You don’t even have to like sushi to love this documentary. Welcome to the How to Apply it to REI series where we take the best business, personal development, and biographical works and apply it to the world of real estate investing.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi follows master sushi chef Jiro Ono who was 85 years old at during the making of the film and has been working in the kitchen mastery his craft for the past 75 years. What is inspiring about the film is his dedication to detail, perfectionism, and self discipline to be the best sushi chef possible. You would think that after three quarters of a century in the kitchen he would want to retire or get complacent, but that is the opposite of who he is.
He LOVES what he does and it permeates into every stroke of the knife, every grain of rice formed, and every person in the room from his sons, to his staff, to every restaurant patron. It is awesome to see his level of concentration and focus that produces something so simple yet masterful.
I after watching the documentary I couldn’t help but take a few lessons to heart, ones I’d love to share with you now.
Lesson 1: It’s all or nothing, go big because you CAN’T go home
Jiro’s upbringing story was a wild one. He had been on his own since around 10 years old and worked hard every day out of necessity. His parents told him to do well in school and work hard because he couldn’t come home anymore.
A hard lesson, and one that he passed on to his younger son years later when that son went off to start his own sushi restaurant. Jiro told him to put his all into that restaurant because failure was not an option, there was no coming back! Not that the old man disliked his kid, as a matter of fact he only gave the new restaurant his blessing because he believed that the son could accomplish it.
The lesson I got is that self discipline and hard work will are necessities if you want to be successful.
There are things that need to be sacrificed if you want that kind of success. Nothing is without its price.
However, if you show up, put in the work, and do what needs to get done your chances of success are better than the quitters. You and I are not the only real estate investors. There are many successful investors we can look at as examples. The successful ones are putting in the work by making deals, networking, and learning. The ones who don’t you will never hear about.
Greatness follows actions.
Lesson 2: Build a quality team
Jiro Ono is a modern legend for his efforts to be the best and that is because he demanded the best by everyone from everyone on his team.
His apprenticeship standards are amazing, demanding 10 years on his staff in order to learn the trade inside and out. His eldest son started at 19 and put in 30 years under his father and still doesn’t completely run the business. That is dedication to the team.
Not only that but he built relationships with specialists in the fields he depended on. He had a tuna specialist that knew how good the tuna would taste by rolling it around in his FINGERS. He had a shrimp specialist that knew what level of quality Jiro would have wanted. He had a rice specialist that turned down a major hotel chain, and presumably a much higher paycheck, because of his level of respect and dedication to Jiro.
THAT is a team. People who are willing to put in the work, to the standards you set (high standards!). People who are willing to put the needs of your business ahead of someone else’s because they believe in you.
My jaw dropped when I heard these interviews from people supplying Jiro’s restaurant because of the level of commitment they had to him because of an ideal, the ideal sushi, created by the ideal sushi chef.
How many of us are really like this? How many real estate investors truly have that team, that network that is there for you and believes the mission? It takes time to craft this; it takes time to earn people’s loyalty and it is something that stuck with me deeply.
I hope you do have this kind of team or are working towards it because who we surround ourselves with determines who far along we go.
Jiro got to be the best by surrounding himself with the best that knew their craft and contributed to something along the way that not only works, but dominates over everyone else.
Lesson 3: Be just a little bit better every single day
Progress is the path that takes us away from stagnation. Who wants things to be the same anyway? That’s boring.
The mindset of constantly learning and improving is invaluable. It requires us to do things with more attention to detail because we are forced to turn off the noise and be present in the moment.
Every time I write a blog post I try to word it just slightly better, type just a little faster, and above all else with less typos!
Every marketing campaign needs to be tweaked just a bit more to get it perfect. Did I get enough attention and interest? Can the call to action be just a little more persuasive? Can I do something to ensure just a slightly higher open rate to my yellow letters?
Small improvements on a constant basis will do more for us than wild attempts at vast improvements at random intervals.
At the age of 85 Jiro is still trying to learn more and do more to get better at his craft. That mindset is why people book the opportunity to dine at his tiny restaurant some times a year in advance.
One of the highest compliments he received was the CONSISTENCY of great meals he offered to his patrons. Are we being consistent in our search for improvement?
There we go, my favorite lessons from the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi! Honestly, go watch it.
Especially if you are feeling tired or low for any reason. There are no excuses when you see this man in action. You just think to yourself, “wow, if he is doing all that at his age then I REALLY have no excuses.”
Jiro lifted himself and his family up from the depths of poverty and it is such an inspirational story. It is rare to see someone who radiates just how much they love what they do.
I love the message of hard work and dedication because it is simple to talk about but so hard to execute that most people would do it. But you are here, my audience isn’t the average of the masses.
Greatness is within your reach, you just have to work for it.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and feel free to send me an email to connect. I hope you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for more to come! I don’t know about you, but I am feeling kind of hungry, a little bit of sushi, a lot of more of success.
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