In high school, Ohtani wrote 64 specific actions on a single sheet of paper. That sheet is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here's what was on it, why it worked, and how to build your own.
In 2012, a sixteen-year-old named Shohei Ohtani sat down at Hanamaki Higashi High School in Japan and wrote a single goal in the center of a grid: be the #1 draft pick by 8 teams.
Around that goal, he identified eight pillars he believed were essential to achieving it. Then he broke each pillar into eight specific actions. 64 actions total. Every one of them designed to move him toward that central purpose.
Fourteen years later, Ohtani is widely considered the greatest baseball player alive. He's the only player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. He pitches triple-digit heat and bats at elite levels simultaneously, something nobody has done since Babe Ruth. And that grid he wrote as a teenager is now displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, next to Babe Ruth's locker.
The method behind it is called the Open 64 method, created by Japanese educator Takashi Harada. Here's how it works and what was actually on Ohtani's grid.
The structure is simple. You start with one central goal. You surround it with eight pillars, the key areas of your life that support that goal. Then you break each pillar into eight specific, concrete actions. That gives you 64 actions total, organized on a single page.
Visually, it looks like a 3x3 grid of 3x3 grids. Your goal sits at the center. Your eight pillars surround it. And each pillar expands into its own grid of eight actions.
The power of the method is that it takes an abstract ambition and makes it concrete. Instead of telling yourself to "work hard," you have 64 specific things to do. Every day, you can look at the grid and see exactly what actions move you forward.
What makes Ohtani's grid remarkable isn't just the baseball skills. It's that he included pillars like Luck and Character alongside the technical ones. At sixteen, he understood that becoming the best wasn't just about physical ability. It was about who he was as a person.
Ohtani didn't view luck as random chance. He viewed it as something you attract through your daily conduct. Picking up trash in the dugout, greeting people with respect, keeping his living space clean. He believed that how you treat the small things shapes how the universe treats you. This idea is deeply rooted in Japanese philosophy, the concept of ichinichi ichizen, one good deed a day.
To this day, Ohtani is still known for picking up trash on the baseball field. It's not a media act. It's a habit from a grid he wrote when he was sixteen.
Takashi Harada developed the Open 64 method while teaching physical education at a public junior high school in one of the toughest districts in Osaka, Japan. His students were struggling, and the school's athletics program was last in the region.
Harada developed a structured goal-setting framework that combined Buddhist mandala design principles with practical action planning. He traced the concept back to the Buddhist monk Kukai, who taught that gathering 64 specific actions or insights related to a desire could transform that desire into reality.
The results were extraordinary. Harada's students went from last place to first in their regional athletics competitions, and they held that position for 13 consecutive years. The method spread from there.
Today, the Harada Method is practiced by more than 150,000 people across 600+ companies, including Uniqlo, Toyota, Kirin, Nomura Securities, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. It has been translated into six languages and is actively used in 25 countries. The Japan Management Association has called it one of the best processes for day-to-day management in the world.
The method reached Ohtani through his high school coach Takashi Sasaki, who trained in Harada's system and brought it to the baseball program at Hanamaki Higashi High School.
Most goal-setting fails for one of two reasons: the goal is too vague, or the gap between the goal and daily action is too wide. You write "get in shape" and then don't know what to do on Tuesday morning.
The Open 64 method solves both problems:
The Harada Method goes beyond just the grid. The full system includes self-analysis, a daily performance journal, routine checklists, and working with a coach or mentor. But the 64-chart is the centerpiece, and it's where most people start.
Ohtani didn't just create a grid and hope for the best. He also mapped out a year-by-year plan from age 18 to 42. Here's a selection of what he wrote:
He's already accomplished more than anyone thought possible. And he's still in his prime.
You don't need to be an athlete. The method works for anyone with an ambition they want to connect to their daily life.
That last point is what makes a browser extension so effective. You open 20-50 new tabs a day. Each one becomes a moment of clarity instead of distraction.
Open64 puts the same method Ohtani used in every new tab you open. One purpose. Eight pillars. 64 actions. Templates to start fast. Free.
Add to Chrome — FreeYou might see this called different things: the Harada Method, the mandala chart, the Open 64 method, the 64-grid, or the goal achievement sheet. Here's the distinction:
Ohtani used elements of all three. His grid follows the mandala chart visual structure, was taught through the Harada Method system, and represents the Open 64 approach of connecting every daily action to a central purpose.
The most important lesson from Ohtani's grid isn't about baseball. It's about completeness.
A sixteen-year-old boy didn't just write down pitching drills. He wrote down "pick up trash." He wrote "be thankful." He wrote "keep your room clean." He understood that the person you become determines the goals you achieve, not the other way around.
His grid is in the Hall of Fame not because it predicted the future. It's there because it reveals how the future was built: 64 specific actions, executed with consistency, connected to a single purpose.
That's something anyone can do.
10+ templates including Ohtani's actual grid. AI suggestions to fill your pillars. Activity tracking. Completely free.
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