Reflecting on Myself with 'To You Who Weren't Chosen That Day' - External Course Edition -

Club activities, entrance exams, job hunting... life is full of events that create 'those who are chosen' and 'those who are not'.

This book is written by copywriter and lyricist Kotaro Abe, based on his own experiences of 'not being chosen,' and how he faced those feelings and took a step forward.

While reading Mr. Abe's story, I realized that I, too, have had many experiences of not being chosen. I had been looking away from them for a long time, but I decided to face them again and write them down...!

With that thought in mind, I started a workshop to look back on my past, following the book's table of contents.

So far, I have delivered the Student Edition, Entrance Exam Edition, Club Activity Edition, Job Hunting Edition, and Work Edition.

Only two more to go.
The 6th installment will be the External Course Edition...!

When you end up on the 'choosing side'
- 'The one who rejects' is actually painful too -

The book contains not only Mr. Abe's stories about being on the 'chosen side' but also his stories about being on the 'choosing side'.

Mr. Abe hosts a planning course called 'Making a Living Through Planning' (Kikaku Meshi), inviting lecturers who are active on the front lines of various industries with the desire to increase the number of people who plan in the world.

He writes about an episode from one year when Kikaku Meshi was held, where there were so many applicants that he had to tearfully turn people away.

The pain of having to choose.
The agony of having to reject.

One might think that such things are the worries of people living in a world far removed from one's own, and that it has nothing to do with me, who is on the side of being chosen.

It's easy to think that, but I remembered that I, too, have had opportunities where I had to choose.

I met Mr. Abe through 'Word Planning,' a sister course to Kikaku Meshi. I would nervously tackle the various assignments given each time, and submit them while worrying about this and that... but submitting wasn't the end of it in Word Planning.

Looking at the works of my 99 peers and choosing the plans I thought were good, and voting for them, was also a set part of every session.

Why did I think that was 'good'? I couldn't choose without my own criteria, and choosing from the works of such impressive people who love planning was more painful and difficult than I had imagined.

'I defined this plan this way, and chose it based on these criteria.' How should I put that into words? I worried every time about what to write in the notes of the spreadsheet shared by everyone.

While choosing good things myself, I also tried to submit 'good plans that would be chosen.' I worked hard for half a year with that goal, but in the end, I don't know if I was able to choose well, and I was only 'chosen' once.

The most frustrating thing among the times I wasn't chosen was the assignment to write a note. Until I tackled that assignment and experienced not being chosen, I didn't realize I had such a strong passion for writing...

Even so, that experience is what leads to me writing on note every day like this. When I think about it, it was a necessary experience, and now, both those who were chosen and those who weren't support each other's plans and plan together.

I am grateful for my encounter with Mr. Abe and my fellow planning students, as it is no exaggeration to say that they changed my life.

The next installment is the finale! We plan to bring you the 'Marriage Edition'!