There is one sentence I keep coming back to, especially on days when nothing seems to go my way:
The weak look for reasons; the strong look for ways to act.
After more than 13 years of living and working in Japan, and more than five years running my own business, I have heard countless reasons. To be honest, I have told myself plenty of them, too. But the further I go, the clearer it becomes: reasons are always available. The road only opens for those who keep walking.
The market always has a problem
The economy always has problems. Markets always shift. Customers always have a reason to hesitate. Competitors always move fast. If we wait for perfect conditions, we will wait forever.
What fascinates me is this: in the same environment, at the same time, reading the same news, some people complain and some people grow. The difference is not the era. It is how we think, the standards we hold ourselves to, and the small decisions we make every single day.
Conditions are like the weather. You cannot choose rain or sunshine, but you can always choose to carry an umbrella and keep going.
No customers, and nobody trusted me
When I founded GLOBALIZE, I had no customers. I was young, and I was a foreigner. In meetings with Japanese companies, I could feel the hesitation. Honestly, almost nobody trusted me.
I had a hundred reasons to stop. The market was tough. Many companies were not used to working with a young foreign CEO. I had no track record yet. Every one of those reasons was true, and not one of them brought me a single customer.
So I changed the question to: “What can I do today?” Meet one more person. Make one more call. Keep one promise without fail. Do one small job so carefully that people could see I was serious.
Trust is not built in a day. It is built brick by brick. Today GLOBALIZE works with more than 2,500 partner companies and has supported more than 7,000 candidates. I believe the most important bricks were the ones laid on the days when nobody believed in me.
Don’t treat the news as permission to stop
Every day brings news about slowing growth, rising costs and a changing labor market. That information matters; it helps us understand where we stand. But I keep reminding myself:
Don’t treat the news as permission to stop.
The news should light up the road, not give us a reason to sit still. When the market is hard, customers need committed partners more than ever. And when others slow down, those who keep moving, even in small steps, gradually open up a gap.
Ask a better question
Two questions sound similar but lead in opposite directions.
“When will the economy improve?” hands the key to someone else. All we can do is wait.
“What should I improve?” puts the key back in our own hands. It might be a skill, the way we serve customers, the way we build our team, or simply our morning routine.
Very often, what is stopping us is not the economy. It is our old self: the version of us that is comfortable, familiar, and very good at explaining why something can’t be done yet.
Challenges are real. So are opportunities. Between them stands a choice that each of us makes.
If you are facing a wall today, try replacing “Why can’t this work?” with “How can I make it work?” A different question opens a different path.
Here’s to another day of looking for ways, not reasons. Let’s keep moving forward together.