Around Digby in Nova Scotia, people are more self sufficient and independent than those who I know in Japan or Calgary.
Many kids start working when they hit teenage as a babysitter, farm helper, market vender etc, and then move to a store casher and other common laborer as they get older. Quite a few take swimming and dance lessons with the hope to get the summer job as a lifeguard or dance teacher when they become a high school student.
This greatly comes from the necessity in an old-fashioned remote rural area. People don’t have much of a choice, or so they believe. On the other hand, thanks to the social acceptance and expectation of young kids to be reliable workers, a 13-year-old can have the opportunity to teach something and be paid.
Here people are more a doer. When I came to Canada about 20 years ago, I was shocked at the fact that many people purchase their house or start own business in their 20’s.
At that time in Japan, only very few people, typically with their family’s support, owned the house or business in such early age. The property purchase or starting a business was like a lifetime decision for the most Japanese including myself.
As far as I see, although Japanese are slowly catching up with the world, we still tend to be a thinker than a doer. We seek a safer way by thinking wide and deep. The bright side of this is then you can plan for the possible risks and challenges well if not avoid them. You see the large picture first and come up with the more efficient total production plan. The downside is that it slows you down.
In contrast the people in Canada are much quicker to move. They make an investment with a small amount of money in their bank account in comparison with Japanese. They are a doer, a risk taker, with or without an awareness.
Are you a thinker or doer?
The extreme thinker is the one who keeps thinking but don’t take any action – someone who keeps going to a school, reading books and doing internet research but doesn’t really apply the knowledge into the actual world at all. Keep seeking the perfectly safe bet without really betting any money on anything.
The other end is the one who doesn’t think at all but just do whatever s/he feels like each moment. Doing things spontaneously works during the time period of exploring when you are young, but living like that forever usually tires you out quite badly.
Most of us are somewhere in between, and we need both thinking and doing to improve our quality of life.
What is your typical behavior when you get interested in something? Do you call someone, go somewhere or purchase something immediately? Or do you do some research first?
You may want to be a more thinker if you often:
- double-book or forget important events
- regret the purchases and other decisions you made
- feel running around but not achieving much
- experience negative surprises and disappointments
- repeat the same mistakes
You may need to consider being a more doer if you:
- are shy
- keep postponing plans
- like to well prepared before take any action
- worry a lot
- repeat the same complaint
Your dream will never come true if you don’t take an action no matter how much you know. The action brings you the feedback. By planning well and thinking about the feedback, your action becomes more productive and effective.
To achieve the successful result, and to keep growing, you need to work on both ends consistently.