My Icons

Shamelessly stealing the idea from Colin Marshall, I’ve  decided to select nine people whose thoughts and actions have in some way influenced my outlook on life. I’ve come to realize the importance of having heroes in one’s life: never underestimate how they can help you to shape your values and achievements.

***

“The best advice I got from my aunt, the great singer Rosemary Clooney, and from my dad, who was a game show host and news anchor, was: don’t wake up at seventy years old sighing over what you should have tried. Just do it, be willing to fail, and at least you gave it a shot. That’s echoed for me all through the last few years.”

-George Clooney

***

“Choose someone whose way of life as well as words, and whose face very mirroring the character that lies behind it, have won your approval. Be always pointing him out to yourself either as your guardian, or as your model. There is a need, in my view, for someone as a standard against which our characters can measure themselves. Without a ruler to do it against, you won’t make the crooked straight.”

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

***

“Too many people are afraid to look deep down and look at where you made mistakes. That’s not always easy to do, to be honest with yourself. That’s something my father always instilled in me and even to this day, sometimes it’s difficult, but you have to take an honest look and have an honest evaluation of your performance.”

-Tiger Woods

***

“For me the goal is the same: try to improve my tennis and try to continuing have the good results. In the end, is only one number. No. 1 and No. 2 is only one number of difference. You know, I say it 100 times, no? I didn’t go to sleep thinking if I am No. 1 or No. 2, and I didn’t wake up thinking about if I am the No. 1 or No. 2. I think about I have to play well today or I have to practice well today. I have to improve. “

-Rafael Nadal

***

“A lot of people are in business to try to make money. If that’s the primary driver, I think it’s pretty hard to do well in the long term. But if instead you’re doing something that you’re so passionate about doing that you’d be happy doing it for 10 years without making any money, I think that you’re much more likely to be successful, and the optimism will come naturally on its own.”

-Tony Hsieh

***

“It’s hard to find work you love; it must be, if so few do. So don’t underestimate this task. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t succeeded yet. In fact, if you admit to yourself that you’re discontented, you’re a step ahead of most people, who are still in denial. If you’re surrounded by colleagues who claim to enjoy work that you find contemptible, odds are they’re lying to themselves. Not necessarily, but probably.”

-Paul Graham

***

“I’ve always tried not to fall for the lies that say things like ‘you can do anything if you have the will’ or that ‘you’re the only one who can carve out your own life.’ According to the audience member’s beliefs, you could call it the will of God or social systems, or fate; but in the end, what I’m trying to say is the same. And that is, ‘Life doesn’t go your own way.”

-Park Chan Wook

***

“Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes,’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.”

- Ian Fleming

***

How do I guess at the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.”

-Paulo Coelho – “The Alchemist“

 

Separation and Sarkozy: The Story Of A Couchsurfing Ambassador

Photo by Eole

Is it truly possible to live vicariously through someone else?

I did for one Saturday afternoon.

Today was Couchsurfing Orientation Day Singapore. Having joined Couchsurfing in June of this year, I hoped to be able to learn and find leverage on a community of travelers. Couchsurfing day brought back that sense of excitement I had for meeting people of different nationalities, that sense of the unknown, strangeness the morning I had breakfast at the Peace House in Hanoi with volunteers from the UK and Spain.

For the uninitiated, here’s what the New York Times ’s Penelope Green had to say about Couchsurfing:

In an age of cheap airfares and porous borders, where nearly every corner of the earth, from Bulgaria to Bhutan, is open for tourism, the home is the final frontier, the last authentic experience. Instead of being in some sanitized hotel in Hanoi, said Erik Torkells, editor of Budget Travel magazine, “if I couch surf I could be on some cool ex-pat’s or local’s sofa.” He added: “I’ve already leapfrogged barriers.”

The group’s philosophy:… I will offer you my couch free, along with the company of my friends and a tour of my favorite spots in my city. In return, you will give of yourself. In this way, we will be friends, if only for a day or two.

Thanks to Michel, shy Singaporean couchsurfers got a chance to meet up with friends from overseas, as well as locals who are curious about this ever-growing community of vagabonds, and would be world explorers.

Michel is an ambassador for couchsurfing, and Singapore is his current pitstop around Southeast Asia. He travels from location to location, teaching would-be couchsurfers the art of building a good couchsurfing profile. The first impression I got from Michel that he certainly knows how to put a stranger at ease. He is a good storyteller, and uses this to his advantage to tell someone more about himself to establish a connection.

So on a Saturday afternoon, you would have found 12 couchsurfers at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf having conversations, while Michel worked individually on our online profiles. What intrigued me the most, however, was how Michel came to be a Couchsurfing Ambassador. After patiently waiting out everyone to leave (wasn’t that hard, I made good friends and had good conversations!) I could have a Q&A with Mr Nomad.

Michel is on a 5 year retirement, leaving his job as a web designer. Right now money comes from web owners renting virtual space on his servers in California. He is forty-five this year.

What brings you around the world Michel?

“Two reasons. Separation, and Sarkozy”

A native of Villeurbanne (the second largest metropolitan area in France), Michel, for reasons undisclosed, separated from his partner, wondering if they might get back together again if they gave themselves a few years apart. Sadly, things did not turn out well for the couple, so they remained two separate entities. At the same time, Sarkozy won the French presidential elections of 2007. This, for Michel, was the last straw.

Sarkozy, Berlusconi, they’re all the same. Mindless womanizers.

Michel claims that Sarkozy gave unacceptable promises to win the elections, most notably, on the issue of immigration laws. When Sarkozy was Minister of Interior during the mid-2000s, the number of deportations in France doubled. Most of France’s basic wage jobs like window cleaning and waitering was done by immigrants. Jobs that most middle class French shunned. What pisses Michel off is the unfairness in all of this: Even sans-papiers immigrants (illegal immigrants) who contributed vastly to France’s economy, who were paying taxes, were deported from France.

You know there are Chinese and Blacks cleaning the windows of police stations in Paris? This guy is hired by the police commissioner to clean the windows for years. The window cleaner has a family to feed in Paris, he has no citizenship, but he pays taxes. Then there is a change of police commisioner. The new guy discovers that all this time an illegal immigrant has been cleaning the windows of the station. So you know what he does? He deports him. Just because Sarkozy has a minimum set on the number of immigrants to deport every year. This was in the papers all over Paris. Ridiculous.

Forgive me if it does sound so one-sided, black-and-white here. I am doing injustice to Michel, who is such the lively animated storyteller. Strike Two was enough for Michel to decide to pack up and visit friends living around France. Having been around the country, visited all his friends, he returned to his parents home confused, wondering if he can go on living life as a traveller.

Then one day my mom saw in the papers this thing about Couchsurfers being popular all around Europe. She told me “Son, since you want to live like a nomad, why not try this?”I am thinking, why not? So I worked on my profile, then my story of traveling began…

Michel is proud to never have to depend on a unemployment benefit from the French government, which is about 400 Euros per month for those without a job. He feels disgraced if he ever has to “pay taxes to Sarkozy” too. This is a man that is living the vagabond’s life. I got an insight into his money habits as well. Seeking out the cheapest meals wherever he goes (less than 2 euros). At our Couchsurfing Orientation at Coffee Bean, he suggested all 12 of us share a big pot of tea, which was supposed to amount to S$2 for each of us. (I paid S$5). He doesn’t keep much possessions with him. In fact, he gives away the cheap T-shirts (less than one Euro in Penang) he buys in Asia, once he’s done with them.

Michel is a living example of a bootstrapping traveler.

But is all this coming to a close for him? The traveling seems to be taking a toll on Michel, who says he’s starting to feel both physically and mentally bogged. Being a Couchsurfer means sometimes you get hosts who want you out of the house at 7am when they go to work, simply because they don’t trust you. But thats ok with him, he goes look for a public library with wifi. After all, a large part of his time now is dedicated to contributing as a Couchsurfing ambassador online, and offline.

For me I think the most painful thing being on the road long term is that you make no deep personal connections with anyone. One masters the art of building a rapport with strangers very easily, but hesitates to take those necessary additional steps to have and become a good friend or partner. After all, they’re not going to be part of your lives for a long time right?

Ben Casnocha says:

The best way to build intimacy in a relationship is to spend quality in-the-flesh time with each other. If you’re always on the go, or never in the same place for more than a few years, intimacy can be hard to come by.

The idea is familiar to me… the long term volunteers at the Peace House in Hanoi tell me about this all the time.  Because we were all volunteers for different lengths of time, its hard when solid friendships are formed, and the long term volunteer sees all his good friends disappear one by one, and have to take the effort to build new friendships again, when new people arrive every two weeks.

Michel’s stories were truly vicarious, and kept me thinking about the reasons why people travel.

 

Letters From Shanghai (And Guangzhou)

The Canton Trade Fair. Picture by tarotastic

Shanghai is an amazingly prosperous city. Possibly the most prosperous city in Asia I’ve seen so far in my short but sweet travel experiences. Aston Martin car showrooms, beautiful French-decor houses, middle-and-upper class Shanghaians decked out in their nines on a Friday night along the streets of  Xintiandi. Regal Chinese restaurants that take up four storeys worth of dining space within a large complex, and always filled up with cigarette-smoking businessmen and women seeking to impress their clients.

Yet by no means should Shanghai be an end-all impression of what China truly is. Here are my thoughts:

1. Cosmopolitan Shanghai has its Warhol-ian side

On my first day here in Shanghai, I quickly grew tired of the countless number of polish-perfect shopping malls, and cool people. The second day, however, I got to see another side of Shanghai. While material prosperity may have driven and fueled the Shanghai Machine, its artistic and cultural heartbeat is well and alive. Its history of European concessions after the Opium war is preserved in what is known to the guide books as “The French Concession”. These French-built colonial buildings are well preserved in the southern parts of Yan’an Road, along with a beautifully large garden styled in reference to Versailes Palace’s own. Not too far away, along the old warrens and shikumen (stone-door houses), old shantys have been transformed into Shanghai’s own alternative lifestyle cum arts district. Don’t get the wrong idea, it ain’t hippies and starving artists here. They’re shrewd young Chinese who have a flair for pop art and pop eateries, with entire lanes styled to make you feel you’re not in Shanghai, but along the cobbled streets of an European town. Each with its own distinctive style and goods, no two shops are exactly the same.

2. Shanghai’s Infrastructure Is A Reflection Of The Government’s Willingness To Spend

From Maglev trains to world class tennis facilities, and even the 2008 Beijing Olympics that left many speechless, it does seem like boomtime for the Chinese Government. Having more than a trillion in federal reserve notes, Hu Jintao’s government is willing to do all it takes to show that China (or at least Shanghai) has truly arrived. This is all positive, after all, living standards of all Chinese have risen dramatically.

3. Social Glue Is A Requirement For Doing Business With  Chinese Nationals

Everyone wants to do business in China, yet its such a complicated matter. Take the well known “guanxi” for example. Guanxi both facilitates and frustrates. Guanxi is social glue. Skip paying fines or get better tickets on a train if you’ve got a relative working from the inside. When you’re doing business with mainland Chinese, don’t be surprised if he brings others into the fray. He’ll probably involve his uncle, brother, and distant 5th cousin along as well.

4. Social Attitudes Lag Behind Modern Infrastructure

With Shanghai’s incessant pace to modernize, not everything or everyone catches up. Money can buy you all the steel, tar, microchips you need, but it can’t buy your people new attitudes and cultures in an instant. For all its modern exterior’s worth, the mainland Chinese are in need of social modernization as well. This shouldn’t be surprising for any rapidly developed city: Its people act and think in ways that seem to echo developing world attitudes. Singapore was like that too, not too long ago. Examples: Beautiful Chinese ladies decked out in the best dresses spitting on the streets, lack of a sense of service by staff at shops and restaurants. Oh, you’ll be surprised if you see any queues here too. Its mostly mobs.

I overheard this conversation between two old Chinese friends, one mainland Chinese, the other Singaporean:

A (Singaporean) : Shanghai is  modernizing at an amazing pace isn’t it?

B (Mainland Chinese): Yes it is. Our cities will probably rival the most modern US and European cities in 10 years time. Can’t say the same about people’s attitudes though.

A: Another ten years you think?

B: Probably thirty years.

China the dominant superpower in 2040. Looking at how the world’s developing right now, its probably an inevitability.

5. In Shanghai, Money  Speaks Volumes

Cash is king here in Shanghai. Money buys social status, along with its material rewards. The widely accepted idea is that if you’ve got no money, your words ain’t worth any weight. When your words don’t mean a thing, the world looks down on you.

If people truly relied on purely the material for self-worth, it is probably a reflection of emptiness inside and a lack of self-confidence. That said, the lonely individual who wishes to live a fulfilling life, fighting against being a cog in the machinery is not unique to Shanghai.

With all the Ecstasy of Yuan, I do believe that many entrepreneurs in China look beyond money as motivation. I would like to think that many also see entrepreneurship as a creative outlet, a force for cultural and social change. As Josh Kaufman mentioned, there are two ways to see business: Simply a path to riches, or a path to making change in people’s lives.

6. Social Media in China Is Present, Just Different

Access to the internet is reasonably convenient in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Or ridiculously inaccessible. It depends how you look at it. If you’ve always been on Facebook, Twitter, blogger, wordpress, and the likes of Web 2.0 as we know it, internet in China is going to feel pre-1998 for you. What I’m really driving at is that social media as the western world (and Singapore) knows it, is nonexistent in China. Thats because we’re not looking at social media through Chinese lenses. Xiaonei, RenRen, TaoTao, represent for the biggest “facebooks” and “twitters” in China. The western world, thinking that it was ahead in social media, has realized that Chinese social networks are blooming wildly. Internet usage in China isn’t just boundaried, individual use is carefully monitored as well. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Great Firewall of China has to employ a really large number of “internet police” to achieve this.

Hu Jintao’s government mitigation strategy towards western social media’s dangers is to completely shut it out from within its borders, until it finds a better way to deal with it.

7. The Challenges Of Doing Business In China (or with Chinese people in general)

Being Chinese myself, I didn’t really understand this, but my short but sweet experience in China has left me feeling that trade is often carried out with a certain level of mistrust and overcaution when dealing with us Chinese, and amongst Chinese. At the Guangzhou trade fair, it is sometimes all smiles between the exhibitor and buyer, sometimes its the good ol’ fashioned, you vs. me, I win/you lose. I ask for name cards, singnalling intent in doing business in the near future, and sometimes I get rejected, the seller citing no-responses even after distributing hundreds of costly-to-print namecards.  My dad has had 20 years of experience doing business with China, and that seems  the case for him: that the process of building trust in China is a long and drawn out experience. As Tim Ferriss mentioned recently, western ideas of business ethics is rare in China. The prevalent thinking is “能骗就骗” (neng pian jiou pian) i.e. “If one can deceive, then by all means do so!” It explains the lack of respect for intellectual property, rampant “piracy” in China, or the rest of Asia.

8. The Challenge For Businesses In The Freeconomy

The “piracy” problem is actually a doubled edged sword. This novel challenge that China and Asia brings to the world: Apart from declaring war on the pirates, how will we adapt to an audience who can easily get hold of your intellectual property for free, or almost free? How will our businesses survive?

If Philippe Starck comes up with a revolutionary new design for a kitchen blender, China can make an exact clone of the product days after the original piece is released to the market. Thats the reality of “Made-In-China”, and the reality of China as the World’s Factory.

We live in exciting times.

***Here’s a comparison with what I’ve learnt from Vietnam***

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If You Want A Purple Cow Job…

All throughout my plane ride back from Guangzhou to Singapore, I dug into some Seth Godin wisdom via Small Is The New Big. Very relevant marketing / job seek advice that I might have been too lazy to search through his blog for, but incredibly convenient on paperback.

Jobs For Purple Cows

A friend of mine is a world-class lawyer, with a great background in copyright, deal-making and intellectual property issues. She has a stellar resume and could get a cog-job in about two seconds. Except that she doesn’t want to do that. She wants to work for a fast-growing neat organization with flexible hours. And she’s willing to take a 60% pay cut to do so.

In the current system, there’s no place for her (or for you, for that matter) to let the right person know that they ought to rethink the way they’re allocating their payroll and their services budget and take advantage of this opportunity. This is ridiculous. There’s no other similar expense in a corporation that is totally demand based. Companies don’t say, “We’re thinking of replacing our phone system, please let us know if there’s some new technology that we don’t know about” or “Our charity currently uses a traditional system to do fundraising but we’re auditioning automated online systems, please send a properly formatted brochure…”

Well, if the single-most-important thing a business can do is hire amazing people, why shouldn’t that
process be more flexible and be built around the people, not the slots?

I haven’t yet achieved a “stellar resume” but would love to work with a growth-oriented startup that does flexible hours too. Not plently of those around, but I believe in creating the jobs you want that aren’t yet available. As Seth goes on to say, these types of jobs will become a lot more common in the years to come.

Thanks to Seth Godin for the inspiration

***For those who were wondering why my travel blog was never updated, wordpress and other blogging formats are banned in China, as I discovered too late. I’m glad to say I’ve learnt a lot more about China during my one week stay in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and will be posting up a “what I’ve learnt” in the coming week. ***

 

Praying For Blue Skies In Red China

picture: Stuck In Customs

Back when I was in Vietnam, at the Peace House one night, discussing Halong Bay plans with Sophie, Helle, Katrina, and Rasmus, I received a call from Singapore. It was dad. He asked if I would like to accompany him on a business trip to Shanghai and Guangzhou for a week in early October. I was hesitant at first. Previous family trips to China wasn’t exactly memorable. In fact, my memory’s lost on most of the places we’ve been to as a family.

China isn’t foreign place to me. Numerous family vacations and a school exchange trip to Beijing. I can’t exactly put a finger down on why I didn’t find them enjoyable, but back then I guess I didn’t look at travel the way I do now: much more than a vacation. It was a case of bringing the ugly side of yourself along with you on vacation, and hating yourself along the trip. I do have hazy memories of places such as Guilin, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and the famous big cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzen. I would love to have the opportunity to explore these places again on a solo trip, or in a (very) small group.

Well, what I can I learn of China, specifically of Shanghai and Guangzhou in another week? The last time I was in Shanghai was at least five years ago, and at the famous speed at which China is modernizing, I won’t be surprised to find the big cities changed dramatically. Looking forward for opportunities to talk to people and see a different side of China I hadn’t known of previously.

Weather’s been pretty bad in many parts of Southeast Asia, I hope all will be fine in China. Updates on China will be found on my travel blog.

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How To Fail At Using Facebook and Twitter For Yourself (And Your Business)

photo: fotographix.ca

My curiosity with how people connect online has led me into a  job as a new media consultant. It seems a natural progression for me for the moment. If not for Facebook and Twitter, I wouldn’t have been able to keep in contact with my friends from Vietnam, as well as the volunteers from the rest of the world. I wouldn’t have known that Milena solved her transportation problems in Hanoi by buying herself a spanking new scooter. Elizabeth from the UK wouldn’t have been communicating with me about our post-Vietnam blues if not for Facebook.

While nothing replaces the intimacy of hearing the voice of someone you care about, or to see them in person, social media bridges some of these gaps for us. I’m no absolute authority on how to use social media, but through my own follies, I’ve learnt quite abit.

What I’ve noticed…

I’ve seen and heard about this trend recently: Companies and organizations hear success stories about how Twitter and Facebook is the next “in” thing, and how it can create a cult following around your product or service, leading to huge sales. They all rush to connect with the community. Its hip, Its trendy. Hey Coca Cola’s doing it, why shouldn’t we?

Wrong.

Research firm Gartner predicts that in 2010, “over half of companies that develop a social media campaign will fail, potentially having a negative effect on their brand.”

If you have no intentions of connecting with your audience, you will fail. Period.

On a personal branding level, I am guilty of that too. I failed. Big time. What I’m laying out here are the lessons I’ve learnt so far in my uses of social media tools. Thinking that Facebook and Twitter was my speakerboxxx, I blasted messages everywhere, thinking that everyone would be interested to read. I ignored what was going on around me. After all, Facebook and Twitter is about telling everyone how great I was, how exciting my life was isn’t it?

Wrong!

Individuals and businesses take note: No One Cares About You! Its not about being a loudspeaker. Its about creating meaningful conversations and relationships.

What Social Media Really Does…

Social Media is meant to be a bridge across individuals, peoples, groups, and organizations. It increases and improves transparency of organizations. Sure, there are dangers that come with being open. But do you choose to not use fire, just because it might hurt you? Everything that’s known to be useful to man has almost always been a double-edged sword.

Sure, social media has virality potential that can destroy your brand, sweep you of your feet, leaving you high and dry. But it also bears positive viral potential for your personal brand name, or products and services.

This is indeed a new way of thinking.

Selling The Invisible…

Wait.. is it really new?

In 1997, Harry Beckwith wrote about how all of us “sell the invisible”. No matter what business you’re in, even if you’re selling physical products, you are in service marketing. And service marketing needs a focus on relationships, less on features and benefits.

The same way you deal with a PR disaster, you can apply those same skillsets on the online world.

The rules of invisible marketing apply to the world of social media.

Think of how Steve Jobs and Apple tells its customers to Think Different and try to change the world in terms of the computer usage experience. Originators in trying to bring simple, user friendly computing to the mass audience.

Think of how Zappos prides itself not as simply an online business selling shoes, but a business powered by Service.

Here’s what Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh thinks of Twitter:

Think of each tweet as a dot on a piece of paper. Any single tweet, just like any single dot, by itself can be insignificant and meaningless. But, if over time, you end up with a lot of tweets, it’s like having a lot of dots drawn on a piece of paper. Eventually there are enough dots for your followers to connect them together. And if you connect the dots, in the aggregate it paints a picture of you and/or your company, and it’s that total picture that is your brand.

The emphasis in any social media campaign success should be put on the value of the relationships formed and the feedback and data gained from consumers. On a personal branding, and being a friend, that means communicating more with those you care about, as opposed to simply raking up the friend or follower count on your social networks.

How people and companies fail by not being proactive:

Don’t listen

Why bother when people are talking about your brand? Because if you don’t just a spark can bring an entire forest ablaze.

Don’t ask

Most of us neglect social media, not realizing its potential a focus group tool. Even if its relatively inexpensive to conduct tests online.

Don’t start preparing your team

Hey it should be easy to get on facebook and twitter right? Anyone in the company can do it! Hmm… but who’s gonna maintain it? Remember… establishing a connection with your customers is not a one-time affair, but ongoing relationships.

What are we doing today to make social media more relevant to ourselves and to others?

 

On The Deferred Life Plan: An Introduction to Randy Komisar

photo: Edyson

“What do you mean the book is here? I checked and its not on the shelf!”

“Sir, the book is indeed here in the library. It was returned today but hasn’t been placed back on the shelf yet.”

“Which still means you don’t have it.”

“The book will be available for borrowing in about an hour’s time.”

So much for customer service. I’ve been waiting to borrow this book for a week, here at the National Library. My impatience to read this book was getting to my head. Bookshops everywhere didn’t stock this book, or have sold out of it. I got my hands on the book eventually though, at another library, which had that same problem, and had me sit through the same situation. Only that I was more patient this time.

Why all that fuss for The Monk And The Riddle?

Written by Randy Komisar, a Virtual CEO who as worked with companies such as WebTV and TiVo. During the nineties, he was CEO of LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, CFO of GO Corporation, and one of the founders of Claris Corporation.

With a shaved head and cowboy boots. this man with a BA in Economics from Brown University and a JD from Harvard Law School would probably be hard to miss in a crowd.

For too long I have been mulling over questions about my own life plan and career, and no one source has yet to provide a reasonably good answer. Until I remembered about a certain book that was handed to Tim Ferriss as a graduation gift from his professor at Princeton.

As author of The Monk And The Riddle, Randy Komisar’s lessons about the difference between “passion and drive” and “professional and personal success” hit me the most.

In it, he defines the Deferred Life Plan as having to divide your life into two parts.

First Part of Life: Do what you have to do

Second Part of Life: Do what you want to do

He’s been a mentor to many successful startups, and in his philosophy of business and capitalism, its easy to see why. Here is a small excerpt from the book, and for those who are confused about their career plans, stuck in a job you hate, or working on something you dislike now, in hopes that you will do something you love in the future, this is a gem for you.

Excerpt from The Monk And The Riddle – Randy Komisar

I encourage people to think about all the risks involved – personal risks as well as business risks. When I talk to candidates as part of recruiting outside management talent to the Valley, the issue of risk often comes up. Prospective managers usually fear that the venture won’t be a blockbuster or, worse, that it will be forced to close its doors. Some recruits fixate on that business risk to the point of indecision. They strain to research all the facts, but at some point no additional information or assurances will offer them any further clues into the business’s ultimate success or failure. Uncertain, they freeze and stay with the status quo, no matter how unsatisfying it is. After all, it’s what they know.

But when I drill down, I inevitably find personal risks that need to be considered along with the business risks. Personal risks include the risk of working with people you don’t respect; the risk of doing something you don’t care about; and the risk of doing something that fails to express – or even contradicts who you are. And then there is the most dangerous risk of all- the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.

Several years ago when I pondered the offer to join Apple, and I looked down that long corridor at my law firm, the answer was clear. I was not concerned with whether Apple’s business would succeed or fail or whether my options would be valuable or not. What I had to weigh was whether I should remain on the well-defined path to professional and financial success as a lawyer or venture into a creative life in business with no specific destination in mind. I was not hesitating because of business risk; I was wrestling with personal risk, a different game of chance in which we have far more control.

When I considered the risk of staying at my law firm, I had to face the possibility of an unfulfilled life, of working endlessly on things that did not matter and that at times violated my core values. I had to face subordinating my creativity in order to become a specialist, channeling myself too narrowly. To me these were graver risks than whether Apple succeeded or failed. Ultimately I chose to pursue what seemed most important to my life at the time.

In theory, the risk of business failure can be reduced to a number, the probability of failure multiplied by the cost of failure. Sure, this turns out to be a subjective analysis, but in the process your own attitudes toward financial risk and reward are revealed.

By contrast, personal risk usually defies quantification. It’s a matter of values and priorities, an expression of who you are. “Playing it safe” may simply mean you do not weigh heavily the compromises inherent in the status quo. The financial rewards of the moment may fully compensate you for the loss of time and fulfillment. Or maybe you just don’t think about it. On the other hand, if time and satisfaction are precious, truly priceless, you will find that the cost of business failure, so long as it does not put in peril the well-being of you or your family, pales in comparison with the personal risks of not trying to live the life you want today.

Considering personal risk forces us to define personal success. We may well discover that the business failure we avoid and the business success we strive for do not lead us to personal success at all. Most of us have inherited notions of “success” from someone else or have arrived at these notions by facing a seemingly endless line of hurdles extending from grade school through college and into our careers. We constantly judge ourselves against criteria that others have set and rank ourselves against others in their game. Personal goals, on the other hand, leave us on our own, without this habit of useless measurement and comparison.

Only the Whole Life Plan leads to personal success. It has the greatest chance of providing satisfaction and contentment that one can take to the grave, tomorrow. In Deferred Life Plan there will always be another prize to covet, another distraction, a new hunger to sate. You will forever come up short.

Work hard, work passionately, but apply your most precious asset-time-to what is most meaningful to you. What are you willing to do for the rest of your life? That question would be absurd, given the inevitability of change. No, what the question really asks is, if your life were to end suddenly and unexpectedly tomorrow, would you be able to say you’ve been doing what you truly care about today? What would you be willing to do for the rest of you life? What would it take to do it right now?

….

The last time I was in Amsterdam I spent an afternoon in the Rijksmuseum studying the Vermeers and Rembrandts. Rembrandt’s The Night Watch particularly impressed me. Like many of the Dutch Masters, he painted it on commission for a group of well-helled patrons. The work portrayed a dozen or so elaborately attired commissioners, reliving the past glory of their civic militia, arrayed according to their financial contribution and status. These were some of the many movers and shakers of Holland’s economic Golden Age, affluent and prominent, seeking immortality on canvas. But I was struck that I didn’t know any of them, nor did it matter. They were just characters in another man’s masterpiece. The only person of importance, the only one whose fame had lasted beyond that period, was the eventually penniless artist – Rembrandt.

Think about The Night Watch today, when so many people push and shove with their wealth, fame, and power. In a few hundred years, all of today’s movers and shakers may be reduced, at best, to another group of supporting charaters on a canvas.

That painting brings to mind a headline from a few years ago: Sam Walton had died the richest man in America, making him, I realized, only the latest in an eternally long line of such record holders. As John Maynard Keynes postulated, in the long run we’re all dead.

Time is the only resource that matters.

-Randy Komisar

 

The Truth Behind “Follow Your Passion”

Throughout my days in university, my habit of reading gained lots of momentum. My reading material was mainly focused on non-fiction, self help books. Once you discover that you can decide what your life to be like, you’d naturally want to improve every single aspect of it!

I found most of the self-help books helpful indeed: learning about the importance of a positive outlook towards life, the importance of setting goals, and having a healthy view towards money. One common theme mentioned in many self help books however, is the idea that “follow your passion, and the money will follow.”

I have been thinking long and hard about it, even as the months toward graduation crept closer. The few work experiences and internships I’ve had taught me one thing about myself: Any work I do that I don’t connect with emotionally, or derive satisfaction, I feel dull and get bored easily.

“What exactly is my passion?”

“Does it mean I don’t have to work in something I don’t like?”

One thing that I believe paralyzes many of us is the paradox of choice when it comes to careers. What is the Paradox of Choice?

In essence it is the idea that “having and making choices is essential to our wellbeing, but even though our modern lifestyles are more than ever filled with abundant choices, we are not benefiting from this abundance at all, psychologically.”

Relating this to career choices, The Paradox of Choice author Barry Schwartz says:

Part of the downside of abundant choice is that each new option adds to the list of trade-offs, and trade-offs have psychological consequences.

Baby boomers didn’t have the staggering amount of career choices like we do now. They took whatever was best amongst their few options. When my mom graduated from high school, she was happy to be offered a position with the Public Utilities Board. Government jobs were considered well paying and secure, and they weren’t usually offered to graduates of Chinese high schools. She took it. Clearly, career choices were made with a different set of considerations back then.

While it is important to take a leaf from the Baby Boomers book regarding making career choices, I think a new mindset  is needed for these times.

I must admit I don’t have clear answers yet. But I do think many who have trodden on the path less taken have left clues from which we can make informed decisions.

I found similarities in the advice given by two writers (amongst many others) whose advice I trust the most:

• Tina Seelig, executive director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and author of What I  Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course In Making Your Place In The World

• Randy Komisar, partner at Kleiner Perkins, Virtual CEO and author of The Monk And The Riddle

Tina Seelig:

How many people have told you that the key to success is to follow your passions? I’d bet it’s a lot. Giving that advice to someone who’s struggling to figure out what to do with his or her life is easy. However, that advice is actually simplistic and misleading. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of passions and think it’s incredibly important to know what drives you. But it certainly isn’t enough.

Passions are just a starting point. You also need to know your talents and how the world values them. If you’re passionate about something but not particularly good at it, then it’s going to be pretty frustrating to try to craft a career in that area. Say you love basketball but aren’t tall enough to compete, or you’re enthralled by jazz but can’t carry a tune. In both cases you can be a terrific fan, going to games and concerts, without being a professional.

(Quoted from Tina’s blog, read full post here)

In many interviews done, Tina often mentions about the importance of being willing to try many things, and not be afraid to fail. When Tina graduated from college, she decided to take some time off away from home, instead of starting her career immediately. Time spent away helped her realize what kind of lifestyle she wanted to lead.

Randy Komisar:

“I thought back to my own (time) as a student … and I realized I was passionate about everything! I loved everything…How I addressed the question (about passion) was that, rather than thinking about THE passion, free yourself to think about a portfolio of passions. And the task is to marry that portfolio of passions to the opportunities in front of you.

Randy then talks about looking at the opportunities immediately ahead of you, rather than thinking about the “ultimate horizon” you want to reach, in the distance. (Watch full video here).

Randy’s point about finding the sole ultimate passion rings true for me and many of my peers. Unless you’ve already figured out your passions before the age of nine, you’re ultimately better of combining multiple interests while seeking opportunities that allow these interests to benefit others.

It is refreshing to hear about others’ life perspectives: what they were glad they did, what they wish they did.

My career strategy for the near future:

My passions are currently related to Volunteering (ecotourism, english teaching), Traveling and Social Media. I’ll seriously consider any opportunities that fall my way with regards to these interests.

 

Letters From Vietnam : Lessons and Perspectives

What I had previously known about Vietnam, I knew vicariously through film, books, and TV. In my mind, images of women in traditional ao-dai costume and conical hats are contrasted with moving pictures of American soldiers and tanks advancing towards a smoke filled Hue city citadel, against the backdrop tune of Martha and the Vandella’s Nowhere to Run.

I spent four weeks in Vietnam, three weeks volunteering as an English teacher, and one week of solo travel around the central cities. The time spent there was truly a meaningful one. I’ve had conversations and close quartered living with locals, European and American volunteers, and they have left deep impressions on me. Here are some of them:

1. Vietnam is a country with a strong sense of cultural identiy

The Vietnamese people speak of their nation with a sense of pride. And very deservedly they should. As a country littered with battle scars they have succeeded in repelling so many of the world’s mightiest powers in numerous skirmishes. (Against the French, Americans and Chinese, and even the Mongols.)

Vietnamese schoolchildren speak of their hometowns with pride. Many would love to have the opportunity to travel overseas to study, but it is Vietnam (or Hanoi to be more exact) they would call home. Nationalism of this kind would be rare in Singapore. I guess it is true that what you’ve fought hard for, you cherish even more.

2. Economics in Vietnam

In many of my travel blog posts, I’ve mentioned how Vietnam is a country that attempts to modernize, while still desperately clinging on to its traditions. This same struggle is evident in the Communist party’s coming to grips with globalization and the global economy. Communism in its purest form cannot be found in Vietnam, instead it would seem more like a capitalist economy headed by a one-party dictatorship. Even the Party would have to admit: cash is king. By adopting Deng Xiaoping-styled economic reforms, the Vietnamese people have been able to pursue wealth, while politics are kept firmly at the back of their minds. People are too busy trying to make money to care about who’s in power. Singaporeans in this way aren’t too different, no?

Call it “economic liberalization without political liberalization” if you will, there is no denying Vietnam’s economic boom in the recent years. With tourists flocking in by the hordes into this exotic land, its boomtime should be no surprise.

3. Ho Chih Minh, and the Communist Party

Let there be no doubt, Uncle Ho (or as the locals say, Bac Ho) is equally loved by the young and old. On the streets and in every city, supersized images of Uncle Ho can be found on posters, statues, and daily papers. The younger generation however, have no interest in the happenings of the Communist party, they are far too engrossed in online role playing games or the latest Korean TV series to be bothered.

For a collectivist culture such as Vietnam’s, the Western concept of personal space is unheard of. My personal experience with a lack of personal space was on the public buses (or any public space), your face would be literally pinned to the next person’s.

Another thought: Being alone is shied upon for the Vietnamese. You’d almost never see Vietnamese people dining alone unless absolutely forced to.

4. Social System: Top Down Bureaucracy

Hierarchy is an important concept in Vietnamese life. Order in society and life revolves around hierarchy. The smallest unit of hierarchy in society is the family. In Vietnam, children are the entire of the family, but they are very much subject to the decisions made by elders in the family, often the grandparents. This is a culture where respect to elders is expected and understood by all.

While the Singaporean government attempts to drill into our thick skulls about how we should give up our seats on trains and buses to the elderly, this comes nearly automatic and and naturally for the Vietnamese people. On buses, (no matter how cramped) I have seen seats being given up to the elder person. There weren’t any signs or posters above their head telling them to do so.

This same sense of hierarchy is also present in the workplace. One is expected to do as the superiors say so. While this gives the workplace a sense of order, it is a potential cause for alot of frustration sometimes. Former volunteer coordinator Matt from the UK tells the story of how he struggled to understand this concept of “hierarchy”.

One of the volunteers had asked for an additional blanket, as winter was approaching in Hanoi, it gets really cold at night. Matt told the volunteer he would look into it, by asking dorm housekeeper Mr Trung.

“No. One volunteer one blanket.” was Mr Trung’s simple reply. He said it was part of the rules written on paper.

Matt: “Mr Trung, I think you don’t understand. Our volunteer needs another blanket. It gets COLD here, ok?”

Mr Trung: “Sorry,one volunteer, one blanket.”

At this point, Matt was on the verge of screaming at Mr Trung. Thank goodness he didn’t. So Matt went to Mr Hieu, the volunteer programme coordinator, and also Mr Trung’s superior. Mr Hieu understood the situation easily, instructed Mr Trung to provide an additional blanket, case closed. Simple as that.

It was only then that Matt understood how things worked around here. Because this culture works top-down, anyone that tries to go against pre-ordained rules and regulations would be disruptive to order. Not to mention making everyone lose face in the process too.

Red tape may be frustrating, and sometimes volunteers begin to doubt their ability to actually make a difference in the few weeks they’re here, much less “change the world!” For me, I’d like to think that I’ve helped to open up closed minds, help the kids understand that its possible to have fun while learning English. I hope that I’ve brought some excitement into their usual dreary, read-from-textbook English lessons. Learning should be fun. These children are carefully selected from the many schools around the country, considered to be “gifted”. If there is any one group of youths that could bring positive changes and progress to Vietnam, I believe they are the ones to do so.

5. Educational Aspirations of the Vietnamese, and the true meaning of a University Degree

Conversations in the classrooms has revealed many of the children’s aspirations to study in universities abroad, especially in Singapore. Singapore’s spankingly clean streets, modernized society and fresh air is what comes to mind immediately for these children when they hear of the word “Singapore”.

Because of strict government policies, about 90% of Vietnamese people will probably never get to travel abroad in their lifetimes. Only a select privileged few will have the chance to do so. A scholarship to study abroad is a dream come true for these hardworking kids.

Every country approaches the provision of tertiary education differently. In Scandinavian countries, the government pays for university education. Here in Singapore, mostly we have to pay for ourselves. As a Singaporean, my conversations with the Vietnamese schoolchildren has made me radically rethink what a university degree means. University degrees aren’t given to people simply because they are special, they are given to people who an afford to pay for them. Having a university degree does not mean I deserve privileges, nor preferential treatment.

6. What does it mean to volunteer? What are the stereotypes?

I found it hard to reason why I was teaching at a “gifted school” initially. Aren’t there more underprivileged kids that need my help? Its a stereotype that an aspiring volunteer coming from a modernized developed country to a third world country would be able to “change the world”. We see it all the time in pictures: teaching poverished children, helping out at orphanages. Jane, a good friend and volunteer from the UK, says that everyone wants to “do the Princess Diana: taking photographs with AIDS children, kids with leprosy.” Sometimes its become a fad and hip-ness in volunteering just for the sake of volunteering. Frankly speaking, volunteers are needed at every social strata, even in less glamorous roles, and even in places where we least expected.

7. Youth culture in Vietnam

The young people of Vietnam are going through a “counterculture 60s” of their own. They want a different lifestyle from their parents. Everywhere in the cities of Hanoi and Hue, I saw couples on dates holding hands, even dress in ways that would incur the wrath of their parents. But at the end of the day, young people don’t live away from parents, everyone lives under the same roof. Much like Singapore.

Sex is very much a taboo subject, it is never mentioned in print nor word. Bringing a girl/boy back home for the night would be unthinkable. Lots of sexiness in the media, yes, “but no sex please, we’re Vietnamese”. My conversations and questions to the local youth about dating is almost always re-routed or returned with puzzled faces.

8. Work culture in Vietnam

In many parts of Northern Vietnam, especially in the countryside, work is a conscious part of life. Our modernized and city lifestyle, we often speak about attempts at the “work-life balance” or “work-life separation”. The best example of Vietnamese work-life integraton is how many brick and mortar home businesses of the people are effectively part of their living space as well. During my stint as a volunteer ESL teacher, I print my teaching materials everyday at a print shop near the volunteer house. The owner’s bedroom and toilet was always in view in his shop. I had to take off my shoes before entering his shop/home. I haven’t been to Saigon (HCMC), I can only assume work life pace is pretty darn hectic there.

9. Vietnamese Hospitality

People who have traveled around Southeast Asia may find that the Vietnamese people are considerably less warm than their other Indochina counterparts. Strangely I found that this wasn’t the case. When you move beyond tourist hotspots, and show genuine appreciation for the people and their culture, you get Vietnamese hospitality in spades.

During my numerous conversations with Jane from the UK, she mentioned that the Vietnamese would always preempt with what you would need before you even think of it. At the school staff dining area, Jane was personally handed a fork and spoon by serving ladies, even before she picked up her pair of chopsticks (which she really isn’t any good at…).

I experienced lots of Vietnamese hospitality too, from vodka drinking sessions, invitations for lunch on Independence day, and was offered food and Vietnamese language lessons on my train ride down south to Danang.

10. The Asian Identity and The Singaporean Identity Crisis

Jane’s first reaction to the word Singapore was “Asia for beginners”. Its a country where westerners will find it all too easy: English speakers everywhere, signs in English, ridiculously clean streets, shops that stock food from Western countries (mostly), all too easy transport options. I ask myself if I’m really confused about my identity…

Contrast this with Hanoi: “The Asia that everyone wants to see” Narrow streeets, strange smells, Vespas scooting around every lane, this strange concoction of the modern and medieval can be at once exciting and confusing. At the cost of fitting in with the rest of the modern world, I can’t help but think Singapore is missing some form of national identity. Not to say that we had a really strong one in the first place. In an effort to be hip and live the Californian lifestyle espoused on TV and music, our cultural past forgotten.

My Flickr photostream

My Vietnam travelblog

Here are some resources I used in my attempt to understand Vietnam better:

Independent traveler resource for Vietnam: Travelfish

Vietnamese history: Asian Nation

My weather beaten, trusty Lonely Planet Vietnam 10th Edition was co-written by local writer Yu-Mei Balasingamchow. For more Vietnam adventure tales, her blog can be found here.

 

The Mini Gap Year Trip

Photo courtesy of Gee!Bee

This is it. Bags packed and ready to go. I shall give a recount of my plans that led up to my one month “voluntourism” trip in Vietnam.

From the 13th of August to the 10th of September, I will be in Vietnam, doing a mix of volunteer work and backpack traveling.

Graduating from a three-year crash-college course sometimes left me feeling that something was missing amongst doing all-nighters.

Ever since junior college days, I would spend classroom time and lectures dreaming of solo travel and moving around airports. (Might have been a by-product of spending too much time studying at airports!)

I decided the most cost-friendly and meaningful way of gap travel would be to volunteer, and found International Volunteers HQ. The costs of the programs were pretty decent. Plus they’re on Facebook.

My two broad objectives for this trip:

• Simply have fun whenever possible!
• Appreciation of overseas cultures, learning how others live their lives in their unique ways

Here are some of the most important web resources that I used to plan for my travels:

Getting the best air ticket deals: Whichbudget

A customizable idea generator for what to pack for the trip: Universal Packing List

Reading up Vietnam Travel Blogs: Ottsworld

Learning to eliminate and pack light: Onebag , Tim Ferriss

Travel advice from veterans: “28 Things I Wish I Knew”

Additionally, I think did my best to understand more about the country. Bought the latest version of Lonely Planet Vietnam, and the Berlitz Vietnamese phrasebook. Along with youtube videos on the Vietnamese language, I started doing homework, understanding Vietnamese history, culture and its language intricacies. We will see if it all pays off in the next few weeks.

I will be maintaing a travel blog, “On The Road Again“, for the next four weeks.

Wish me luck!