watching altogether.

Such is the complicated dilemma of a fan.

kikkake is a small team consisting of just me and my photographer, Konegi, and there's no team to transfer to, so we'll keep working hard as always!

The Winter Olympics are over.
I regret not being able to watch as much as I usually do, perhaps due to the time difference.

The most moving moment for me this time was
the RikuRyu pair winning the gold medal in figure skating pairs.

In figure skating, there are two performances: a short program and a free skate.
They made a slight mistake in the short program,
and I could see their distress and disappointment even through the screen,
it was so painful to watch.
Looking at them before the free skate the next day,
I could sense they were still weighed down by the previous day's mistake,
but you could also see them trying to encourage each other.

They were trying to encourage each other because they weren't uplifted.
"Oh, is it going to be difficult?"
Just when I thought that,
they won with a record-high score.

Wow, that's amazing! I was truly moved.
To peak at a competition that happens only once every four years,
and deliver their best performance.
And on top of that, it's a pair event.

In a documentary I watched on TV after they won the gold medal,
they mentioned that when they had a misalignment in their performance and tried to correct it,
"when we both try to correct the misalignment, that causes another misalignment."

I totally get it!
Though on a different level,
when KONEGI, who films our YouTube videos, and I are creating something,
and we feel like something's off,
we try to fix it based on our mutual tacit knowledge,
but it often leads to even more misalignment.

When you try to correct something that's misaligned, it becomes even more misaligned.
But if you don't correct it, it won't get better.
The RikuRyu pair said that their solution was
to "communicate," and as a result, they've stayed together.

That's right.
When you see amazing people,
you tend to think there must be some talent or trick
to becoming great,
but in the end, what's most important is
to communicate,
to practice daily,
things that are simple but incredibly difficult to consistently put into practice,
people who can continue these obvious things for a long time
are the ones who achieve results.
I felt like I gained a lesson along with the inspiration.

Alright, today too, I'll diligently and steadily
do what I can.

If someone were to ask me, "Are you more for functionality or design?", I've always thought of myself as being more for functionality. This is especially true for cars; I often chose them based on comfort, operability, and fuel efficiency rather than appearance. It was more like, "It's even better if it's cute or cool after fulfilling its functionality," as if functionality came first, and then design was added on top of that.

On the other hand, when it comes to choosing cooking utensils and tableware, I feel it's a bit different. If it's not cute or doesn't intuitively appeal to me, I don't even notice it in the first place.

Once it catches my eye, if it's a dish, it's "This might make food look delicious!" If it's a cooking tool, "This looks easy to use~" Or even "I don't know what I'd use it for, but I want it!" In these cases, it feels like design comes first, and then I consider its functionality.

Naturally, functionality and design are inseparable, so I suppose I make a judgment of "cute, wonderful" based on an overall impression.

For me, someone who tends to judge by functionality, I find it a little strange, and even a little endearing, that for cooking utensils alone, "cuteness" strongly enters into my criteria.

If I had better cooking skills, I feel I could present food well even on "a cute but oddly shaped plate," so I want to become a better cook.