Cebu Island Stay: Thought Training Method: Why did you quit your job? Why don't you quit?

When you resign from a company, you are always asked the question, "Why did you quit?" It is a natural question, isn't it? People want to know the reasons and the background.

Then, conversely, why don't we ask people who are currently employed, "Why don't you quit?"

I thought that we could ask about continuing to work while employed with the same frequency. Today, I would like to think about such a thought training method.

The background of asking questions

When a major action occurs, it is natural for human psychology to want to hear the reasons for it. When a colleague you have worked with for a long time says they are resigning, the question "Why are you quitting?" comes up.

In our daily lives, there are many choices. Among them, the desire to maintain a set path can significantly hinder new challenges. There is no doubt that status quo bias puts a brake on the potential for growth.

By keeping that firmly in mind, I think it is also a good idea to ask yourself, "Why do you continue to work at the company?" while you are still employed.

I am in Cebu Island

I am currently in Cebu Island.
When friends hear that I am going to the Philippines, they frequently ask, "Why are you going to Cebu Island?" Conversely, I want to ask them back, "Why don't you go to Cebu Island?" I don't actually ask them back, though.

I think there are reasons to go, and there are reasons not to go. People can often answer why they go, but they often cannot answer why they don't go.

The main purposes for my going, as an answer to the question, are interacting with friends, learning English, volunteering, and sightseeing. The reason I can speak about it or write it down is because I have thought about those reasons.

Similarly, "What is the reason you don't go to Cebu Island?" Can you answer this question? You probably can't. It is natural that you cannot express the reason in words because you have never thought about it.

"Huh, I've never thought about that..."

Since no one asks you such questions, it is natural that you have never thought about it. Therefore, I ask myself questions. By doing so, new thought circuits are activated one after another.

As my own "solitary game," I think about such things while taking a walk lol.

Example of self-questioning

I will give you a few examples.

Your friend is about to quit their job to become independent and start a business. You would naturally ask, "Why are you starting a business?" At that moment, by asking yourself, "Why am I not starting a business?", you switch on the thinking process to consider the answer.

Please read the other examples in the same way.

In casual conversation, we frequently ask others about things we don't know. Whether you just hear the answer and say "I see," or whether you can use the answer to help change your own behavior, is deeply related to the degree of your personal growth.

As a way to take that a step further, by asking yourself the same question before asking the other person, or by throwing the opposite question at yourself, hints that lead to behavioral change will be generated one after another.

Keep many boxes of questions and answers in your brain

I was taught by my former boss, Mr. O, who influenced me greatly, to keep many boxes of questions and answers in my brain.

"Make your brain sweat!"

I was told this line many times. According to Mr. O, it means you aren't making your brain sweat enough yet—in other words, you need to think more!

Looking back now, I feel that being able to come up with many questions is everything. If you can just ask the question, you can manage the answer. If your own head isn't enough, you can just rely on people, Google it, or use GPT.

Note: "GPT-ing" means using Chat-GPT.

However, you need to think of the questions with your own head. Coming up with questions is also training. It's not something you just think of spontaneously; it's all about practice.

Just as a baseball player repeats the same practice swings thousands or tens of thousands of times until their body moves naturally,mental thinking practice of questions and answers must also be repeated over and over again.

There are many books on thinking method training, so I was able to learn the methods easily. I put the following book into practice.

Thinking Habits: Zero-Second Thinking by Yuji Akaba

The method is simple. Anyone can do it.

However, this is training. You need to repeat it over and over, over and over, over and over, until you can do it naturally. Many people are satisfied just by reading the book and stop there, butuntil you put it into practice, take action, and get results, it is steady repetition.

It is quite a plain and steady task.

Many people admire MBA-holding consultants in meeting rooms who make sharp comments or look incredibly cool as facilitators. I was the same.

They must have repeated those invisible, steady practice swings thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of times.

Topics for Mako-san's Note

My Mako-san Note is about to reach 500 articles. Friends often ask me how I find topics or what techniques I use to keep writing.

In today's article, I wrote about an example of self-questioning. This is the technique that serves as the source for my Mako-san Note topics.

Since I started my second life, I have spent more time alone. I rarely feel bored, and I find it fulfilling because I engage in 'solo thought games.' This is also thanks to the fact that during my time as a company employee, I did work that made my brain sweat every single day, repeating thought training over and over, and over and over, and over and over again.

I am confident that the background to the rich life I am currently leading is a gift from working so hard during my active career.

I can almost hear my former boss, Mr. O, shouting,
'Mako-san, you're still not making your brain sweat enough—think more!'
, but I feel like I can finally talk back and say,
'I'm sweating plenty!'

I wrote today's article in the hope that it might be helpful to someone.

Reference article below