A short YouTube interview-style segment where Vishen Lakhiani and Ken Honda describe the 'arigato money' technique—an appreciation ritual (saying 'arigato' or 'thank you' to money when receiving or spending it) attributed to Japanese billionaire Wahei Takeda. They claim the practice reduces money-related stress, creates a circular blessed flow of money, and coincides with increased receipts/abundance in practitioners' lives. The clip includes examples (saying arigato when buying coffee or when paying a $100,000 check) and promotes a related masterclass.
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I have a ritual when I buy anything. It has to do with how I spend and receive money. Hi, can I get a black coffee, please? Yeah, grande. So maybe you noticed I closed my eyes when I handed her the money. I'm going to tell you what's going on there. So the technique here is called the arigato money technique, and it comes from Ken Fonda. So we're back in my office. Let me tell you, what exactly is this technique? So Ken is famous for being Japan's biggest writer. He's written over 50 books in Japanese, and one of his projects was to interview 12,000 millionaires in Japan and understand how they think about the world and what unique beliefs gave them their edge. One of the people Ken Honda got to approach was Wahei Takeda, the Japanese billionaire often known as the Warren Buffett of Japan. Ken asked Wahei Takeda for his secret, and Wahei said, teach you a simple technique. It's called arigato money.
So Wahei's teaching was rather unique. His teaching was very Zen. And the answer to my question, what is the secret to wealth? He said, it's very simple. Arigatou your money. And I didn't get it. Arigatou your money. And he said, yes, with a big smile, just arigato your money. That means appreciating your money. The thing I didn't know at the time was by saying arigato in, arigato out, I also had the practice of appreciation without knowing. I realized after a few days by saying thank you or arigato to your money, I felt very good about myself, my life, and I didn't know that was the effect of arigato in, arigato out. And also I ended up making more money. Or rather I say I, I ended up receiving more money because the money kept coming in in a very mysterious way. Whenever I went to his office or on the way back in Nagoya, I always got the text message from my publishers that I got another reprint of my books in the past, which is always strange because always that good news comes in when I was with Wahei, and I think it was because I was in this mode of appreciating so much, I somehow attracted abundance.
So I arigato when I bought this cup at Starbucks, it was a statement of blessing. But I also arigato'd recently when I had to sign a hundred thousand dollar check to a tech company providing us with a service we needed. That is also a form of arigatoing the money. So when you receive money with arigato and you give money with arigato. What you're doing is in your mind establishing this circular flow that money flows through you with blessings, with grace, with ease. This is the secret that Wahei Takeda spoke of in terms of the true mindset of the rich. And Ken Honda says, what you start to find is that you eliminate your stress and your anxiety around money and you start seeing more money come to you because what you appreciate appreciates. And you also see that what you are buying with your money comes to you in the most positive way. So it's a beautiful technique that I've been using in my life. If you found this idea interesting, join me and Ken Honga in our upcoming masterclass on mindvalley, where we're going deep in the psychology and the mindset and the EQ of money.
