You Cannot Grow Just by Writing

Books—no matter how many you read, you won't grow. You won't grow by
acting blindlyacting. You won't grow by watching
TV or movies. You won't grow by being chased by the
workin front of you. You won't grow by working hard on
social mediaevery day.

Of course, there is such a thing as getting used to something, so if you repeat anything to a certain extent, you will get better at the knackof it and save time. If you were a child, people should praise you by saying "that's great," but a full-grown adult won't be evaluated just because they've gotten somewhat used to things.

Looking back on my own experience, there were times when I would just write endlessly, read books on improving my writing, or imitate the good writing of others, but if asked whether I grew from that, I would struggle to answer.

At most, I suppose I just got used to writing.

Conversely, when I think about when I actually grew, three periods come to mind:
• My year spent as a ronin studying for university entrance exams,
• Studying in my university seminar, and
• Serving as the union chairperson.

My time as a ronin. After finishing my entrance exam studies with a focus on Japanese, I felt that my reading comprehensionhad become extraordinarily high. Even with difficult books, if I got into the zone and read them carefully, the content would flow smoothly into my head.

I gained confidence that I could comprehend anything, and I no longer had any resistance to reading university textbooks. And strangely enough, as I became able to read difficult books, I felt that my ability to understand what people were saying also improved.

In my university seminar, my ability to convey my thoughtsto others improved. The subject was a somewhat minor law seminar. Every week, we thought about established theories, actual legal precedents, events that had occurred in reality, and based on what grounds we derived our own theories from them.

Constructing my own theory logically was a difficult task, but it was a lot of fun, and after nearly two years, I became able to convey my thoughts to others well.

When I started working and reached the mid-career level, I spent about two years as the union chairperson. I struggled while standing between the general union members and the company, but I believe I learned what leadershipis in practice through this.

We discussed what was best within the executive committee, shared it with the union members, and held repeated discussions with management to get our demands met or to elicit responses. I had to find a resolution point that all parties involved could accept to some extent, and I developed the habit of thinking about things from various perspectives.

As chairperson, there were many times when I had to make decisions, and the fact that I was able to experience leadership involving decision-making has been very useful in my subsequent life as a company employee.

The three situations where I felt I had grown all share the common thread of thinking hard and putting it into practice.

As I wrote in the title, it is difficult to gain growth beyond just getting used to something by writing aimlessly. If you are going to write, you must think hard, and then organize and devise ways to ensure that what you have thought is clearly conveyed, and build your writing accordingly.

It is only after continuing such work for several months, or perhaps more than a year, that you can finally feel that you have grown just a little.

Thinking alone is not enough, some say. Of course, that is true; unless you put what you have thought into practice, it will not lead to growth.

However, those who only think are well aware that they are not taking action, and they also know that thinking alone does not lead to growth.

The problem is, perhaps, acting without deep thought and, after experiencing a little bit of familiarity, mistakenly believing you have grown.

I believe that even if you act blindly, it is difficult to achieve substantial growth. It requires acting after careful deliberation, and furthermore, continuing to do so. Growth is something that lies beyond such painful work, and it is not something that can be obtained easily.