Who Do You Want to Be?
I’ve been working on creating my own set of “personal basics” — a kind of life rulebook for myself.
When daily life gets hectic, it’s easy to slip back into bad habits. That’s why I figured if I write down my basics, I can always come back to my foundation. It’s an experiment in staying grounded.
The idea was inspired by Yataro Matsuura’s book “New 100 Basics: A Basic Notebook.” Matsuura is the former editor-in-chief of the magazine Kurashi no Techo (A Handbook for Living). He writes about the little things worth cherishing in everyday life, and it reminded me how important it is to have your own “axis.”
My First Basic
So I started thinking about my own basics. One of them:
“Listen without interrupting, without hijacking, and with full attention.”
Sounds simple, right? But it’s surprisingly hard to practice! (Ha!)
While thinking about this, I remembered something from my early career days. At the clinic where I used to work, we were asked to write self-introductions for the website, including the prompt: “What makes you happy or excited about your work?”
Here’s what I wrote:
“By talking with patients, I get to learn about worlds I’d never experience in my own life — and that’s what makes it fun!”
Reading it now, it’s full of youthful naivety. (Ha!)
Sure enough, the clinic director gave me a stern talking-to: “This is just self-satisfaction — wanting to enjoy yourself. There’s zero consideration for what you want the patient to experience. No hospitality at all!”
At the time, my younger self thought, “But the prompt was about what makes ME happy, so what’s wrong with that?” (Ha!)
Looking back now, though, the director was absolutely right.
What Truly Matters
In the end, what matters isn’t how I enjoy my work — it’s how I can be there for the patient.
When I think about it that way, even that clumsy self-introduction wasn’t wasted. Failures become funny stories over time, and they always teach you something.
That’s why I want to keep building my personal basics, one by one. And most importantly, these basics aren’t something you set once and forget — they’re meant to be revised, updated, and refined as you grow, always reflecting the best version of yourself at that moment.
What are your “personal basics”? I’d love it if you took a moment to think about yours too!
Before You Visit…
Fair warning: our English is a work in progress! (Ha!)
But thanks to the magic of translation apps, we communicate just fine with patients from around the world.
Your body speaks a universal language — and that’s the one we’re fluent in.
