This Week 10 Years Ago was the week that Shaped My Entire Future
Added 2019-04-12 17:17:32 +0000 UTCHey guys,
I hope you’ve all had a great week!
So it dawned on me today that this week marks the ten year anniversary since a life changing event that led me on my pathway to move to Japan and steered me down a course I could never have anticipated I’d take.
Ten years ago this week, I was an 18 year old with big dreams, a lack of direction and a face absolutely drenched in acne.
The only thing I had going for me was I was on a plane heading to France.
One of my favourite things about flying used to be sitting next to strangers for a few hours, chatting and discussing life, whilst intermittently gazing out of the window at the fields below.
Unfortunately these days I fucking hate flying. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a flying box of despair for hours on end, hoping the mechanical witchcraft keeps us in the air, whilst intermittently glaring out of the window at the fields below.
But 10 years ago, before a traumatic turbulent experience, I loved flying and on this particular encounter, whilst the plane was flying somewhere over Lyon, the middle aged couple sitting beside me on the flight struck up a conversation about my future and what I wanted to do with my life.
After I gave a vague response about wanting to try living in Asia, fate dealt me a winning hand; it turned out their daughter was living and working in Japan on the JET Programme and anyone with a degree could apply!
I was enthralled at the prospect of JET - even after I discovered it had nothing to do with jets, and it was actually just a cool sounding acronym for a teaching job.
But no sooner had the plane landed, my mind was fixated on the idea of enrolling on the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme and living an adventurous and preposterous existence in the Land of the Rising Sun. I was overcome with delusions of grandeur.
Something about the idea of working on the other side of the world resonated with me; and though I had no connection to Japan, my long held dream of visiting the country, combined with my desire to live a bizarre, unpredictable lifestyle where I could pretend I was in a film, made me determined to sign up to the JET programme by the end of the week.
Admittedly, it was one week and another two and a half years before I actually applied - what with needing to get a bit of paper with a degree on it first - but finding that sense of purpose and direction acted as my guiding star throughout University that kept me fired up and motivated through a relatively dull course.
Ever since then, I’ve always tried to keep a three year plan written down or stuck in the back of my mind, to keep me on track heading towards a goal in everyday life. No matter what I'm doing, I always feel like I'm heading towards something. It’s probably the main factor as to why I’ve always managed to stay motivated in the long run (combined with absurd quantities of coffee).
With that in mind, if you ever find yourself leading an aimless life, feeling unmotivated or unenthusiastic throughout the week, think long and hard about what it is you really want.
It should be an image in your mind of where you want to be not tomorrow or the week after, but one, two, three years from now. A future that you captures your imagination, that you can draw on through tough times, where you may question what it is you're doing with your life.
Hopefully you’ll find, as I did, that once you’re excited about your own future, everything starts to fall into place.
For the full story on "Why I Moved to Japan" and in case you missed it, you can check out the video below! There’s some incredible drawing and photorealistic animations to bring the story to life.
► Watch: https://youtu.be/rp29BYtee2w
As for me, I’m just putting the final touches to the next episode of Journey Across Japan which will be out this weekend; this week we’re off to Hiroshima to see the A-Bomb Dome, Miyajima, Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki and of course, a pizza vending machine. Should be a good one!
And while you wait, check out this week’s Abroad in Japan Podcast where we discussed what to do in your first 48 hours in Japan. We heard some fantastic and amusing stories from listeners and if you’re looking for ideas on your upcoming trip, it’s definitely worth a listen.
The First 48 Hours in Japan | What Should You Do?
► Listen: http://hyperurl.co/nhgr30
That’s all for now guys, I’ll be checking back in once the Hiroshima episode goes live!
Chris
Comments
Happy birthday Chris!!
Rob Biberhofer
2019-04-22 11:21:57 +0000 UTCExcellent advice about having a goal!
Sammybunny711
2019-04-18 19:45:50 +0000 UTCSame feeling for me too
2019-04-15 15:17:58 +0000 UTCBy any chance, did you ever run into the couple again or meet their daughter? They'd probably love to see how you turned out.
2019-04-15 15:17:36 +0000 UTCSpeaking of setting goals in life, do you have more recommendations of self-help books? On your recommendation, I'm currently listening to No Excuses but since you've called yourself a self-help junkie, I suspect it's not the only book in your repertoire.
Dr. Teatime
2019-04-13 19:22:25 +0000 UTCI bet meeting Natsuki or becoming a world famous youtuber was not even in your wildest dreams.
Alev Akkor
2019-04-13 01:50:18 +0000 UTCHi Chris, it's funny you mention this milestone as actually 2 years ago this week I hit my own. After a long anticipated trip to Japan, I returned home and was instantly struck with this feeling of "I must return to Japan immediately", which somehow felt different to the usual "I really enjoyed travelling to that country and would like to go again one day". 2 years later and I'm now in Tokyo for a few months, which is part of my multi step plan to live here in the near future. Thanks for making your videos which have motivated and also entertained me along my own journey!
2019-04-12 23:24:36 +0000 UTCI've never been able to visit Japan, and it's been a long-time dream for me. Your channel helps me experience it through your videos. Thank you for that.
Sean W Gumm
2019-04-12 21:44:52 +0000 UTCI have discovered your channel only a few days ago but I have watched through dozens of videos already, heavily loving and appreciating your subtle humour and easy-going attitude, but also being fascinated by all different things over Japan that you explore and share. What I am saying is, don't underestimate the (positive) effect of your content either ! Just seeing you doing your thing, living your crazy, different, "new" life and your entire path from then to now has inspired me a lot already (me being a 7-years-younger-than-you-in-a-similiar-situation kinda person) and is actually just what I needed. I am curious and excited to take that inspiration and "use" it on my own life... :)
TeeTaan
2019-04-12 20:54:09 +0000 UTCWhen I was younger, I dreamed of living in Japan one day, eating Ramen and fighting crime in a ridiculously short skirt with a talking animal by my side. Somehow, I forgot about that dream until recently, when I finally had the chance to visit Japan. I travelled to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nara and saw and did all the things you’re supposed to do and see and yes it was great and I was excited but I focused so hard on that to-do list that I had in mind that I somehow forgot to really experience Japan. The lack of talking animals was also quite disappointing. A few months ago I stumbled upon your YouTube channel and couldn’t stop watching because it was everything 12 year old me could hope for. And I remembered that dream I once had that helped me through some rough school years. I’ve been struggling to find motivation or something that keeps me going lately but your videos reminded me that life in Japan still fascinates and excites me like almost nothing else so I think it’s time to recycle the old dream and work towards a new goal! Just wanted to say thank you for that with this “short” message! Love, Mia
Mia
2019-04-12 18:53:11 +0000 UTCAwesome! Hope you'll like it here in Berlin! Where are you from?
Aireglin
2019-04-12 18:47:41 +0000 UTCGreat share, thanks for all your effort ^_^
2019-04-12 18:29:10 +0000 UTCYou’re so inspiring dude!
2019-04-12 18:15:57 +0000 UTCI was already interested in Japan before I discovered the channel, but I'm now much more interested in visiting the Tōhoku region thanks to the channel. Next time I visit Japan it will be my main itinerary.
Eels
2019-04-12 18:15:53 +0000 UTCAs I was reading this I got an email saying I had been nominated to go on exchange to a university in Berlin, so I’m getting closer to achieving my life goal of finishing the 5 step program to being as cool as Ryotaro (”live in Germany, live in the States, live in the UK, live in Australia, and love visiting Spain”).
Eels
2019-04-12 18:11:16 +0000 UTCWhat a great post; congratulations on the 10 years, Chris!
2019-04-12 18:09:08 +0000 UTCYep, this, exactly. Especially from when I read the word "despair". 😆
2019-04-12 18:06:50 +0000 UTCGah, now that you mentioned Hiroshima, I feel silly for not asking this before the cycle. Have you ever been to an Okonomiyaki place there called Lopez? We got to go on our last trip to Japan and it was fantastic. It's a pretty modest place, but the Okonomiyaki was delicious and we got to chatting with the owner a bit - Fernando Lopez, an expat originally from Guatemala who's been an Okonomiyaki chef for, I believe, over 15 years. He's an interesting guy and the food was great! It's well worth the visit if you have a reason to go back to Hiroshima, and it might be good as part of a future one-off video about Hiroshima too.
Argus9 (Jonathan)
2019-04-12 17:45:46 +0000 UTC
