Goals and the Subconscious Mind

One time, my husband said something like this to me.

Simply thinking “I want to be rich” or “I want to earn more” isn’t really good. Because the more you think “I want to be rich” or “I want to earn more,” the more your subconscious mind gets imprinted with the opposite—“I don’t have money now, I’m not earning now.” That’s why things don’t go well.
Instead, it’s better to think something like “I’m currently earning 200,000 yen a month. Next, I want to be able to earn 300,000 yen.” Recognize that you are already earning money now, and then aim for more.
In the end, how you feel in your subconscious mind greatly influences reality.”

That’s what he said.

At the time, I just lightly replied, “I see. Somehow that makes sense,” but recently I happened to read a book that really struck a chord with me, and my husband’s words came back to mind.

What I felt from reading that book was:

Instead of focusing only on what you don’t have, look at what you do have now and cherish those things.

I think I have long been caught up in “what I don’t have now.”

If I say so myself, I’ve always had a relatively strong curiosity like “I want to do that!” or “I want to become like this!” and I’ve lived a life full of challenges and taking action.

That personality was definitely a big driving force especially in my work, but on the other hand, no matter what I achieved, I always felt a sense of craving and never really looked at what I already had, always focusing on “I’m still not enough” or “I want to be more like this.”

Because of that, I think I was stuck for a long time in the state my husband described at the beginning.

Buying a Porsche with My Own Money

When I started this blog, I set the goal of “buying my own Porsche with my own money someday,” but the more I thought “I will buy my own Porsche,” the more the fact “I don’t have my own Porsche now” grew bigger inside me.

But when I really thought about it, last year I bought my very first car, a BMW 320i, so I could learn to drive a manual transmission, yet I completely ignored that fact and kept dragging around the idea that “I still can’t afford a Porsche.” (And I still have payments on the 320i, too.)

Also, thanks to my husband, I’m fortunate to be able to drive Porsches now, but somewhere in my heart, I often thought, “But those are all my husband’s Porsches… not mine….”

Chasing “what I don’t have now” can certainly be a motivation to work hard in your job and life, but if that makes you blind to the precious things right in front of you, your life will never feel truly fulfilled…

Come to think of it, when I first met my husband, of course there was no Porsche yet, and even going to the nearby convenience store or sushi place was by bicycle. I had just started my business then, so I gathered up all the game software and consoles I had at home and sold them at Yodobashi Camera, thinking, “Alright, I got 8,000 yen! I can survive for a week with this!” — living on the edge.

Now, I can drive a Porsche anytime, and my life revolves around cars wherever I go (also because we moved farther from the station), and I’m in a very fortunate environment in many ways, yet I couldn’t simply be grateful for that—I realize now how twisted my mindset was…

Besides that, I get to spend every day with my child, work from home, and my husband has always told me, “If you want to work, go ahead; if you want to quit, that’s fine too; do whatever you like,” so since we got married, I’ve been free to live as I please… etc.

Maybe it’s because I’m pregnant now and my hormones are different, making me quite sensitive, but after reading that book, I really want to become a person who can focus on what they have now, who can truly be grateful, and who can feel happiness and richness in the present.

To Buy a Porsche

Regarding the goal of “buying a Porsche with my own money,” I’m going to try looking at it a little differently. Not just “buying a Porsche myself,” but considering my current situation.

I want to think like, “I’m now able to earn this much. So next, I’ll aim to earn this much more and first save up a down payment to buy a Porsche,” focusing not on what I can’t do yet, but on the fact that I’m steadily getting closer to my goal.

I laugh at myself sometimes for being such a gloomy personality, asking myself these questions every day, but I hope I can keep stepping up at my own pace, in my own way, one step at a time.