Why Ninjas are better than Samurais 🥷™

So, what’s the fixation with ninjas all about? Why am I always saying 'What’s good, ninjas? 🥷' and throwing ninja references everywhere? 🥷🥷
 

well let me explain...

Back in design school, I remember studying the etymology of the word art for a philosophy class and coming across the idea of arete (ἀρετή)—the Greek concept of excellence. It wasn’t just about making things look good; it was about mastery, about pouring yourself fully into whatever you did. At the time, I connected this to my romanticized view of Japanese culture. I had grown up fascinated by samurais (probably Dragon Ball and anime had something to do with this.)  and in my mind, they embodied this same relentless pursuit of perfection, the idea that total devotion to a craft was the only way to transcend

they were specialists of the purest breed.

That twisted interpretation stuck with me for years, shaping how I saw creativity and success. add to the mix the societal push to equate success to achievement. 

now not only did I have to push to be the best in my class, but I also needed to have achievements to show for it. Otherwise, how can I know my effort was worth it?....

So as I grew older and started to become aware of the complexity and adaptability that life kind of demands...I began to reject this idea because of the effect I could see it was having on how I viewed my life; I could only feel good by achieving stuff.

This over-fixation on results and destinations put a lot of pressure on my expectations for the future. It made me question whether my identity was determined by achievements rather than actions.

Like...are you an artist because you made some posters, or are you an artist because you engage in the artistic process? Are you a designer because you made a logo, or because you live like a designer? You see things and sometimes try to understand them to make them purposeful. The process gives us identity, regardless of the result.

OK, but what does any of this have to do with ninjas?

I'll get there. But first... What am I other than a designer or artist? an athlete, a chef, a gamer, a fashionista, a reader, a writer, a photographer... I'm a partner, a son, a brother, and other things I can't remember.

Like I said before, credentials don't make these things part of my identity; the fact that I go through these processes does, that I choose to pass my time purposefully engaging in those activities. In some, more gracefully than in others, that is for sure, but they all nurture my perspectives on everything. They cross-reference each other. All we are in one practice informs and influences the way we show up in others, creating the fractal web of ideas that constitutes us… making us.

AND THE NINJAS?

In this process, I began to perceive myself as much more than just a designer, as much more than what I do for work. This triggered me to switch from a specialist mindset, which offers a narrow but very specific view and provides only one tool to gauge the world, to a more broad generalist perspective that allows us to explore multiple directions of ourselves.

Through this awareness, I started to see life as this design, based on a vision of the activities and processes I want to engage in. How do I want to spend my days?...rather than a checklist of accomplishments

what is the experience I want to have of life, not What do I want to achieve in life?

One simple example I always use to illustrate this is: you can want to do a muscle-up or get jacked (an achievement). Maybe you'll get there, maybe you won’t. Or you can want to live a healthy life, push your body's limits, and train hard (the process). Stick with that, and at some point, the muscle-up and the physique will happen naturally.

The key difference is that with the first view, happiness and success come and go in the moment of achieving, and then you need to find the next goal. In the second view, the process itself is the point. No pressure, but also no waiting, just doing, and you can start right now, with no end to it. The first view puts stress on things in the future, outside of your control. The second keeps you focused on what's in front of you.

And that’s what I’ve come to understand about this widely overused phrase... focusing on the process. Would’ve been nice if someone had just told me back then that I didn’t need to move the goalpost... had to just get rid of it. No finish line, no scoreboard, no opponent to beat.

"I want to make X amount of posters this year"… or you can focus on making one poster a day, or one a week. Is the achievement the point of the practice? Or is it about spending your days doing the thing that gives you purpose? The point of the practice is the practice. And everything we do is part of it.

(Here im not taking a full-on diss on goals. they help orient your practice, of course. You need direction. But only to the extent that they don’t become the purpose itself. When the path turns into nothing but a chase, you lose the journey. You’re always running toward something, never actually walking the road.

BRO, WHAT ABOUT THE NINJAS?

Hear me the fuck out, my g.

I’m at my desk every day, bouncing between work and gaming. I want to do these things, so I guess having a strong, flexible back is going to be pretty important, right? So why am i going to the gym just to move weights up and down? . Maybe the focus should be on mobility—something that keeps me moving better and feeling good, rather than just looking a certain way.

Then there’s the whole food side of things. Eating better makes a huge difference. Maybe I should start cooking more instead of relying on takeout all the time. Because when you feel better physically, it’s easier to stay consistent with workouts, which gives you more energy, a better mood, and a clearer mind. It’s like this loop where one thing feeds into the next.

And that mental clarity? It makes a difference when I’m working too. I notice that when I’m taking care of myself, I can sit down with less fog and get more done—not to outwork everyone, but to actually have the energy for other things that matter and enjoy doing to, like spending time with people I care about.

it all connects. The work, training, food, relationships, and the fun stuff bleed into each other. I’m still working on getting the ratios, but it’s becoming clearer how one thing influences the next, and maybe that’s the key to feeling more fulfilled in everything we do.

Everything influences everything, and this unique combination of factors determines who you are, whether you are aware of it or not.

Our lives and our experiences are our biggest pieces of work, and since we are designers, why don't we tackle them as such?

The goal is to be able to reach out for multiple tools to help us move towards this vision with a heftier toolkit.

A generalist mindset means being adaptable and supple... like a ninja.

Never held down by dogma or a rigid code, reaching for the right tool at the right time.

A mindset to accommodate all of our facets and nurture the ones we deem most important

All I can do here is share what’s helped me on my path, hoping it helps you on yours. And of course, drop some fire design resources to save you time, spark exploration, and get you straight to the good part, the working part, the process part. For everything else? That’s for you to go find yourself, Ninja...