Worry arises from a lack of action [Katsuya Nomura #QuoteNote 114]

Here is the quote I would like to introduce this time!

I am quite a worrier by nature, but when I first learned of this quote, it really struck a chord with me.

“Worry arises from a lack of action” means that if you just keep thinking without taking action, you will remain worried forever. It can also be interpreted that action is essential to resolving your worries.

✅ Source

The person who left behind the quote “Worry arises from a lack of action” is former professional baseball manager Katsuya Nomura.

Katsuya Nomura was a person who dedicated his life to baseball, to the extent that he described himself as “Katsuya Nomura minus baseball equals zero.” On the other hand, he also kept in his heart the teaching of his mentor: “Even if baseball is gone, you must not be zero.”

Personality and Humanity: He had an extremely strong competitive spirit, and that emotion formed the foundation of his theories. Also, due to his experience growing up in a poor single-parent household, he had deep compassion for his players and support staff, often showing his care by giving them personal items.

Private Life: After succeeding as a player, he became a big spender as a reaction to his life of extreme poverty, favoring expensive clothing and imported cars. However, after remarrying, his finances were managed by his wife, Sachiyo, and he did not even fully understand how credit cards worked.

Superstitions and Health Methods: He was known for his thorough superstitions, such as “not changing his underwear on days he kept winning.” Also, after retiring, he practiced his own unique health method of not exercising at all, based on his personal theory that “you live longer if you don't move.”

Other: He was a heavy smoker but quit completely after his health deteriorated. He also had a humorous side, such as encouraging Kunihiro Matsumura to do impressions of him. Additionally, there is an anecdote that the helmet he used from his active days until his retirement was later used by player Kazuhiro Kiyohara.

✅ Worry arises from a lack of action

I have experienced the weight of this quote firsthand.

💡 When a super-talented team member was transferred...

I currently serve as a team leader managing several subordinates at a foreign-affiliated company, and at one point, a member who possessed knowledge and experience far beyond the rest of the team was transferred to another department.

At that time, it had not even been six months since I had been assigned to that team. Most of the work handled by the member who was leaving was complex, and many people, including my superiors, recognized that person as someone without whom our department could not function.

My heart was immediately filled with “worry” when I was told of this situation. I remember having many negative thoughts filled with “what ifs,” such as the fact that I had only agreed to transfer to my current team because that person was there.

However, just thinking “I’m worried, I’m worried...” about something that makes you “worried” doesn’t solve anything.

I decided to just take action! And once I actually started taking action, the “worry” in my heart clearly began to lighten.

I started by identifying the details of the tasks that had become entirely dependent on that person.

I created a list for each task, compiled them all into an overview, and linked the data to a master sheet so that any existing procedure manuals could be accessed immediately.

For tasks where the procedure manuals were insufficient or non-existent, I completed them to a level where they could function as proper guides. This created a foundation where even someone who had never handled that task before could complete it by following the manual, even if it took some time.

I didn't shoulder the burden of the task handover alone; I explained the situation to other team members and distributed the workload as much as possible to ensure the balance of the team's overall burden did not collapse.

1. Identifying tasks

2. Organizing procedure manuals

3. Planning training (setting deadlines for skill acquisition)

In short, these were the steps I took to overcome the major event of key members leaving.

The important point is that my 'worry' had mostly disappeared not when I finished all steps 1 through 3, but the moment I had a clear outlook on those steps.

It was an experience that truly allowed me to understand the meaning of the phrase, 'Worry arises from a lack of action'.

Regarding things you are 'worried' about, the bigger the concern, the less it can be solved by just spinning your wheels in your head. In fact, the more complex the problem, the more your worry amplifies the more you think about it.

If that's the case, there is only one thing to do: 'Action is the only way'. Challenges are meant to be faced. Running away from challenges won't solve anything. The only way to resolve anxiety is to confront it. Though in truly extreme situations—for example, where your life is threatened—running away is also important.

💡 Poking hot food with the tip of your tongue will only get you burned

Since I was entrusted with leadership duties, I have become more strongly conscious of the importance of the phrase, 'Worry arises from a lack of action'.

This is a metaphor, but I think the situation where you just spin your wheels in your head without taking action on a given challenge is like poking at a piping hot meal with the tip of your tongue instead of swallowing it.

If it were an actual meal, it would cool down over time, so even someone with a sensitive tongue could eat it if they just waited, but that's not the case with work challenges. After all, work is like a game where the rules are completely the opposite of your private life...

If you leave a work challenge alone, the heat will never cool down. In fact, the heat will only continue to rise. What happens if you 'just think in your head and don't take action'—that is, 'poke at it with the tip of your tongue and don't try to swallow'—when faced with such a piping hot 'challenge = a meal you must eat'?

You will definitely get burned. And since you haven't chewed and swallowed it, it won't be absorbed as nutrition for your body.

Even if you leave it for a while, the challenge won't cool down like a meal. Then, when you feel like it, you try poking it with the tip of your tongue again. And you just get burned and give up on swallowing it... You can't solve anything by repeating this.

If that's the case, there is only one thing you can do about the challenge: yes, 'action' alone. In light of this metaphor, taking action on a challenge means 'it's piping hot, but you try your best to swallow it'.

There is a proverb that says 'time heals all wounds' (literally: 'forget the heat once it passes the throat'), and even with quite hot food or drink, once you swallow it, you don't feel the heat in your body that your tongue tip feels.

Of course, there are tricks to swallowing without burning your tongue. If we apply this to work, it would be frameworks like logical thinking.

In fact, not only did I face the challenge of key team members moving to other departments, but various other types of issues also came my way, and the solution to all of them was, as expected, 'action'.

Since 'action' is too broad a definition, I would like to go a step further and share an action plan.

💡Action Plan

Following the quote 'Worry arises from a lack of action', the key to tackling challenges is very simple.

I would like to propose just one action plan.

'Schedule a meeting and invite people'

That is all. When you have a problem, you tend to try to solve it only in your head, but the more complex the problem, the less likely you are to solve it that way.

If you are using Teams, please 'select New Meeting and invite attendees'.

It is okay if the content you are actually going to talk about is not perfectly polished. In the worst case, if you are not ready in time, you can just reschedule.

By setting a small 'deadline' where you have to convey the situation in a meeting, you will have no choice but to take 'action'.

It may not lead to a complete solution to the problem yet, but the 'action' of setting up the next meeting should at least reduce the burden on your mind to some extent.

If you are feeling a lot of anxiety or worry about a problem, or if you cannot think of a solution, I strongly recommend that you first 'schedule a meeting and invite people'.

If you are in an organization or relationship where you are struggling but are discouraged from 'scheduling a meeting and inviting people' itself, it might be time to reconsider the situation of being in such an environment.

In any case, anxiety is highly likely to be caused by a low resolution of the task. Facing problems head-on and working on them sincerely should increase the resolution of the task or work itself and lead to the resolution of anxiety.

I also recommend this quote! ▼

Frameworks are also recommended.

📢Notice

Thank you for reading to the end. 'Likes' and 'Follows' are very welcome! It encourages my activities on Note!

Click here for my self-introduction and main topic! ▼

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