The Law of Growth Through Persistence

From each book to each clipping from documents and magazines, down to every single writing utensil in my desk drawer. Or tableware and chopsticks, clothing and shoes, and even down to a single piece of underwear – I sort and organize, deciding, "Do I need this? Or not?" That's why it's called a "major" decluttering. Not only does tidying up this much bring order to my home, but it also clears my mind. I can clearly see where my thoughts are heading, what I want from myself, and what I want to do. This is the purpose of my major decluttering, and it becomes my goal for the coming year.

So, as a result of this sorting process (!), my goal for this year has become "steady persistence." This also emerged while I was challenging myself with marathon races last year. After all, the act of "running" doesn't improve overnight. You can't become faster or run longer without practicing little by little every day and building up your stamina. But because it's clearly reflected in numbers like time and distance, my motivation also increases. And marathon running is something where you can grow in proportion to your practice and effort (to a certain extent, I believe).

As I began to physically understand this law of "growth through persistence" and running became more enjoyable, I somehow grasped the knack for overcoming my tendency to give up easily. That is, "not making emotions the main focus." In other words, no matter how many excuses for laziness arise, such as, "I'm tired today, so it's okay not to do it," I don't listen to those emotions, get swayed by them, or let them dictate my actions. Rather than suppressing my emotions, I observe them objectively and maintain a neutral state of mind by thinking, "I decided to do it, so I'll just do it." I've come to grasp that feeling. And another thing: being creative to maintain motivation. For example, by purchasing a watch that measures running distance and lap times, running became more enjoyable and led to the motivation to "run more!" Simply trying hard isn't enough to continue. I realized anew that if you devise ways to spark your motivation, you can keep going!

Can I Conquer My Tendency to Quit Easily?

My personality (or perhaps habit) is such that if I think, "Oh, that looks interesting!" I get absorbed and focus on it. But once I reach a certain level (though in reality, I haven't truly mastered it), I end up quitting without realizing it. This has been a source of worry since childhood. However, at one point, a reverse way of thinking struck me (you could also say I gave up trying to change). "Oh well. Because of this personality, I get to experience so many different things!" I thought. In terms of experiencing various things when I was young, I believe it was for the best. But while organizing at the end of last year, I suddenly thought, "I want to narrow down what I truly want to try and become proficient in at least one thing... Perhaps it's time for that."

At that moment, I remembered something. It was about 17 years ago, I think. I was interested in yoga and went to a private instructor. However, my body was so stiff that practice was impossible, and I ended up just getting massages from the instructor day after day. Of course, I eventually stopped practicing yoga too... "That's it! I've been stretching for 10 years and my body's alignment has improved considerably, and now that I'm more flexible, maybe I can do it.—I thought. And perhaps it's precisely because I've gained the confidence and learned the knack for persistence through running that I thought of this.

So, I've just started attending classes for "Ashtanga Yoga," which is a demanding form of yoga where poses are performed in rapid succession, creating a beautiful flow. Even now, after one class, I suffer from severe muscle pain for several days, and my poses are clumsy. However, I am confident that as I continue, I will gradually improve in my own way. After all, I've experienced the process through running. When I started running, I had a concrete goal, like a race on a certain date, which allowed me to persist and feel motivated. But with yoga, the goals are things like "cultivating supple strength in body and mind" or "becoming a light and free self in body and mind," among others, all of which are abstract. This makes it impossible to get through the initial, purely painful phase. So for now, I've decided to set a goal and maintain motivation by thinking, "It would be cool if I could do this difficult pose." I've also decided to commit to attending class once a week (this is the biggest hurdle!).

Now, I wonder if I can finally conquer my tendency to quit easily, and to what extent I can achieve my goal of "steady persistence" this year. I'm curious and excited to see. Of course, "steady persistence" also includes running, and I still run regularly, about twice a week. While I have the goal of experiencing a full marathon someday, perhaps more strongly, the "what a waste it would be to lose this" mentality is at play – "I have a body that can run, so I must continue, or I'll lose it." You never know what will become a seed for maintaining motivation. Oh, and by announcing this publicly, I'll have no choice but to do it, won't I!!