Turn Your Breaks into Gold: The Kintsugi Approach to Life

In 15th century Japan, a broken ceramic bowl found new life. Rather than discarding it, an artisan repaired it using Kintsugi, an art form that highlights the cracks and fractures by filling them with gold. The result? The bowl became more beautiful, more valuable—its story was in its scars. For men navigating the complexities of life and work, Kintsugi is more than an ancient craft. It’s a profound philosophy that teaches us to embrace our imperfections, turning personal and professional setbacks into opportunities for growth.

Kintsugi: The Art of Embracing Imperfections

Most men have experienced their fair share of "breaks." Broken relationships, careers that didn’t go as planned, personal failures. Society tells us to hide these cracks, to cover them up, and pretend like nothing happened. But Kintsugi teaches us to take the opposite approach—to honor the broken parts of ourselves and see the beauty in our repair.

In business and personal life, failure and hardship aren’t the end. They are opportunities to grow stronger. Just like the bowl that’s repaired with gold, the lessons learned from failure are what make us more valuable.

Applying Kintsugi to Life and Business Growth

1. Personal Growth through Resilience
   Kintsugi tells us that the cracks aren’t something to hide; they are what make us unique. When faced with personal challenges—whether it’s the breakdown of a relationship or failure at work—embrace those struggles as part of your story. Studies show that individuals who practice resilience and adapt to change experience greater overall life satisfaction.

   • Action Step: Identify one past failure that has held you back. Reflect on how that experience made you stronger. Embrace it. What did you learn? How did it prepare you for future success? Acknowledge your personal cracks as a source of wisdom.

2. Business Growth through Innovation and Risk-Taking
   In business, failures are often the bedrock of future success. Many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs—people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk—didn’t achieve greatness by playing it safe. They failed. And then they used those failures to fuel innovation. Kintsugi in business is about owning your setbacks, learning from them, and using them as the foundation for future growth.

   • Action Step: If your business has faced setbacks—whether it’s a failed product launch or a lost client—reframe the narrative. Treat those failures like cracks filled with gold. Ask: What can we learn from this? How can we improve moving forward? The key is to embrace failure as part of the journey toward innovation.

3. Building Meaningful Relationships
   Relationships, both personal and professional, are fragile. They break, they change, and they don’t always go as planned. Instead of abandoning relationships when cracks appear, Kintsugi teaches us to repair them—to make them stronger. When you invest in repairing a relationship—whether with a colleague, partner, or friend—you end up with a deeper, more meaningful connection. Just like the Kintsugi bowl, those relationships are stronger for having been broken and mended.

   • Action Step: Take stock of a relationship that has been strained. Instead of discarding it, reach out. Own your part in the breakage, and seek to repair it. Just like Kintsugi, let the "gold" in your relationship be the effort you put into mending it.

The Beauty of Imperfection

Kintsugi reminds us that nothing is ever truly broken. Your setbacks, your flaws, and your failures don’t define you—they are what make you. It’s in the process of rebuilding, in filling the cracks with gold, that you truly become your best self.

Men, it’s time to embrace your cracks, your failures, and your setbacks. They don’t make you weaker—they make you more valuable, more resilient, more human. Whether it’s in your personal life or business, the philosophy of Kintsugi can transform how you see yourself and the world around you.

Call to Action: Live Fully, Cracks and All

Next time life knocks you down, don’t rush to hide the cracks. Instead, fill them with gold. Own your imperfections, and use them to propel you forward. Life’s journey isn’t about perfection; it’s about embracing your brokenness and becoming stronger in the process.

Let your life and your work reflect the wisdom of Kintsugi—because the most beautiful version of you is the one that’s been broken, repaired, and filled with gold.

Cheers,

Matt

P.S. If this was helpful for you, it might be helpful for someone else. Feel free to share it. My goal is to help as many people as possible stop settling and start living. 🤙