The Japanese are people with a very different lifestyle from the one we know in the West. Their culture has led them to be very disciplined, clean and perfectionists, even to the point of being excessive. However, there are a number of Japanese habits that, when implemented in your daily life, can make you improve significantly, causing you to feel happier.
Why do we say that certain Japanese habits can improve your life?
● According to the WHO, Japan is the number one country in the ranking of countries with the highest life expectancy. This means that people in Japan on average have longer lives than in the rest of the world.
● Also, the Japanese country is one of the countries with more people of 100 years or more.
● But this does not end here, it is also one of the 10 countries with the lowest crime rate in the world and the second country with the highest level of education.
● Japan is also the country with the lowest obesity rate in the world.
All these figures and data are related to each other, it is the Japanese habits, implemented with factors such as their culture, religion and education, which have led the Japanese country as one of the best countries to live in the world. For this reason, imitating certain Japanese habits improves the quality of life.
Top 7: Japanese habits to live better
This list of Japanese habits is based on books such as "Ikigai, the Japanese method for a long and happy life", and "Genki, the 10 golden rules of the Japanese" which are a couple of the many books that have been written about the Japanese way of life. These are 7 habits that we consider easy to implement in our culture and way of life, and that are also easier to do starting from scratch.
1. Be kind and grateful
Being friendly is often confused with walking around smiling at everyone and despite everything, but it is much simpler than that, it is in the small gestures of your day to day, such as, for example, a person on the street asks you for help with an address, help him in a friendly way. If a classmate was late, ask him if he's okay.
These simple gestures will help you feel better about yourself and the people around you. This will completely change the energy that surrounds you and your quality of life.
2. Simplify each process
Have you heard of Marie Kondo? A Japanese woman who revolutionized the world with her theories about minimalism and order. According to website
Minimal Japan, simplifying is one of the best Japanese habits. It is about removing from your life what hinders you, for example, do an analysis of the things you have in your room, think how many of them you use every day and how many have not been used for years, think if you have things there that are ugly or you don't like them.
After doing this analysis, it will be easier for you to discard and simplify your environment. You can continue with the rest of your house, your car, your office, your backpack or any other space. By getting rid of what has no use or you do not like, everything will magically look neater and cleaner, and it is scientifically proven that being in such an environment transmits peace and well-being.
3. Appreciate beauty
Take a moment from time to time to appreciate the beauty of what surrounds you, and take something beautiful out of even the worst days or moments. If you are in a situation or place that does not seem to have something beautiful, no matter where you look at it, then create it yourself.
Stopping to think about the beauty of things will make you smile. For example, your office seems ugly to you, put next to your computer a photo of a special moment that you have lived in, when you look at that photo you will think about that moment and you will feel better. Remember that every place or moment can be beautiful and enjoy it, everything is part of living.
4. Always do your best
The Japanese are classified as very perfectionists, and it is true. Within Japanese habits this could be one of the most difficult to implement. There is a fine line between always giving your best and falling into an obsession to do everything perfect, and you should not exceed it.
It is not about always thinking that everything you do is wrong and you should always do better, because that causes you stress. But if you are going to do something, try to put all your desire, concentrate and above all pay close attention to detail.
5.- Take care of what you eat
The expression "we are what we eat" is true and can be verified scientifically, it is not about the physique, it does not matter if you are fat or thin that is not relevant. The important thing is how what you eat makes you feel. Junk food, loaded with fat, sugars and chemicals has a negative impact, not only on your physique, but on your mind and your energy. When you eat something too heavy, your digestion gets slower and your body uses more energy in this process. Energy that your body could use to focus on other aspects
Eating healthy will make you feel better, more energetic, more productive, focused, and happy. It is not a strict diet based on lettuce and tasteless brown rice, in which you cannot indulge yourself. It's about being balanced, trying to make what you eat is good for you, in all aspects.
6. Look for quality not quantity
This habit will save you too much stress and unnecessary situations. It is about looking for quality in what you consume and what you do. A very clear example is with clothes for example, maybe you buy 10 poor quality pants, and at the moment it seems incredible, but after a month, they begin to break, wear out, become ugly and you end up having to throw them away. This habit invites you to instead of buying 10 shoddy pants, buy 2 of a quality that you know will last a couple of years.
It also happens with the actions you take in your day to day, for example, if at school they ask you to do a one-page essay, and you do a 4-page essay but since you did it in a hurry it turns out that the content is bad, it is badly written and your ideas are lost in so many pages, instead of making a single page and taking enough time for that page to be clear and concise. And of course, it also applies with friends, you can have 20 friends but no real friends, or only one but a loyal one. Apply this rule to every aspect of your life and you yourself will notice the difference.
7. Turn your goals and purposes into objectives
It has happened to all of us that New Year's night comes and we set ourselves the happy resolutions, which range from the possible way to "save more" or "exercise" to the crazy like "buy a bigger house", "Have a Porsche "Or" win the lottery. " Be that as it may, you start the year with all the willingness to achieve your goals, but as the months go by, some are being forgotten, and the worst part comes when you are in November or December and then you say "for another year." There are a couple of Japanese habits for that. Convert those purposes and goals into objectives, this means, first that they must be realistic and achievable.
Having objectives means that in addition to being realistic, they have a basic plan and a time frame. Start changing "Lose weight" to "Exercise and eat healthy to lose three kilos before my birthday", you already have a time frame, and an action plan. Apply it to everything, change the "travel more" to "Save $100 every week to go on a trip to France in November." And the most important of these goals, put them in a visible place, put the "save more money" in the most visible part of your wallet, and "eat healthy" on the door of your refrigerator.
