My Year-End Reflection About Life

Rather than give a laundry list of things that I plan to change in 2005, here is a list of important realizations I've had in this fourth year of the new millennium:

1. There are a ton of people like me. Young, motivated, entrepreneurial, etc. I'm extremely happy to have begun relationships with some of these people. It's exciting to wonder where we will all be in 10, 20, 30 years.
2. I feel more and more lucky to be dating Sheena. Four years ago, when we started dating, I must admit that I thought Sheena was the lucky one. I think this was a symptom of my cockiness, which was a result of the success Cal and I's web development company. Now, I appreciate so much more about her and I feel like the lucky one. While business has been much harder for me over the past few years, I feel like I've become more humble and more able to learn from and appreciate others with different views of the world than my own.
3. Not everybody is like me. Through my work teaching, interacting, and mentoring 'inner-city' students, I've come to meet people who have simply had a bad luck of the draw when it comes to their communities and parents. In the past, I've thought that everybody, no matter where they came from, can get out of poverty easily if they put their mind to it. If they didn't, I considered them lazy. However, I now understand that not everbody has grown up with parents who love and support them, or lived in communities where over 90% of the people went to college. I grew up playing sports and my mom always believed I was better than anybody else I played, even if they were clearly better then me at the time. Not everybody has this.
4. I've learned about Vipassana meditation, which has been the most effective technique I've ever come across for creating happiness in one's life. Having the discipline to practice it when I feel down has been easy. Having the discipline to practice it when I feel great has been another story. I've also strengthened my belief (based on experience and scientific research) that happiness has very little to do with one's material wealth after a certain point. I no longer aspire for a mansion, a luxury car, and the whole shebang.
5. Focus may be better than generalization. Over the past four years, I've spent a lot of time exposing myself to as much as possible. I've focused on weaknesses and improved them. Now, especially after reading The Effective Executive and Now, Discover Your Strengths, I'm going to focus more on my strengths and delivering results.
6. I've learned about the power of science and religion. I now believe that science is the most powerful method ever discovered for accessing a truth that can be shared with others. At the same time, I learned about how the world was consumed by religion before science, how it is an important part of people's lives today, and how it will always play a role as there are many things science can't prove.
7. I feel a little less immortal and a little more powerless. I think this has been a result of learning what I can and cannot change in the world and trying to be at peace with what I learn. This is hard, because I sort of have this feeling that I'm giving up by creating large world that I'm not the center of. However, I think I'm getting a more 'realistic' view of the world that ironically gives me the power to create more positive change.

Happy New Year to All!!!

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December 30, 2004

Employee Satisfaction Study

Source: 71% of Workers Commit This Indiscretion

A fascinating survey of 1,000 to 1,200 employees over a 2-1/2 year period done by Gallup found that 71% of them are slackers. Some questions come to mind:

• How did our system get to a point where the majority of workers are disconnected from their work, something they spend over 75,000 hours with during their lifetime?
  
• Has it always been this way?
  
• Is this a result of human nature? Our economic system? Both?
  
• What do we know about the characteristics of the 29%?

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December 23, 2004

Creating a Personal Brand

Source: Brand Called YOU

Laura Ries and her father are very well known in the corporate branding world. Here are some of her thoughts on how individuals can leverage their brand.

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December 16, 2004

The Life of Russell Simmons

I've learned a lot from Russell Simmons in the past week. Today, twenty-five alumni of the Bank of America Youth Entrepreneur Awards, a few Citizens for NYC staff, and I met with Russell for a 1-hr, informal mentoring session. In addition, last weekend, I read his book, Life and Def. I honestly think it is one of the best business books I've ever read. It's a page-turner and is just honest and real.

My main take aways are related to what it takes to build a movement. The hip-hop movement is everywhere now, but when Russell first started, people had no idea what it was and were very skeptical. Below are quotes from the book that encapsulate the key lessons I learned:

"My whole career has been about cultivating, understanding and expanding this [hip-hop culture] auidence (83)..."

"Run D.M.C.'s greatest asset was that they never aspired to be bigger. They aspired to keep it real when that wasn't yet considered important in rap (64)."

"You have to know your core and noncore audiences and understand how to reach both without alienating either (82)."

"And the fact that I wasn't a conformist trying to fit in - that I was making people accept me on my terms - worked for me (104)."

Over the past two years, Sheena and I have been thinking about how to position Extreme Entrepreneurship, a movement where young people passionately plan, prioritize, and pursue their OWN vision, today not tomorrow. Our philosophy resonates most with young entrepreneurs, but is applicable to all students who want to achieve success by leveraging the entrepreneurial mindset and thinking of themselves as a human enterprise.

Over the years, I can't tell you how many times people have said that there isn't a market of motivated young people because youth aren't serious about life and that they're too busy. At the same time, my gut tells me something else for the following reasons:

1. I know that this way of thinking has completely transformed my world for the better and I've seen it done for many others my age. The teenage/college years are particularly important as people are getting more freedom and at the same time making decisions that will determine the course of their life.
   
2. Looking at things historically, it seems like youth is a time of rebellion and trying to change the world. This is a proven philosophy to facilitate that change.
   
3. Entrepreneurship education has grown tremendously over the past twenty years as research continues to show that innovation and new jobs in the economy are coming from small business.

I know that this is a long, difficult journey. In the short-term, it might be easier to sell something that I know people would buy, but might be bad for them. However, I'm in this for the long haul. I want to make a large difference and I believe by doing so, I can also make a lot of money.

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December 13, 2004

Andrew Carnegie Quote

"Here lies a man who knew how to bring into service men better than he was himself."
- Words Andrew Carnegie Chose for His Tombstone

How do you want to be remembered?

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