A mapping of my mind (low-level)

So in the last post, I summarized all of the goals that I would like to accomplish by the age of 30. Taking only the headings and put them into a list looks like this:

1 — Enjoying working
1.1 — Designing everything
1.2 — Working collaboratively
1.3 — Learning by designing
1.4 — Sharing the concept of design
1.5 — Experimenting with typography

2 — Establishing a base
2.1 — Defining where to live
2.2 — Eating healthy
2.3 — Building a home library

3 — Developing rich relationships
3.1 — Finding design (but not limited to) peers
3.2 — Being a mentor to somebody

It was very curious for me to realize these items on the list look very similar to the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

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1 — Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

This image was taken from google search.

So above, there is a diagram of the Hierarchy of Needs.

Adapted from the original diagram

I personally modified this content into a format that is suitable for what I was doing: trying to figure out lower-level or actionable goals in order to achieve those higher-level goals that I summarized last time.

A series of diagrams that I am going to use for this exercise is not really optimized for viewing on the web. I put the link to the pdf version of this diagrams at the beginning and end of this blog post. So please feel free to download and review it.

There are three major types of needs: Basic, psychological, and fulfillment. The lower level needs essentially support the existences of those higher level needs by removing any concerns regarding those basic needs from a person’s mind.

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2 — My Hierarchy of Needs

Applied my goals into the framework.

 

By replacing the types of needs goes under the three major need types and their descriptions with the list I made in the last post, I was able to visualize how I am perceiving my goals psychologically.

I intentionally kept the list numbers that I used in the last post. Notice that the order of the higher-level goals does not quite much with Maslow’s diagram, suggesting that there is a different prioritizing rules in my mind. Apparently, self-fulfillment need, which is to enjoy working, ranks the highest priority, while basic needs and psychological needs are the second and third highest respectively.

This analysis implies that no matter how satisfied I may be with basic and psychological needs in the future, it is impossible for me to just be 100% happy with my life without fulfilling the self-actualization necessities.

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3 — My Hierarchy of Needs in Timeline

Rotated 90 degree to the right.

 

This is where things get interesting. I was seeking a way to figure out which of the high level goals I should be focusing on first because what Maslow’s diagram suggests to me is that without satisfying the lower, basic needs of my own, it is unlikely that I will be able to concentrate on the higher level needs or goals.

By rotating the diagram of my hierarchy of needs 90 degrees towards right, it, in fact, became a timeline! 

By refining the layout and typography of this new time-based model slightly, it looks like this:

Enter a caption

 

I was attempting to proportionally scale the timeline in this one. This is mainly because there are only 7 years until I become 30, but with this overall gestalt of the diagram,  it could imply that I may be spending my first few years on satisfying only basic and psychological necessities, which can possibly be true, but not totally accurate.

Different lengths of the lines indicate the differences in their time span.

Going back to the original diagram by Maslow, the boundaries between each level of needs are actually more ambiguous and loose than clear and rigid, which essentially means that those hierarchical needs often overlap and interact with each other. They concurrently coexist, but their individual time span differ.

So the point here is that this framework that I completely made up is very useful in determining priorities among many personal goals and a general timeframe for achieving them. However, it is not as helpful in figuring out details steps necessary for those high level goals by itself. Although I mentioned the crucial limitation of this exercise, I found it okay because there is not much practical value planning step by step actions that will be carried out in the future.

No one knows what exactly would happen in the future anyway.

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4 — A new summary of my high level (+ low level) goals

Now that I have discovered which of the high level goals should be named first. I briefly went over the summary and added some low level tasks and actions that may be required by the high level goals. The new summary should look like this:

1 (2) — Establishing a base
1.1 (2.1) — Defining where to live
1.1.1 — Moving back to Japan 
1.1.2 — Defining which city or prefecture I want to live 
1.1.3 — Looking for a job (that cares about and practices design) or start one
1.1.4 — Finding a place to live that fits my needs (commuting time, price, space plan, etc.)
1.1.5 — Purchasing furniture 
1.2 (2.2) — Eating healthy
1.2.1 — Buying kitchen equipment 
1.2.2 — Finding a good local market
1.2.3 — Establishing a cooking routine
1.2.4 — Discovering and learning new recipes 
1.3 (2.3) — Building a home library
1.3.1 — Taking back all of the books that I have currently to Japan
1.3.2 — Allocating a room for work and books
1.3.3 — Buying or building a nice bookshelf 
1.3.4 — Researching good books to read all the time
1.3.5 — Finding a cheap way to import books in English to Japan

2 (3) — Developing rich relationships
2.1 (3.1) — Finding design (but not limited to) peers
2.1.1 — Working for a firm that employs design practitioners
2.1.2 — Actively networking
2.1.3 — Creating opportunities to collaborate with new people on various projects 
2.1.4 — Expanding my network not only in japan but also overseas
2.2 (3.2) — Being a mentor to somebody
2.2.1 — Constantly working on projects solving socio-economic and business problems
2.2.2 — Increasing a visibility online
2.2.3 — Acquiring a master degree in design (?)
2.2.4 — Preparing useful learning materials
2.2.5 — Leading and managing a product and services that requires a team

3 (1) — Enjoying working
3.1 (1.1) — Designing everything
3.1.1 — Taking every project as a design project
3.1.2 — Clearly defining an area of my speciality in design
3.1.3 — Learning design theories and knowledge of related fields 
3.2 (1.2) — Working collaboratively
3.2.1 — Effectively utilizing human resources as well as my network
3.2.2 — Developing a fluency in other areas of professions
3.2.3 — Developing skills in facilitating conversations 
3.2.4 — Being open-minded
3.2.5 — Leading and managing a product and services that requires a team
3.3 (1.3) — Learning by designing
3.3.1 — Learning design theories and knowledge of related fields + programming 
3.3.2 — Leading and managing a product and services that requires a team
3.3.3 — Asking lots of questions when working with others
3.3.4 — Documenting my learning
3.3.5 — Being open-minded
3.4 (1.4)— Sharing the concept of design
3.4.1 — Keeping sharing thoughts on design online
3.4.2 — Talking about the value of design to non-design practitioners
3.4.3 — Leading and managing a product and services that requires a team
3.5 (1.5) — Experimenting with typography
3.5.1 — Keeping polishing and learning typographic theories and skills
3.5.2 — Always applying a careful typographic treatments to anything I make
3.5.3 — Appreciating and learning typography in history
3.5.4 — Purchasing books on type 
3.5.5 — Learning typography in Japan

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5 — Final thoughts

In determining the lower-level tasks, I realized one thing: my self-fulfillment goals are too abstract and talks only about things that I want to learn about design. Thus, it lacks a notion of what I want to do with it. In some other parts of the list, I mentioned solving socio-economic problems, which I think implies something.

So I thought of them:

1. Redesign education and learning systems
2. Design a sustainable system that bridges a gap between Japan’s local economy and global economy
3. Greatly simplify any required legal, social, financial, and medical processes that people need to go through
4. Understand, visualize, and explain many systems that embrace a negative feedback loop
5. Learn and document histories
6. Design a place where people can come and work on their personal projects and collaborate with others

A mapping of my mind (high-level)

d.school at Stanford University

2018 just got started. I need to organize my to-do list. This is probably the first attempt for me to list out things that I would love to accomplish by the age of 30, which is about 7 years from now. I just need to write out goals that I currently have in my mind and do whatever necessary to achieve them.

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1 — Enjoying working

Work is probably going to be one of the most important aspects in my life. A part of it is because there are tons of things I would like to accomplish through working. In addition, it is also one of the primary ways to make-a-living. I would like to be compensated for services that I can provide to others. I do not know how developed AI technology will be in next several years, but I guess I just have to adapt as I see the drastic changes. Learning financing and being able to effectively invest my money in things like stocks would be tremendous, but it is definitely a secondary matter at this moment.

1.1 — Designing everything

Design is almost equivalent of a religion to me. I am so passionate about it that I do not want to do anything other than design as a job. However, my definition of design is not solely limited to two-dimensional surface, but also includes high-level thought process, human behaviors, and social and economic activities that probably covers a lot of stuff.

Particularly interested in human-centered design — meeting human’s needs through an effective use of technology. A short list of design disciplines includes interaction, information, communication, services, and systems design.

1.2 — Working collaboratively 

One thing that I do not want to do is to work solitarily. As a designer, it is obvious that I cannot carry out every single action required when developing a solution (products / services) to a problem. Effective teamwork ensures a healthy feedback loop that leads the solution to be successful. I believe that a designer should function as a catalyst / facilitator of conversations in such an environment.

Meeting new people and establishing connections with them is another task that would lead me to attain this goal. Though it is often common that human relationships can cause stressful political dramas, it is those organic connections that can collaboratively produce innovative / humane solutions.

1.3 — Learning by designing

Learning is the nature of design. I used to think that acquiring technical skills is what necessary to be a good designer. Although it is true to some extent, it is simply not sufficient. What really makes a person a great designer is to have the ability to learn new things. I believe learning tested and proven theories, frameworks, and processes regarding ethnography, cognitive psychology, business, and design is particularly important. This is because they are timeless and resilient wisdoms that can be reused and applied to whatever new technology that is going to emerge in the future.

1.4 — Sharing the concept of design 

I believe that there is a strong value in sharing the concept of design. It should be one of the common disciplines taught at school. Everyone can and should design in order to reduce confusion in this complex world we live in. Design is an ethical and thoughtful conduct of our action that can be beneficial for everyone.

There are probably many different ways to accomplish this. Sharing my learning and thoughts online like this blog is definitely one way.

I am not certain how educational institutions would operate in the future given that the fact that many alternative options for people to learn such as e-learning are emerging. However, I am thinking to pursuit a master degree in design within several years in order for myself to be more educated and expand my connections and scope of design.

1.5 — Experimenting with typography

I cannot express how much respect I have for typography. Type is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. A set of beautiful glyphs that is unique to different languages can form a word, sentence, paragraph, and essay that communicates meaningful stories. When applied properly, rigorously, and elegantly, typography can enhance the communicative ability of type, allowing people to engage, read, and understand the message more effectively.  This is something that I will probably continue doing throughout my life.

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2 — Establishing a base

I cannot imagine that I did not realize how important it is for me to have a place that I can call “home.” Although my parents’ house where I grew up is certainly my home, I need to establish my own.

Living in San Francisco is extremely expensive that I am not able to afford myself an one-room apartment. I am currently renting a room from a guest house service that is very convenient and comfortable. However, I cannot get rid of the feeling of foreignness, which results in a constant unrested experience that I have been having since moving into the place.

I honestly do not care the size of the place I live in. However, at least having a kitchen space and each room for resting and working are critical for me to live a decent healthy life.

2.1 — Defining where to live

Establishing a base successfully depends on where I decide to have one. Since my goal of studying abroad has been to become a person with distinctive qualities, experiences, and skills who can bring interesting changes in Japan, my base location is probably going to be in somewhere in Japan.

 

2.2 — Eating healthy

I guess this is closely related the number 2 on the list. It is very convenient and and fun for me to eat out every so often. I do not  have to cook, I can eat good food, and I do not have to deal with dishes afterwards. Nonetheless, it costs me a lot.

After visiting my professors, house in Chico, I realize how enjoyable it is for me to be able to cook whatever I want at home and share the meal with others. It is just such a good way to spend evenings and weekends. Therefore, I need to have my own base at first.

2.3 — Building a home library

This is something that I personally really want to have my own base. Having a room filled with my favorite books that feeds timeless wisdoms into my brain is an ultimate goal. A lot of books in Japanese are economically beautiful; however, many books in English are well-designed and mutinously crafted. Knowledge in design accumulated in the Western Culture seems much more humane, academic, scientific, and intellectual.

Someday, book as a medium would become completely obsolete. Nonetheless, it will continue to hold an irreplaceable value that digital medium may not be capable of providing.

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3 — Developing rich relationships 

2017 made me think about establishing robust and healthy relationships with others. It is helpful for me to recognize that I am no more than a regular person who just wants to try harder than others. Meeting new and building a good relationship with them can provide more opportunities to grow and ensure constant feedbacks.

Here I would like to quote John Maeda’s my Four Rules (1999):

1. Don’t speak ill of others.
2. Avoid passive aggressive behavior.
3.  Listen broadly, but don’t waffle on decisions.
4. When in error, admit, apologize, move forward.

3.1 — Finding design (but not limited to) peers

It is particularly important to have design peers with similar mindsets because it supports me to boost and sustain my inner motivation. I should probably define design peers more clearly; those are people who appreciate the concept of design and concerns potential outcomes of our actions.

3.2 — Being a mentor to somebody

I guess this is just one of many ways to build a relationship. I would not actively seek prospective students to mentor, but if I was ever asked, I would like to be prepared regardless of a number of potential students that I have to manage.

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After reviewing what I wrote, I realize that these higher-level goals are sort of following the Maslow’s pyramid. Given that, I can probably determine which goals needs to be accomplished first.

So here are some of my high-level goals that I would like to accomplish by the age of 30. I still need to list out lower-level or more concrete descriptions of necessary tasks, which should help me clarify what and when I am supposed to do in order to satisfy these high-level goals.