At a vending machine, press the button next to it.

It has been two weeks since my book, " Improving Your Mental Constitution " (Nikkei Publishing), was published. I have received warm words from many of you, and the book has ranked 6th in Amazon's Marketing & Sales category, among other responses. I am truly grateful.

Now, starting with the second installment of this series, we finally dive into the main topic. First, let me introduce a method for improving your mental constitution—something anyone can start with minor daily changes, if they put their mind to it.

Things that seem easy to do, yet we haven't done them.
If you keep at it, you'll start seeing results before you know it.

Illustrated by Kentaro Itonori

 

■Just shifting your fingers a few centimeters can change the world you see

 

People have their "go-to choices."
For example, you might have a specific brand of canned coffee you always choose, or a particular bottled water you buy. When you stand in front of a vending machine, you unconsciously press the same buttons.

At restaurants you frequent, you probably often order the same thing without even realizing it. I, too, would go to my favorite set meal place and, without thinking, find myself ordering my favorite omelet rice.

That's why I consciously try to change my "standard choices."
When someone tells you to "try pressing the button next to your usual item" at a vending machine, you realize it actually takes surprising courage to do it. You don't want to fail by trying something different. You want the comfort of your usual choice. You want that moderate satisfaction every time.

But muster the courage and deliberately press the button for what you want to drink next to your usual choice. Don't stop there—at the convenience store, deliberately pick up the item next to what you always buy. At restaurants, even if your usual go-to menu item is there, deliberately choose the one next to it.

Just shifting your finger a few centimeters, or moving your feet a few dozen centimeters in front of the shelf, can completely transform the world you see.
You realize how narrow your range of actions and perspective has been—how you've settled into the familiar, trapped by preconceptions and common sense, thinking "this is how it is" or "this is just normal," never questioning it.

Choosing something different sparks questions: "Why did I choose (or not choose) this before?" "Why this packaging or shape?" Things you'd normally overlook without a second thought suddenly grab your attention.

As you repeat this, it becomes a trigger, gradually forming a habit of asking "Why?" and "How come?" about even the most mundane, everyday things.

Questioning everything is essential for generating ideas and planning projects.
By exploring things, their origins, structure, and mechanisms become clear, revealing aspects that weren't visible on the surface.

■It's a waste to miss opportunities to ponder in daily life

 

When I was still a junior employee, my senior colleague sitting next to me often asked me questions like this.

When we went to the convenience store together, "Why are those two products placed next to each other even though they're in different categories?" Or while looking at the box of snacks he was eating during a work break, "Why is this packaging designed with these colors?"...

One day during lunch break, while walking through town, he suddenly pointed and asked, "Why do you think that product is in the top left corner of that vending machine?"

He explained that people standing in front of a vending machine scan from the top left to the right, then move to the second row, then the third. So, the item in the top left corner is usually a bestseller, placed there so people can easily press the button and buy it. The spot right next to it is often reserved for new products the manufacturer wants to push or items featured in TV commercials.

I don't know if this is entirely accurate, but I learned a valuable lesson from how deeply he thought about just one aspect of the vending machine display.

Even in everyday life, there are countless opportunities to ponder things. It's a waste to overlook them or fail to notice. That's what my senior taught me.

No matter which city you walk through, you'll see vending machines. Next time you spot one, try asking yourself "Why?" or "How come?"—it might be interesting.
And sometimes, why not press the button next to the product you always buy?