This page has been machine-translated. Please see the Japanese page for accurate content.
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Contains spoilers.
The author's official website lists “possibility” as one of the subjects Saeed learns about on his journey with the nine sages. The story presents this as an entry point for learning not to close off future options based only on one's present circumstances.
The official introduction explicitly names “goals” and “self-esteem” among the things the boy learns. It can be read as an entry point for considering separately what one aims for and how one regards oneself, before the two are reconnected over the course of the journey.
The official page says that “gratitude” is also among the lessons received from the nine sages. It offers a way to reflect on daily life by looking not only at achievements and what is lacking, but also at what one has already received, and it is one of the story's central themes.
After each quote, we provide a TODO based on a fan's interpretation.
「今日から全く新しい人生を始めても遅くない。」
An excerpt from the book published on the official website, taken from page 184 of the former edition
From the things you have been putting off, write down the first step you can take today
The essences and TODOs are fan interpretations, not the author's words.
devices in the story
The first sage. Using a ten-thousand-piece puzzle that forms a large picture as a clue, he shows Saeed how to view the results of his actions and gives him an “action piece” to place in the book.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis suggestion connects the metaphor of keeping a result as one piece, without quickly labeling it a success or failure, to the next action.
Without judging it, write down what you tried today and what happened, then add one possibility for what comes next.
Steps
The fourth sage. Saeed learns to make his goal not what he will become, but what kind of person he will become.
This interpretation was checked against official descriptions and readers' recordsThis suggestion follows the fourth teaching: do not let a job title be the end of a goal, but carry it through to how one acts each day.
In one sentence, describe the person you want to become rather than a title, and choose an action for today that fits that person.
Steps
From the final sage to the beginning of a new journey. The story presents the idea of putting gratitude into words and becoming someone who first gives what they wish to receive.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis interpretation of the story's closing stages brings gratitude and the order of giving first into a single flow.
Thank someone who supported you today, and offer one other person the kind of help you would like to receive.
Steps
From the prologue through the final sage. Fourteen-year-old Saeed receives a blank book from his grandfather and visits nine sages.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis suggestion turns the story's form of filling a blank book with one's own understanding into brief daily notes.
Choose one teaching you heard from someone and briefly write how you would use it.
Steps
The third sage. Saeed learns to believe in his own potential and to respect others in the same way.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis suggestion places the same number for each on the same sheet of paper, rather than valuing only one more highly.
Choose one person you will interact with today, and list one quality you can respect in yourself and one in that person.
Steps
The fifth sage. He has Saeed read the biographies of five people: one who amassed great wealth, one who made the discovery of the century, one who founded a powerful nation, one who helped others and lived simply, and a woman who lived brightly through unhappy times.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis fan interpretation suggests that encountering a variety of ways to live makes it easier to compare and choose what one wants to value.
Choose one biography of someone unlike you, then write down one way of living that stayed with you and one thing you will adopt today.
Steps
The sixth sage. Saeed learns to view life and time as assets and invest time in the person he wants to become.
Verified against the book or AudibleThis suggestion turns the sixth teaching, which treats time as an asset, into the concrete action of setting aside time for its chosen use.
Choose time to spend on something other than money, add what you hope to gain, and put it in your schedule.
Steps
The seventh sage. Saeed learns the difference between a life spent seeking one's own happiness and one spent seeking the happiness of others.
This interpretation was checked against official descriptions and readers' recordsThis suggestion turns the seventh teaching of seeking others' happiness into a small action directed toward a particular person.
Choose one person you will see today, and do one thing that slightly lightens that person's burden.
Steps
The eighth sage. Saeed learns that the words one speaks aloud and uses within the mind lead to action.
This interpretation was checked against official descriptions and readers' recordsThis suggestion comes from the eighth teaching, which treats both spoken words and inner words as starting points for action.
Record one phrase in your mind that stopped you, and change it into words that reveal a next step.
Steps
You can also listen during spare moments, such as on your commute to work or school.
