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Like a Rock

Posted:
May 13, 2012
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mothers-day-background

Like a Rock

Recently, my mother and sister went back to Taiwan to see family. In one recount of their travels, my sister mentioned that mom had tears in her eyes when she saw grandma. It’s been 10 years since mom’s been back. Damn, it’s really been a long time.

It’s unusual to see strong emotional reactions from my mom. Growing up, she’s been a rock. From moving us around to raising the three of us alone, to restarting her life several times, she’s always held the family together. Despite me being a huge PITA. Sometimes, I wonder if the thought crossed her mind that she’s had to be both the mom and the father  in our family. I’d often wonder about how my mom handled all these obstacles so well.

No matter who you are, the modeling by our parents leaves strong impressions oh us when it comes to…long-term mate selection. That’s my awkward way of saying there are qualities my mom has that I’d look for in my wife some day. These qualities – emotional stability, confidence, and a strong sense of self – have especially grown in importance to me the past few years. Physical beauty is always welcomed – but if a girl can’t handle a few big hurdles – then it’s a no go.

In the same vein, seeing my mother’s struggles without a man in the household inspires me to be a better man, and a great father someday. I want to be a rock for my wife, family and friends so that no one feels alone when going through big problems.

Whenever I start stressing in life, I think of the life my mom has lead, and all the things she’s had to endure. Which has helped to enable freedom in my life. If I decided to do a 180, travel the world and learn to unicycle, I could do it. We’re far from rich, but even those off-the-wall options are in reach. My life is so fucking easy.

Thanks mom, I love you

P.S.

I feel like these past few years she’s really hit her stride in terms of happiness and business. That makes me both incredibly happy and relieved.

 

Posted:
March 20, 2012
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first-world-problems

My 10 Favorite First World Problems

We live in a time of miracles. Life is so much easier for much of the world now compared to just a few decades ago.

My top 10 favorite first-world problems that I, and others, often b!tch about.

  • When the internet goes out, for like, 2 minutes
  • Southern Californians complaining about a few cold/rainy days. I do this all the time.
  • Complaining about gas being so expensive
  • Driving “too far” somewhere. It’s either that or feet, man. Until teleportation becomes real, sigh.
  • Getting too full after eating AYCE barbeque
  • Not knowing what to blog about ;)
  • I swear this is from both guy and girl friends: “having” to use condoms. Hello you want AIDS or babies? OK babies are cute.
  • Not getting a signal on the cell phone. Dude, the technology beams signals from towers to satellites in SPACE back to our phones (I may be wrong. Should probably go for Masters in Electrical Eng.) The technology is too awesome to complain about.
  • Going through a breakup, when clearly it could be worse.
  • Worried about making more money/career, when a 1/3 of the world is trying to find its next meal.

We Live In a Time of Miracles.

P.S. Guess what the first world problem in the featured problem is. If you’re right, you may get free karma from me (I have a lot).

Posted:
March 8, 2012
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bloglovin-logo

How I Keep Tabs On You (yes, you)

Everyone and their moms has a blog now. OK, my mom doesn’t have a blog. I don’t think.

Point being, so many people are writing online these days that it’s hard to keep tabs on the latest posts of the blogs you love. That’s why I love using BlogLovin‘, a free site that lets you follow blogs, categorize them, and mark posts as read or unread. It’s intuitive and will have you up and running in 3 minutes.

This is especially helpful for website owners who want to optimize their SEO through natural commenting. Pick the 10 biggest blogs in your niche, follow them on Bloglovin’, then get updated the moment new posts come out. Being the #1 commenter on popular blogs can be a slow, steady and ethical way to really increase your site’s presence amongst the online community you care about.

To make Bloglovin’ even easier to use, install the Bloglovin’ Google Chrome Extension. Instead of logging onto Bloglovin’, this extension connects your account. This gives you an easy-access display of the newest posts that you haven’t read in the top-right hand corner. Now Blog Stalkin’ has taken on a whole new level :)

Enjoy!

Posted:
March 4, 2012
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1
Michael Jordan - working hard

Dispelling the Myth: Work Harder First, Then Smarter

The mantra “work smarter, not harder” has infected the collective consciousness. We live in an ADD culture that tries to find “hacks” to make things simpler, easier and faster for us. A lot of hacks work, but a lot of them also fail to provide any real value.

I’m here to propose that working smarter is not all that it’s cracked out to be. We should…

Work hard in order to earn discipline and focus. It’s a certain type of intelligence to have sustained focus and discipline, that “get shit done” mentality. The way to build up these habits is through raw, hard work alone. People who work really hard know the ins and outs of their task at hand. Hard workers also dig deep into their assignments and are able to uncover subtleties that escape others.

What if you’re someone who tries to “hack” through your work? I’m the #1 person guilty of this. And I think fear plays a big role in this. Fear of getting started. Fear of the assignment being too big, requiring too much energy.  IMO, fear is the root cause of procrastination. Luckily for us, working hard dissipates that fear. Instead of being a hack, I realize that I need to “buy in” to an assignment and dedicate much mental capacity to it, at least initially. Thankfully, this initial investment – which brings deeper understanding to an assignment – usually pays off by making subsequent work easier.

Of course, there are talented people who work hard and operate at high efficiency. But I surmise that their success largely comes from a fearless work ethic, rather than the use of smart “tricks.” Starting out with tricks can lead to cutting corners, and I think that’ll show.

After working hard and understanding the scope of an assignment, do I think is the time to focus on “working smarter.” Then it just takes some time to figure out the inefficiencies that come up during work. I conclude that:

Working hard awards you the ability of working smart. And not necessarily the other way around. 

Posted:
February 28, 2012
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meaning-of-life-hangover-road-trip

Is this the meaning of life?

“What is the meaning of life?” Is probably one of the most commonly asked philosophical questions on earth. It’s also the most difficult, due to how subjective it is to one’s personal background. No matter, I offer this post to those who are confused about their lives right now.

You may have heard of the saying “life is in the details,” but I’d like to modify that by saying life is in the process. I came to this temporary conclusion through a thought experiment:

Let’s say you’ve been slaving away at your business, work or school for a while. Life is tough but you get a sense of pride from doing what you’re doing. The next morning, you wake up to an amazingly luxurious bedroom in a mansion. You walk out and there’s a Lamborghini sitting on your driveway. Your butler comes to you and jokes that he wishes he can have your life, because you don’t have to work another day. That degree you were working towards? You walk into your “study” and see a Harvard Business School diploma hanging on your wall, conferred to you “Summa Cum Laude.”

How do you feel? 

By any measure, this is an amazing situation to be in. But something feels a bit off. You wonder where all this comes from, and if you’ve really earned it. You don’t feel a sense of ownership in this financial success that has materialized out of thin air. You find little meaning in this too-good-to-be-true situation.

If you agree to the thought experiment above (I know it comes with flawed assumptions), you might see how this has implications on life and happiness. For life to be meaningful, you have to live it. To really live life, you have to appreciate the process. This leads me to believe that life can never be defined, but can be personally found through the process of living life.

Ever wonder why they’re called “road trips” and not “destination trips?” The road is an analogy to the journey – or what I’ve referred to as the process – of life. That journey is full of learning, pain, growth, relationships and meaning. Tying this back to those who are confused about their lives right now, just know that this process of “figuring out life” is the exact thing that brings meaning to your life.

Don’t give up on the journey, even if it means turning down that yellow Lamborghini on your driveway.

Posted:
February 21, 2012
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accountability-partner

The Buddy System – Dedicated to the OTHER Jeremy

All the talk about Jeremy Lin has undoubtedly masked another legend in the making – Jeremy Jong. Despite being friends since we began growing burly chest hair (true story), it hasn’t been until the past 3 years where our interests in internet marketing, business philosophy and thoughts on lifestyle design really began to intersect. Having that basis of shared interests made it easier for us to become accountability partners. And I wish I could come up with a less fruity term than that right now.

I’m not sure when we started doing this, but we’re now used to no-holds-barred constructive criticism of each other. Having an expectation of being an accountability partner is great, because you’re in a position to welcome and really benefit from good advice and criticism. More often than not, it’s awkward to tell even close friends things they could work on without risking offending them. Now, here’s another fancy Quipol:

Having someone who has a pulse on what your goals are is very motivating, because sometimes the road to self-improvement is very lonely. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about being an accountability partner:

  1. It takes two – being an accountability partner means that both parties much be totally committed to helping the other person improve. Each party has to want feedback. This is essential or else either party may feel uncomfortable in providing honest, raw criticism.
  2. Different Eyes - Just having someone else to listen to helps – but what’s been awesome for me are the questions that Jeremy asks that makes me consider a complete different point of view. Jeremy is more detail-oriented so he always helps me catch dumb typos/graphical errors I make.
  3. Manage Expectations From the Start – sometimes people don’t want help or haven’t considered accountability yet. How Jeremy and I approached it went something like “Hey, give me feedback on ______. I could do this for you to…we’re gonna have to be really honest, but it’s ultimately going to help us out a lot.” Having that expectation from the beginning meant that we’re pretty open to feedback/criticism at any time.
  4. Icing on the Cake - having an accountability partner isn’t just about criticizing, but also lifting each other up. It’s good to mix up the negative with positive feedback. What’s truly golden is that sometimes your friend can help you identify strengths you didn’t know you could exploit (heh…)

Anyway, Mr. Jong turned 23 this week and I think this is going to be his best year yet. Why?

  • he’s on the new KobeSystem (or is it the JeremySystem now?) Regardless, this probably involves some sort of accountability program.
  • I’m his friend
  • He’s hell bent on succeeding and self-improvement – read his blog here
Happy Birthday Man. May you conquer your goals on sweet number 23.
Posted:
February 19, 2012
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pomodoro-icon

Manage Your Time with The Pomodoro Technique

It’s not easy to focus. One moment you’re doing an excel formula and the next you’re daydreaming about Jeremy Lin. I know, I’ve been there. Amongst all the time management techniques out there, one I’ve been experimenting with – and enjoying – is the Pomodoro Technique.

You might be wondering – what is the Pomodoro Technique? This is what PT is in 3 short bullet points:

  • Set timer to 25 minutes of focused work
  • Rest for 5 minutes
  • Repeat. On the 4th iteration, rest a bit longer (10 minutes+).
A direct link to the free Pomodoro Technique PDF guide can be found here.

By using the Pomodoro Technique, it forced me to not open random tabs and daydream. Since I know I have 25 minutes to do something, there was bigger motivation for me to create real work and then delay Facebook and Twitter gratification for my 5 minute period. I love how this technique acknowledges that rest is essential – having that 5 minutes of “fool around time” actually makes my 25-minutes of “do time” much more productive.

Be aware, however – there are some flaws about the Pomodoro Technique:

  • external distractions are difficult to manage, i.e. your co-worker coming to ask you about something
  • you can become a bit dependent on a timer (not so bad)
  • PT does not account for situations that require much more than 25 minutes of focus – but the upside is that there is an opportunity to “grow” your window of focus from 25 minutes to a little bit more (30, 45 minutes.) Challenge accepted?

Because this technique is so popular, there’s TONS of productivity tools to faciliate the Pomodoro Technique. I found that using a smartphone app is surprisingly effective. Set the timer using a Pomodoro Technique on your phone, and when it vibrates/makes a noise/farts, you’re signaled to rest + resume work.

Android users: Download the intuitive, dead-simple-to-use Pomodroido App. You can find this freemium app directly on the Android Market.

Iphone users: The free Iphone version of Pomodoro Time Management Lite can be found here.

Let me know how the Pomodoro Technique works for you – so far it’s been pretty effective. However, the Pomodoro team themselves recommend that using the technique consistently for up to 20 days will ensure that your habits stick.

 

Posted:
February 17, 2012
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jeremy-lin-moon-landing

Humility, by Jeremy Lin.

Let you in on a secret – I NEVER go out of my way to watch an NBA game, even though I love playing basketball. It’s usually the occasional channel surfing or friends who insist on watching ESPN when cleary, The Walking Dead is on. But last week, I drove my ass to Hero’s Pub just to watch the Knicks v. Lakers game.

It was for Jeremy Lin.

Amidst the countless bad puns and internet memes about Lin, what drew me to follow (literally, on his Twitter) him is his humility. You can tell from interviews that Lin is someone who’s grounded, grateful and happy to play. He never fails to mention God and his teammates, and constantly thanks the NBA “organization” for making it all happen.

It’s been extremely exciting to watch Lin play and I’m crossing my fingers that he finishes strong. Great to see someone play with a calm fierceness, but I also love seeing the guy celebrate (am I falling in love..?) As a Taiwanese-American myself, his attitude and performance really speak to me. He means a lot to not only the Asian and Christian communities, but also to anyone who believes that hard work, persistence and humility can pay off big time. If it’s one thing you learn from Jeremy Lin, know that the best way to achieve humility is through gratitude.

My absolute favorite quotes about him brought to you by Wikipedia:

In February 2012, Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart stated, “I knew [Lin] before he was Linmania. He’s still the same humble guy. The guy has not changed a bit, which is real special for a young man.”

Lin credited his success to playing without pressure. “I’ve surrendered that to God. I’m not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore.“

Posted:
February 16, 2012
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lastpass

The Last Password You Have to Remember

Even the casual internet surfer has a bajillion (that’s like 100x a gajillion) online accounts these days. FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Flickr, Amazon, WordPress, Tumblr BLAH BLAH BLAH

It’s a lot. ESPECIALLY if you do serious work online (internet marketers and startup founders, you’re welcome). I used to use PBWORKS to create a private space to store my passwords. It worked well, and I still use it for certain things. But after switching to Lastpass, I’ve never looked back. It’s the ultimate password management tool. Here’s why you should use it:

  • free. super sexy.
  • integrates easily with your fav browsers Chrome, FF and more
  • pops up when you’re registering for new sites
  • easy-to-use complex password generation (just press ALT+G to create a mumbo jumbo password)

And a lot more. Take 30 mins to 1 hour to get used to it. After that, enjoy a no-typing, one-click logon that makes surfing the web SO much easier. You’ll be glad you used it.

Posted:
February 16, 2012
Comments:
2
new-blog-design-furniture

New Blog Design. It’s Good For You.

It’s finally here, in its rough and unpolished form. A new look for the blog. The original design served its purpose well, but one thing that really bothered me: it had a case of the one-itis. What the hell do I mean by that?

With the old look, presentation was clean, but spaced so that it really highlighted only one or two posts. To get more than that you’d have to scroll, and in this fast-past internet generation I DO want to hold your attention longer by making more content be more visible in one glance.

What do you think? Here are some other ways that this new design helps you better experience my blog:

  • more frequent updates - yes, now with the “productivity hacks” section, you’ll get short, highly informative posts about cool hacks and tools that will make your life easier. This aims to balance out against the longer “latest posts” entries.
  • relevance - my “featured posts section” will occasionally be updated to display the posts that my readers like to reference over and over again. In the near future, some of my new projects and announcements will be featured here.
  • video - the small video-section will better unify my Youtubing efforts with the blogging. I love unity. This will also encourage me to get off my ass and finally edit the backlog of videos I’ve recorded.

I’ll try to accomplish all this without making the website look too “busy.” Some things to look forward to:

  • pictures: integration with Flickr + Facebook pics. Dunno if this is a good idea or not (embarrassing FB pics say what?)
  • ass-kicking guides & content: Notice the top-right where I ask you to sign up to my newsletter. I’m developing some pretty cool stuff relating to personal evolution and building your own little empire online (easy guides to dealing with hosting and creating your own blog).
  • Ad-free experience: yep, I don’t plan on bombarding you with ads anytime soon.

Thanks for all those who’ve encouraged me to keep blogging. You will be handsomely showered with my affection. Not quite sure why I do it, but I enjoy it :)

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