12 Habits and Mindsets to Let Go of in 2025 for a happier and meaningful life🍵

Ready to make 2025 your best year yet? Why I have a banana? You'll see. Today, I'm sharing 12 habits and mindset I'm letting go of to create a happier, more meaningful, and mindful life in the year ahead. If you're new here, I'm Aki, a minimalist who is sharing a simple and positive lifestyle from Japan. Here's the fun part. It's only 12 things. That means, if you let go of one thing each month, by this time next year, your life could look completely different. So, let's do this together, one habit at a time. First, the conventional concept of time. If I say, time flows from the past to the present, and then into the future, how do you think? I know there are different ways perceive time, but most people think of time like this, right? But actually, this concept is what makes your life feel difficult. Because when you think the now is an extension of the past, you tend to get stuck in your past abilities. For example, let's say you've studied Japanese before, but couldn't speak it well. You might think, there's no way I can start a YouTube channel in Japanese now. So, why not let go of this concept to make your life easier? Instead, I'm gonna install a brand new time concept for you. Time flows from the future to the present and go into the past. This is actually an old Japanese way of thinking. Look at this clock. This is a traditional Japanese clock called wadokei, where the face moves instead of the hands. If you look closely, doesn't it feel like time flows from the future into the present and then into the past? With this view, you're no longer stuck in the past, because it lets you see that your past self has nothing to do with your now and future. See? As time passes, your past just drifts further into the past. It doesn't affect your now and future at all. All you need to do is set an exciting future for yourself and decide what steps to take to get there. Then, it'll come for you. It's not your past that shapes you now. It's your future that shapes who you are now. So, for 2025, I'm embracing this future-first mindset. How about you? Second, sacrificing sleep. Feeling stressed? Sleep. Can't focus? Sleep. Bad skin day? Sleep. Tired? Sleep. Here's my take, but 80% of health problems can be solved by just sleeping. A good night's sleep clears your mind, balances your hormones, and just makes everything better, doesn't it? Sleep is the ultimate medicine. I know it, and you know it too, right? But sometimes, I still stay up late. The next day? Total mess. Couldn't focus, and my productivity just dropped. So, here's my promise. I'm gonna get at least 7 hours of sleep, no matter what. Think of the day as 17 hours long instead of 24. Let's embrace it together, and let's get more sleep. Third, being afraid of loneliness. As you know, I used to be a teacher. But now, I work solo as a content creator. The result? Feeling lonely. Honestly, I was so scared of feeling lonely that I started meeting up with people for no real reason. But one day, when I was on my bicycle, it hit me. Hmm, why not just enjoying the loneliness? Because loneliness actually gives you all this free time with no interruptions. It's like you receive ultimate freedom. Isn't it great? So, if you don't enjoy that time, isn't it kind of a waste? At least, I thought that way. So, I started finding hobbies I could enjoy alone. Like going to saunas, having matcha picnics, or even dining with Indigo. Now, I genuinely enjoy my solo time. When you can have time with your friends and also enjoy being alone, life gets even more satisfying. In 2025, I'm gonna enjoy my alone time even more. Fourth, taking work too seriously. I used to think work was everything. Like my whole life revolved around it. That's why I used to struggle with making decisions when it comes to work. Because I was scared of failing. But here's the reality. Work is only about 30% of your life. In a year, you work about 2,000 hours out of 8,760 hours. That leaves about 6,000 hours for family, friends, enjoying meals, and stuff like that. And here's the thing. Most of our happiness comes from those simple and everyday life. So, the other 70% might actually be more important than this 30%. Looking at it like this, I feel like I can start taking work less seriously. So, next year, I'll enjoy work more without overthinking it. Fifth, hiding my weaknesses. Let me tell you. For a long time, I've been hiding my flaws. Yeah, for example, I freeze up when speaking in front of people. My mind just goes blank. Some of you might think, Wait, you're on YouTube. You can speak well. That's true. Well, here's the thing. I can talk fine because I have a script. Live events? Totally different story. I'd probably... But next year, I'm trying to embrace my weaknesses. Why? Because owning your flaws makes you more real and reliable. Think of my favorite character, Zoro from One Piece. You know Zoro? His samurai is super strong, but also hilariously bad with directions. His flaws make him way more lovable and attractive, right? Then I realized, Oh, it's okay to show my weaknesses like Zoro. Yeah, when we are open about our struggles, it might feel embarrassing. But we grow up and connect with others on a deeper level. So, changing how you think about weakness could make 2025 your most confident and honest year yet. Sixth, negative words. Did you know that in Japan, we believe words have a special power? It's called kotodama, the spirit of words. Basically, the words you can use can shape your whole world. For example, if I say, I love matcha. That's what I always say. And guess what? Matcha lovers magically show up in my life. Like that. When you use positive words, you attract positive people and experiences. But the negative words, they do the opposite. They bring negativity into your world. So next year, I make a promise. No more negative words. Never let negative, pessimistic, or discouraging words come out of your mouth. Be so strict about it that those words simply don't exist in your vocabulary anymore. By Japanese philosopher, Nakamura Tenpu. Seventh, breaking promise to yourself. Here is something that always puzzled me. I block time in my Google Calendar for my tasks. If it's a meeting with someone, I'll show up without fail. Wellnessly, sometimes I do forget. But when it's time just for myself, I easily break the promise. Like I block an hour to write a script. But instead, I'll end up sipping matcha and thinking, Hmm, I'll do it later. But here's the thing. When I do that, I'm breaking promise to myself. Imagine if your business partner shows up late to meetings all the time. It'd be super annoying. And you'd be disappointed in him, right? But that's exactly what I've been doing to me. So in 2025, I'll become a man who keeps his promises to himself. Eighth, procrastinating decisions. Look at this. This is a Samurai Matcha logo. And here's a question. How long do you think it took for me to decide on this logo? It's two years. Two years. Why? Because I kept putting off the decision. Like I said, I took my work so seriously. Always thinking, What if people don't like it? Is there a better design? But here's the simple truth. Nothing moves forward until you decide. So next year, I'm gonna take a lighter approach to decision making. I'll give myself permission to trust my gut and go with something. 80%? Okay. Ninth, living by others' opinions. When I was in my 20s, I chose to live freely. People told me, You should get a stable job. Then I became a teacher. And they said, It didn't suit me. And when I went freelance, They asked, Why not go back to teaching? I was like, What? People's opinions are like a weather forecast. Constantly changing and rarely reliable. So yeah. Before trusting them, Trust yourself and stick to your own path. And that's how we're going to live our lives next year. Tenth, anger. I wanna always be peaceful. So I really don't wanna get angry. If you can relate, Let me share a mindset that really works for me. It's the 50% banana rule. Oh, you're finally here. Let's say someone says something rude to you. Normally, you'd get upset. But instead, try thinking it this way. They're 50% banana. So whatever. Yes, I'm serious. Because, fun fact, Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas. When you see it this way, You can forgive more things. Like someone's rude comment or mistake at work. And you can even forgive yourself for your mistakes. Oh yeah, I made a big mistake. This mic wasn't connected properly. So I'm re-recording again. I was like, We do wrong sometimes. So it's whatever. If you think that way, You can forgive others and yourself. So next year, I'm sticking it and saying goodbye to anger. Eleventh, take things for granted. There was a time when I had an American friend Helping me with this Samurai Machi channel. We lived in the same share house. So she would help with my English and even filming. At first, I was super grateful. But after a while, I started taking her help for granted. And forgot to show my appreciation. I knew how important the spirit of Okage-sama was. But I forgot. It wasn't until she went back to the US That I realized how incredible her support was. So, big thank you. What I learned from this experience is that It's easy to overlook the people who support us every day. It might be your partner, parents, or friends. Don't take them for granted. Always show gratitude. So next year, I want to become someone Who can express that gratitude more openly. Twelve, beating yourself up. Ever find yourself thinking, Why did I say that? And blame yourself? It happens to me too. Like the other day, when I saw the shipping cost at the pasta office. I blurted out, Wow, this is so expensive. Later I thought, Why did I even say that? And yeah, I felt bad. But here's the thing. Beating yourself just brings down your self-esteem. And makes you unhappy. So this is exactly when you can say, I'm 50% banana. But also, you can say this phrase. I recently learned a magic phrase. It's a game changer for me. Whenever you catch yourself blaming yourself, Try saying this phrase right away. I accept, Acknowledge, Forgive, Love myself for thinking that. No matter how negative you feel, This phrase has the power to ease your heart. And reset your mindset. Thank you so much for all your support in 2024. And let's make 2025 an amazing year for both of us. Have a good new year. Peace.