Davidson Hang Reflections and Lessons from a life worth living: Recent Episodes

Davidson Hang

I am sharing with you all my reflections along my journey. Lessons about Shattering Preconceived notions. Hope you enjoyed my takeaways. Think of this as a live journal/diary.

Check out DavidsonHang.com for my blog for self-development topics and vulnerable sharing on lessons I've learned along the way in this beautiful world we live in.

Time for exciting news! This is my first week at Fortune as a Sales Account Director. Sharing with you why I choose this incredible opportunity. Thank you, Lindsey Kintner who will be my manager for the opportunity. Thank you to Lisa Cline and Alison Fried for sharing your vision and allowing me to be one of the earliest team members growing the Fortune Connect business.Shout out to Michael Wong for sharing with me how incredible of a manager she is, and big thanks to the LinkedIn product for showing me who is connected to whom always a big help during the interview process.Here are some of the reasons why I choose Fortune and why the Fortune Connect product.I got to experience meeting Arvind Krishna who the CEO and Chairman of IBM, who shared his insights into the incredible opportunities ahead of us, and met one of my favorite authors Keith Ferrazzi who wrote the playbook on how to add value to your network. His book Never Eat Alone made a big difference in my life. Fortune has had 93 years of history of cultivating and grooming the most impactful executives in the world and has brought together many extraordinary leaders. To be able to continue to grow that and build the legacy is truly a privilege.There are so many takeaways from completing the Building Stakeholder Capitalism course. I've also learned a lot from the Purpose-Driven Leadership learning sprints. This role combines my love for mentoring, executive coaching, and community-building. I'm grateful for the opportunity to make a difference and cultivate the next generation of C-suite executives within the Fortune 500, the top most prominent organizations in the world.https://youtu.be/ii4bKZCG3Jg#FortuneConnect #fortune500companies

This is a reminder for anyone who is being Too Hard on Themselves. @Ian Koniak, I had a coaching call with Ian yesterday and realized that I was holding on to the past things that happened ten years ago. I am certainly not the same man as I was back then. This is a reminder to be kind to yourself.

Would you treat your friend the same way? How many times have we had self-talk which is totally disempowering?

The power of #Coaching. #SelfCompassion #Healing Journey Recently, I've had people I know pass away. I called my dad for the first time in a while and was able to hear him out. Life is too short, and it's better to live life with no regrets. Love the LinkedIn community for being so supportive as I'm evaluating opportunities in my life.

I just got back from the Sales Success Summit in Austin, TX. I love traveling, and I realize that there is going to be my last solo travel in a while. In this next stage of my life, I'm going to involve and be in partnership with my wife more often. Stay tuned for more adventures! Thanks for following me. Excited to share with you what's next in this chapter in my life.

Sharing with you my takeaways from the Summit of Greatness hosted by Lewis Howes

The speakers were

Gabby Bernstein-Author, Motivational Speaker, Podcast Host
Dr. Michael Beckwith- Author, Peace Activist, Spiritual Leader 3. Dr. Mariel Buque- Psychologist, Author, Trauma Expert
Erwin McManus - Global Expert on Human Genius and Personal Transformation
Rory Vaden- NYT Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker & Personal Brand Strategist
Dr. Caroline Leaf-Author, Communication Pathologist, Cognitive Neuroscientist
Dr. Trisha Smith- Coach, Speaker, Clinician- We did a meditation with her.
Maria & Calvin Wagner- Soundbath Facilitators
Chris Lee- Lewis Howe's Coach - We did a workshop on Relationships
The Man Lewis Howes himself!

Trust the Process
Good things take time
There is no substitute for hard work
Having a growth mindset- it never truly ends
Partnership and staying focused

I wanted to share with you some of the takeaways I've gotten from taking the Landmark Wisdom Unlimited Course.

Here is the link to the website if you are interested, you can always reach out, and I will be more than glad to help you answer any questions regarding it.

Wisdom Unlimited explores the possibilities of untold joy available for the living of your whole life and that maybe anything else is just a mistake, an oversight, that’s easily corrected.

In this investigation over five weekends, we bring together the dimensions of vision, commitment, and play for a great life. A life that contributes to all of humanity.

https://www.landmarkwisdomcourses.com/wisdom-unlimited-course/

I wanted to share with you all my takeaways from the Landmark Forum and why it was the most transformational three days of my life.

Here are the logistics https://www.landmarkworldwide.com/the-landmark-forum/syllabus

Day 1

Already Always Listening
The Hidden Power of Context
The Vicious Circle
Rackets: Payoff and the Cost

Day 2

The Illusion of Someday: Rethinking Possibility
The Myth of Is, Because, and I
Distinguishing: Opening New Worlds
Freedom from Anxiety
How Identities Get Constructed

Day 3

Pervasive Influence of the Past
Change vs. Transformation
Language as an Access to Power
The Nature of Choice

For context, I did it a number of years ago and this is me sharing how it's still impacted me even 5 years later and What led me to do the Landmark Forum

https://youtu.be/iGXPpPyDjWA

Here is a review after completing Tony Robbins Ultimate Mastery Package: It includes 7 different events/Masterminds that you get to be a part of. 1. Unleash the Power from Within 2. Business Mastery 3. Date with Destiny 4. Business Mastery Mastermind 5. Personal Mastery Mastermind 6. Life Mastery 7. Wealth Mastery, I share with you my takeaways from each of the events. My favorite was Date with Destiny in terms of the quality of the content, and of course, being I got to be in beautiful Fiji for Wealth and Life Mastery was unforgettable, and I absolutely enjoyed the quality of people that I met at that event especially after working virtually for so long it was nice being with that many people again.

For context, Tony Robbins is a self development guru who is famous for many things. He started off doing those late night informercials and then he has a Netflix Documentary called I'm not your Guru. There are presidents, famous athletes, and movie stars who pay him millions of dollars to coach them. He's incredibly talented and is probably the best story teller you will ever come across. His net worth at this point is over $500million and donates a ton of money to helping feeding people all over the world.

I share with you how I got started with Tony Robbins and my takeaways from each of the events.

The reason why I got into it is because I started reading a lot of his books.

Money Master the game was probably one of the most influential books I've read that helped on this journey of self worth self healing.

For context to share how its been able to help me, prior to starting the Tony Robbins Programs my earning potentials has almost doubled in the course of less than 2 years. He has personally helped me a lot. If you are skeptical start by reading any of his books. All of them have many nuggets and pearls of wisdom that you can take away and implement in real life.

One of our fraternity brothers Sadath Ahmed passed away this weekend, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect and say we can't always take life for granted.

You will be remembered, brother! Appreciate your energy, and the fun memories we had together, and you left us too soon man...

If you have a bucket list or you haven't created one. We only get this one life so let's make the most of it!

If anyone can make it.

Anyone who is in the NYC area, please feel free to stop by and pay your respects tomorrow, Monday August 8th, 2022 @ 1:00PM at the Jamaica Muslim Center, followed by burial service at Washington Memorial Cemetery in Long Island.

I love reading biographies you can get the whole world of someone's life from reading their biographies and there are always so many juicy takeaways.

"Maharaj-ji told me to be like Gandhi. Now I realized that meant fully participating in the human condition. But what did that look like? Others were better trained to alleviate suffering, like nurses, doctors, and political activists. They manifested compassion or fought injustice in their own ways. As I pondered Maharaj-ji’s instructions, I realized my ability is to serve as a spiritual friend to help others see what lies at the root of suffering and help them to awaken. I could help people get free to serve others."
"Hold on to nothing." MAHARAJ-JI
"Contentment is a practice. It’s not a feeling of accomplishment from doing something. Contentment is just being complete in the moment. In the moment, there is just presence, no future or past, just happy to be here in the moment. Contentment is an attitude of the soul."
"Gandhi said, “When you surrender completely to God as the only Truth worth having, you find yourself in the service of all that exists. It becomes your joy and recreation. You never tire of serving others.” Billions of acts create suffering in the world—acts of ignorance, greed, violence. But in the same way, each act of caring—the billion tiny ways that we offer compassion, wisdom, and joy to one another—serves to preserve and heal our world. When I help someone change their perspective on their individual problems, I also change society. Meher Baba said, “Love is like a disease. Those who don’t have it catch it from those who do.” Love is transmitted from Maharaj-ji’s heart to my heart to your heart and to the next heart, one to another."
"Love the best you can at any moment. Don’t harsh yourself—it can be tricky for everyone having this dual citizenship, of the biographical and the divine. You’re not alone; we are in this together, connected, all one."
"As a teenager, I used to hide on the stairs to listen when Dad led Brandeis board meetings in our living room. I would overhear how they went about hiring and firing professors. I understood then that academia was clearly about who you knew, not what you knew. The power is wielded by money and big names, professors who get grants and have written the most books or papers. I didn’t have the books or brilliant research at Harvard, but I did know the power of connections. I was well-spoken and charismatic, and I was good at dropping a Freudian reference or two to impress my colleagues." It's interesting to see how Western society sees success especially working and interacting with so many business people and you notice there are tons who seem happy and those who have the money and you can tell they aren't as happy or content with life. It certainly makes you think and reflect a bit.
"We stayed in pilgrim rest houses called dharmsalas, some put up by the government, with concrete rooms and wooden beds. At first it was an adventure, and the spartan conditions didn’t bother me. But it was very hot, and as the days went by, I needed to distract myself from the blisters and bad food. I tried to entertain myself narrating my past exploits to Bhagavan Das. I thought he would be amused, but he was completely uninterested. When I told stories, he replied, “Just be here now.” I was thrown back into myself. Just be. Here. Now."
"Suddenly, sitting there, it occurs to me that if Maharaj-ji knows my thoughts about my mother, then he knows all my other thoughts too—including all the things I’m most ashamed of. My bisexual double life. My intellectual pretense. My anger at my mother. I can’t bear that he knows all this. These are things I keep carefully hidden. I’m convinced that if people were to know them, they wouldn’t love me. I’m sitting on the grass looking down, thinking about all these things I’m so ashamed of that I don’t want anyone to know. He’s sitting just above me, on his plank bed. I know he knows every one of these thoughts. He’s talking to other people as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Finally, I summon the courage to look up at him. He’s looking back down at me from only a few inches away—and all I see in his face is total love. I know he knows all these things I’m so ashamed of. He knows, but instead of criticism, all I feel is great love coming from him. He’s not judging me or mocking me or laughing at me. He’s just talking to people. I look up at him, and he looks down at me, and I realize he’s just loving me with pure unconditional love."
"In the West the idea of surrendering to a guru carries negative connotations. It implies giving up power to another human being. But that internal surrender is really about letting go of the things that keep you separate, your own fetters. You surrender to something greater than yourself, to a love beyond form."
"Maharaj-ji kept giving me these experiences with power until I saw it was love, not power, that matters."

Wanted to share why I am passionate about Mental Health Awareness Month.

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month I want to acknowledge all of the Asian Leaders I've been privileged to learn from Jia Hyun, Linda Lin, Lily Youn Jaroszewski, Julie Tran, Michael Wong, Paul Park, Brian Lo, Ken Fung, and my incredible mother! Thank you for all of the sacrifices you all make for the greater good and for the community! Growing up my mother took on a lot of responsibilities being a single parent for 18+ years.

She opened up two nail salons and works tirelessly to provide for us to have a better life than she would was living in Vietnam. We are blessed to have a life of many luxuries she never dreamed possible. I'm grateful that my grandma is still relatively healthy and we get to spend quality time with family.

I wanted to spend this time to reflect my gratitude for your ancestors and think about how much they worked to provide for you to have a life better than they did.

These were my favorite passages from a book about gratitude. I really enjoyed this book.

“Gratitude has a lot to do with holding on to a moment as strongly as possible,” Scott told me. “It’s closely related to mindfulness and savoring. Gratitude can shift our perception of time and slow it down. It can make our life’s petty annoyances dissolve away, at least for a moment.”

"The point is, it’s hard to be grateful if we’re speeding through life, focusing on what’s next, as I tend to do. We need to be aware of what’s in front of us. We need to stop and smell the roses, along with the graham crackers and soil and leather. So today, while sipping coffee with Ed, I tried to practice what psychologists call savoring meditation. I let the coffee sit on my tongue for twenty seconds, which may not sound like a long time, but I don’t want to keep Ed waiting. (And twenty seconds can be powerful if you really make each second count. Quality over quantity, right?) I focused on the viscosity of the liquid, the acidity, the bitterness . . . Was that apricot? I still couldn’t taste the distinct flavors, but I could see a way to unraveling the threads."

"In our society, we fetishize the lead singers. And not just in music. The front people in every field—art, engineering, sports, food—get way too much attention. The cult of celebrity has spread into every corner. We overemphasize individual achievement when, in fact, almost everything good in the world is the result of teamwork. Consider the polio vaccine, which qualifies as a very good thing. According to the book Give and Take, by psychologist Adam Grant, Jonas Salk took all the glory for inventing the polio vaccine. He was on the cover of Time; he became the household name. But the truth of the vaccine’s invention is more nuanced. Salk was part of a team at the University of Pittsburgh."

"But its long-term consequences might be even worse. By elevating individual achievement over cooperation, we’re creating a glut of wannabe superstars who don’t have time for collaboration."

"Yes, I missed the train today, but what about all the times I got to the subway platform just as the doors were opening, allowing me to slip into the car while suppressing a smug smile? The reality is, I’m not unlucky with subways—it just seems that way because the enraging experiences are the ones that stick in my memory. It’s the same distorted way that I process feedback. If I get one hundred compliments and one insult, what do I remember? The insult."

"I recently read an article about the poet Robert Bly, who said that when he was a kid and skinned his knee, his mother would say, “Just be thankful that you didn’t break your leg.” He found it annoying at the time, which is understandable. But he now sees its perverse wisdom."

"In short, I learn that, as with almost everything I take for granted, humans have put an astounding amount of thought and care into creating this unassuming piece of plastic."

“It’s been a wild ride,” Colleen says. She tells me about the time she was watching TV and saw a car commercial and, to her surprise, the driver was using a Java Jacket. It was their first national exposure. “You know that feeling you get when you have a crush on someone, that little giddy feeling? That’s what I felt.” A few years later, the Java Jacket got an even bigger honor. It was featured in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit called “Humble Masterpieces,” where it was displayed alongside an aspirin tablet and LEGO bricks. Colleen calls the experience surreal. “I remember going to New York and it was kind of overwhelming,” says Colleen. “I went to MoMA—the actual MoMA!—and there was our Java Jacket in a glass case. I remember I didn’t stay in the room long, because I wanted to see the Picassos and Monets.” Before I hang up, I ask Colleen to be honest. “Are you grateful I called, or was it more of a pain in your neck?” “No, I’m happy you called. It reminded me how lucky I am. I really feel I won the lottery. I mean, I wouldn’t want everyone who uses the Java Jacket to call, since I might not get any work done. But I’m happy you called.”

"When I ponder the number of gratitude recipients involved, I start to get dizzy. There are the folks at the paper factory where the cardboard is made. The lumberjacks who cut down the trees for the wood pulp to make the cardboard. The metalworkers who manufacture the chainsaws the lumberjacks use. The miners who dig up the iron that is turned into the steel for the chainsaws."

"Over dinner with Julie and the kids, I tell them I’m feeling snowed under. “I seriously think I might have to thank every single human on earth,” I say. Julie looks skeptical. She points to the People magazine lying nearby on the radiator. “What about her? How did Beyoncé help make your coffee?” I pause for a minute, and then I come up with an answer. With enough research, I explain, I could probably get to Beyoncé. Maybe one of the engineers who made the plastic lining for my coffee cup listened to Beyoncé songs to motivate her while studying for her chemistry final. Maybe the guy who drove the warehouse truck blasted Beyoncé to stay alert. “That’s kind of a stretch, don’t you think?” Julie says. “Yes and no,” I say. We are all so interconnected; it’s hard to know where to draw the line."

"On the bad side, • Coffee can wreak havoc on the environment. A group called ClimatePath estimates that one pound of coffee—growing, packaging, shipping, etc.—creates five pounds of carbon dioxide. And that’s not to mention the billions of discarded plastic coffee lids floating in the Pacific. Or how coffee plantations are wiping out forests in Central America. • Coffee is the stimulant of choice by employers who want to overwork their laborers for an unhealthy number of hours. • Coffee farming has led to vast wealth imbalances, with a lucky handful making fortunes as millions remain mired in poverty. Again, to quote Uncommon Grounds, coffee has “led to the oppression and land dispossession of indigenous peoples, the abandoning of subsistence agriculture in favor of exports [and] overreliance on foreign markets.”

"So where to import the water from? The Catskills seemed the perfect solution: The region had lots of rain, the altitude was high enough that gravity could help with delivery, and the residents didn’t have the political power to oppose such a project. And just as important, the water was “soft,” meaning it was low in calcium, the troublesome mineral that clogs up pipes. Its low calcium is also why New York water tastes clean, not metallic. “It’s one of the reasons why New York bagels and New York pizza taste so good,” says Adam."

"This is a huge theme I need to remember as part of Project Gratitude: My comfort often comes at the expense of others. I benefit daily from the disruption to this community. I need to be more grateful for these sacrifices."

“I love New York water,” Kirsten says. “I went to Philadelphia, and I couldn’t drink the water there. It tasted like cucumber to me.”

"But one strategy I’ve found useful is the memento mori, the reminder of death."

"My thoughts on this crystallized a few days ago when my friend sent me an essay called “I, Pencil,” which was written in 1957 by a libertarian scholar named Leonard E. Read. When I started to read the essay, I was alarmed by how similar it was to my coffee project—minus the gratitude and caffeine. Written in the first person from the point of view of the pencil, the essay details the work of the many people and raw materials that go into making a pencil. The cedar trees for the wood. The rubber for the eraser. “Think of all the thousands and thousands of skills . . . the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls.”

"The threat of carbon monoxide is always on their minds. “Every morning,” Pat says, “you have to pay attention to where the wind is blowing, so you know where to go if there’s a leak.” I notice that the two PR people in the room have smiles that are looking increasingly strained. Almost like they’ve gotten a whiff of sulfur themselves. Later, the PR folks will stress to me that they take every precaution that they can. It’s a fair point. Steel is much less dangerous than it used to be decades ago, when mangled body parts and fatal injuries were common (Larry’s grandfather died from getting caught in some steel machinery). Injuries at the plant have declined 94 percent in the last thirty years. Better training and omnipresent signs have probably helped. Everywhere you look you see warnings: HIGH VOLTAGE. TIPOVER HAZARD. STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN. TAKE 2, THINK IT THROUGH. There’s even a crumpled red van left by the railroad tracks as a cautionary reminder; the van was totaled by an oncoming train. I ask Shannon, Joe, and Pat what they like best about their job. “I’m not sorry I stayed here,” says Joe, who had considered leaving to work in the aircraft industry. “It paid for two kids to go through college, and a house and a car and everything else.”

"Next, Ed and I board a cozy, knees-to-the-chin propeller plane and land in a small city called Neiva. We climb into a van for a four-hour ride to an even smaller town called Pitalito. It’s a town, Ed tells me, that is known for two stimulant crops. Coffee is the legal one. After which we get in the back of a pickup truck for a ninety-minute drive up a mountain to the coffee farm. We’re joined by a woman named Lorena, who lives in Colombia and works for the import company. It’s a beautiful ride . . . and highly uncomfortable. We jounce along the rock-strewn road, occasionally letting out involuntary “oofs.” We grab the side of the truck as it hugs tight curves overlooking cliffs. I spot the driver doing something with his right hand that I really wish I hadn’t seen: the sign of the cross."

"Let me pause here for a moment to state the obvious: I am lucky. That was the thought going through my mind as I took the bucket’s strap off my shoulders. I’d just picked coffee beans for ten minutes as research for a book. I didn’t pick coffee beans because I had no other job options and needed to earn money to feed my family, which is the situation of thousands of migrant workers. I picked coffee by choice, not necessity. And how did I arrive at the luxury of having this choice? Well, mostly luck."

"The real world is no doubt a combination of luck and skill, but I lean strongly toward Ecclesiastes. If I had to put numbers to it, 20 percent of my fate has been determined by hard work and persistence, and 80 percent has been cosmic Powerball."

"Luck determined that I was born in the developed world. Luck determined that I was the son of parents who could afford to send me to an expensive college. Luck determined my genetic makeup. And my career? It’s been filled with random breaks. At age twenty-three, I was getting ready to give up on writing and apply to psychology grad school when I sent off a Hail Mary letter addressed only to “Agent at ICM.” It somehow got out of the slush pile and landed on the desk of an Elvis-loving literary agent. He thought my idea for an Elvis-themed book might work. If he’d been a Springsteen fan instead, I might be teaching psychology at a small college."

"I’m not dismissing the need for effort and persistence. Those who worked their way up from the bottom, who didn’t have the advantages I had, need effort and persistence even more than I did. I also acknowledge that, to a certain extent, you make your own luck and create your own opportunities. But only to a certain extent. You also need pure luck. As Barack Obama said in a postpresidential interview with David Letterman, “I worked hard and I’ve got some talent, but there are a lot of hardworking, talented people out there. There was an element of chance to it, this element of serendipity.”

I agree with our former president. There are millions of hardworking, persistent people around the world living below the poverty line. I believe there are thousands of could-have-been Meryl Streeps working as waitresses because they didn’t get the lucky breaks. There are thousands of alternative-universe Steve Jobs working on assembly lines in factories. Here’s why I’m a fan of thanking our lucky stars every day: it helps with forgiving yourself your failures; it cuts down on celebrity worship and boosts humility; and, perhaps most important, it makes us more compassionate."

"By thanking Chung’s parents, I’ve broken a thousand thanks . . . more or less. Could be 987, could be 1,015, but I’m counting it as the thousandth, since it seems tidy. Chung texts back a series of emojis and exclamation points. “Please tell Zane thank you. And thank you to you both for making me think more about all that I should be grateful for in my life.” She says she’s thankful for the sacrifices her parents made as immigrants. She says that after our talk, she’s realized gratitude is a discipline that needs to be practiced. It doesn’t always come naturally, even to glass-half-full types like her."

It's been a wild ride! Wow, this year has been full of ups and downs and self-discovery.

Transformation can occur in a moment with a choice. A decision.

The beauty of an invitation is that a new world of possibility is present.

When someone invites us, whether it's a new job opportunity from a recruiter/headhunter or being invited to a BNI(Business Networking International), something becomes possible that you didn't know about. Attending networking events, I met someone named Joslyn who introduced me to the world of Accomplishment Coaching. She kept inviting me, and I remember that the observation days were once a week on a Saturday morning from ten am to 12:30 pm. I remember sitting there and being captivated by the vulnerability of the people in the coaching training program. It's funny how things turn out.

I was on this random Networking app, which led me to meet some guy named JP Pullos, one of the Landmark Team Management and Leadership Program leaders. I randomly accepted an invite to a networking event that hosts over 120 + guests somewhere in the basement of a corporate building located near Union Square in NYC. I never knew that saying yes to things and accepting that invite would lead me down the path of BNI, where I get to meet with thousands of people for 5 + years, waking up and attending a 7 am networking event. Through these beautiful networking events, I met Joslyn, and my life shifted the moment I signed up for $16,000 program that seemed like a tremendous amount of money. Don't get me wrong, it's still a heavy investment, and that program alone has given me over $100,000+ in value in terms of self-fulfillment and self-actualization.

A simple yes can you lead you to many thousands of people. Being uncomfortable and open to rejection by reaching out to a buddy of mine now but a random stranger at the time, Garrett, through searching through LinkedIn to find employees who graduated from Rutgers has changed my life getting into selling a Learning and Development Product. Simple choices can have monumental impacts on our lives if we choose to go outside our comfort zone.

Just yesterday, I received a thank you note from someone that I did a workshop with, and it filled my heart to see her implementing some of the advice that makes a difference in my career and how if people implemented it in their lives, it would go a long way.

My call to action is think of minor decisions and how they can lead to a world of possibility? Was it when you dared to propose to your significant other, and now you have beautiful kids, that you cannot imagine a world without them?

Think of what life would be like if we dared to fail more often, but in those courageous moments, something else opens up for you that was never there before.

Reading Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart and one of the chapters speaks about Boredom as one of the most complex human emotions to be with. We can distract ourselves with social media, drugs, or anything to keep our minds from just being with ourselves.

Being with boredom is tough... How do you distract yourself with you are with Boredom?

I tend to do it by watching documentaries, Netflix, YouTube Freestyle raps with Harry Mack, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.... What am I running away from?

I've spent over $1000 dollars a year on books and audiobooks through Audible, Amazon prime, and it's interesting because I will do everything in my power to escape boredom...

Meditation is still one of the most challenging things to be with, and it's also one of the most rewarding. The privilege to be able to sit with oneself, deprived of any distractions that involve going on a rollercoaster instead of a story around traveling the world to be happy. Don't get me wrong, traveling is pretty awesome and will always be a massive part of my life memories and experiences, but how many of us do not enjoy what we do every day from 9 to 5 that we have to escape our normal lives to be happy for a week or so?

Happiness is an interesting concept, right? It's fleeting as well. I know when I'm happy its when I'm truly present to the moment and I get wrapped up in the moment so much that I forget all of the bills and responsibilities that I have out in the world whether thats paying a mortgage or trying to "get ahead" in life through promotions and achievements.

Regrets are an interesting concept as well. We all have some regrets in life, and the more you look at it, if these things didn't happen- it wouldn't make you the unique person you are today. Some of my biggest regrets end up being a blessing in disguise because something comes along, and you label it regret. Some of my worst decisions in life were a huge lesson for me, learning from my mistakes. One of my biggest regrets is that it took me this long to forgive my father. In my holding into that resentment, it led me to be in one of the most impactful transformative personal development programs in the Landmark Worldwide. I'm grateful to be in this work because this quarter alone my team is responsible for transforming 175+ lives. So thank you, father for helping me be in this work where I get to transform lives on a daily basis. What a privilege to be alive.

Resignation is a tough one. How many times have we felt stuck in a pattern and we are resigned thinking that we have absolutely no control over the situation. Of course, there were always macro economic conditions where you live in a country that is a dictatorship or in a society where women make less money than men.

How much power does it give you to think that we are screwed, and there is nothing I can do personally to make a dent in such huge issues that we have in the world like climate change or Black Lives Matter.

Resignation is a sign that perhaps the issue is that we are not taking 100% responsible for how we show up in the world.

Being resigned means that there is something that I am not giving up in my listening that is causing me to act in a victim-like manner.

Of course, I can blame gaslighting, and we all have our moments where people are being cruel to us. The question is what am I going to do something about it, or what about that specific comment triggered me so much? A more powerful way of being is asking yourself how can I be 100% responsible for how I react to this situation?

In Man's Search for Meaning, we ask ourselves wow is my life that bad compared to how others have it? Even compared to just ten years ago, we are always living more luxurious lives as a whole. Survival is still the name of the game for so many people and I have it that there is a better way to live life.

Withdraw is the scariest out of all of these emotions. From withdraw nothing is possible. I've withdrew many times because I believe that I do not matter. The funny thing about withdraw is that nothing ever gets resolved. Whatever I resist, it persists. Just because I quit a company doesn't mean that context will never show up in a different role or opportunity. If I think my manager is a jerk, well, have I set proper boundaries that show up I will not be taking calls at 7am in the morning? When we take 100% responsible for our lives, anything is possible.

I never said it would be easy. I'll leave you with this. When we start to realize that everything in life is a choice of how I show up in the world and whether or not I'm going to watch TV today to numb myself from whatever responsibility I'm hiding from.

Of course, I have many of my own challenges that I'm working through right now with a financial advisor and my therapist. At the moment, budgeting and finances is the thing that I'm resisting the most. I live a life of hedonism and fun and its led to some of the most incredible memories in the world that I will always be grateful for. Now I get to choose to build a future that involves something bigger than just myself.

I'm curious what you got from this conversation? Feel free to share below in the comments section.

One of the beautiful things about being a world traveler is that anything is possible. Growing up with limited resources living off of government assistance, I had a lot of stories about how traveling is for rich people. Not being present to well I was spending that money at bars and going out to restaurants with friends and spending it on other things like going out to eat all of the time instead of staying in and cooking for myself(saving money- long term thinking and short term sacrifice). Delayed gratification is key.

I realized that every choice has consequences. Am I spending it on fun activities that I love? Am I relating to these breakdowns as problems or as an area of opportunity? It's the same thing just needs a little bit of tweaking to how we perceive things.

I realized I could have a bit of both worlds if I selected a job that allows me to travel. I've been blessed to have the privilege of being in Business to Business sales where I get to travel to Warwick, United Kingdom, Berlin, Germany, Las Vegas at CoachHub, Las Vegas for both Experian Marketing Services and LinkedIn Learning Solutions. I'll never forget all of the those beautiful moments where I get to meet so many interesting people from all over the world at the company's dime. The relationships I've built, the memories where I can to go eat fine dining and all of the wonderful conversations I get to have.

Since then, I've created enough means to travel twice now to Austin, Texas, for the Sales Success Summit, a podcast community that I've met through looking through podcast recommendations. I've also traveled to Columbus Ohio for the Summit of Greatness and just booked my flight to get there again in person this year. There is something magical about booking a flight and future fulfilled you know it's going to be an awesome time. Does anyone else get nervous/ excited when they are in a new place/ new state/country they haven't been before? The butterflies feelings is great isn't it?

I'm sharing with you all of this because I never thought in a million years would I be able to create a life where I can go to Fiji this July and be able to live this life of privilege. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have this secret sauce that not everyone knows about. Yes, millions of people have discovered the Landmark Landmark and millions still haven't. I want to acknowledge for giving me the freedom and peace of mind from completing chapters of my life so that I can be present and truly just create from nothing. I get to create from an empty blank canvas not from what I've done in the past.

Journal prompt for you today: What decisions were uncomfortable for you during the moment but have yielded some of the best Return on Investment, ever?

Was it the mortgage that seemed too scary, but now you live in a house that you never thought was possible, and your family feels safe and secure? Or was it taking that job that seemed so scary leaving a company where you've cultivated so many incredible relationships? That's how I felt when I left LinkedIn, TriNet, and BountyJobs.

Was it spending extra money on a honeymoon that seemed impossible to pay, and you know you will put in some extra elbow to make it work? All of the memories and excellent restaurants that you got to experience. Traveling and watching the sunsets/sunrise on the breath taking beaches.

For me, Landmark Worldwide, Next Level Trainings, Accomplishment Coaching, and Tony Robbins have all been extravagant wishes that seemed impossible because of the price tag associated with some of these programs that have yielded a life that I never dreamed possible at the ripe age of 34.

What is something you have been putting off or that you will accomplish one day?

Visualize how that makes you feel and all of the conversations that needed to be had to make it possible.

You can choose a life that comfortable or choose a life that may consist of uncomfortable conversations that led to miracles you never thought was possible. The ball is in your court. =)

Top Ten Takeaways from March 2022

You get to choose whoever you want to be. Anything is possible when you come from nothing.
Don't be afraid of discomfort. Actually, invite it into your life. The best things in life come from being a bit uncomfortable...
Recovery is essential I pushed close to my limit and took a couple of weeks off from physical now, I'm stronger than ever from giving myself space to heal.
Not to rush the process, if it's anything that our ENFP book project has taught us, is that enjoying what you have now is the key to being happy.
I love reading biographies. I love the early morning peace where you have time to yourself to lay on the couch and read a good book.
Less is more. My financial advisor gave me good advice why do I have so many checking accounts? When do we overcomplicate things? It feels good to bring back integrity into places in our lives that aren’t working.
I'm growing and evolving and am not a people pleaser. Declaring that gives me power, and I value my time a lot more.
The power of networking- sometimes, I feel like I spend way too much getting to know people, but it always fills my cup and brings me joy. You have to respect what you love to do and do not compromise, especially if doing those brings you happiness.
Teams and Teamwork- I'm so grateful for my trusted partner Adam Platek. He's a rockstar and certainly makes my job easier when he's crushing it!
Being able to give back. Nothing feels more gratifying than helping someone else out.

Huge shout out to the Midwest Chinese American Student Association for allowing me the privilege to meet so many incredible up-and-coming leaders!

I was able to host two workshops 1 on Mindset and conquering our fears and 1 on Building Your Professional Brand and Leveraging LinkedIn to find your dream job.

I'm always amazed at how this LinkedIn community comes together to support everyone. Thank you, Ashton Yuen and Rebecca Yang @stephen wan for putting together such a great group of leaders!

These were my takeaways from this past week. Proud of myself for accomplishing so much and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.

Here is an effort to be more consistent with my podcast and to share openly about the struggles and the ups and downs of life.

The differences between Therapy and Coaching. If you are considering going to see a therapist. Check out psychologytoday, it is a very useful resource. I received some feedback about how I did not touch upon therapy and wanted to share some of the differences I have found between coaching and Therapy.

If you have considered therapy in the past, definitely take that plunge. It's made a world of a difference for me leveraging such platforms such as Lyra Health

Sharing with you all my vision board. Here you go! Make Sammy Laugh everyday! Hiking with Steve Alt’s group or with friends 12+ a year Fellas In Person Hang out Stay hungry to set up a life of my family Stay connected Present to humanity. Gratitude Stay grateful. Mindful Eating, mindfulness commuting. Mindful Driving. Have a blast in Vegas (Valentine's day weekend) Look up and save recipes for us to try. Meal Prep 2x a week. Cook 52+ meals with wifey. Have an average of 10+ Fellas come out once a month (men’s group) Host 4+ Board Game Nights Go to Beach and watch the sunset with Sammy 10+ Asbury Park, Checking out different Jersey Shores Have an Accomplishment Coaching Get together 4+ Sammy weekend getaways - Maine, Vermont, Baltimore, DC Have a Birthday gathering at ElevenMadison 2+ Guys Night out Sales Success Summit in Austin Texas (October 10th, October 11, 2022) Fiji July 2022 Tony Robbins (July 6th to the 12th, 2022) Look any flight details. Family Gatherings- Host a Hang hang out. Host an integrated hang out with all of the sisters (Megan, Sammy, Edwin, Holly, Tina, and Jenny) paint night with the canvas Summit of Greatness with Lewis Howes 9/8/22 (Thursday to Saturday 9/10/22) BuildOn Trip (figure out dates once COVID dies down a bit Flew to Orlando Florida for Work Stayed with Lionel in Vermont (Killington have to reschedule for Summit of Greatness) 1+ Family trip this year 1+Winter Hike in the snow this year Reached out to Reschedule the Spartan Super Orlando for Family gathering with the Hangs Got promoted to Head of Sales Development Recruited 10+ coworkers in 2022 Reached 120%+ of my Number in FY 2022 Enjoyed the rest of Landmark Daily Meditation Daily Journal (Tony Robbins 7 questions and 3 questions to end your day CrossFit (3x a week) Completed my first CrossFit Open participate in it Hiked with Prem Reached 200+ Episodes of The Davidson Hang Podcast Mountain Biking with Jason everytime I’m in Vegas (Having fun mountain biking 3+ times) Released Memoir in 2022 Released ENFP book in 2022 Completed Trifecta plus Ultra Beast! Completed my first ultra marathon. Signed up and registered for Landmark’s Wisdom Courses- spoke with 3 people about it. Chelsea, Susan to learn more about it Save up 15k+ for Hawaii Fund/ trip in the future

If you want a visual representative check out this here.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13_f83YnF2g5Co_InP8ZCdPEbQNvEcItsycIbRc0y3h8/edit?usp=sharing

What an amazing year of discovery, travel, love, from our honeymoon in Hawaii to traveling to Berlin, Germany for the first year in my life. Here are some of the top 21 memories of this year in 2021(Not in any particular order) 1. Visiting the newly built Vanderbilt right next to Grand Central. The experience and the views were magnificent! 2. Having our 4th of July BBQ was a lot of fun! 3. Acadia Maine Trip (First family vacation in 18 years! 4. Board Game Night at our place with a lot of friends was a blast! 5. Honeymoon in Hawaii! 6. Enjoying our favorite restaurants again now that things opened back up again. Very Fresh Noodles(Chelsea Market) for instance! #TaiwaneseBeefNoodleSoup 7. Our home is coming together after a year of being home owners we poured a lot of time, energy, and resources into building this incredible home that we love to spend a lot of time at especially hosting friends and family. 8. Sales Success Summit in Austin, Texas! #SalesSuccessSummit 9. The sunsets and sunrises in Hawaii 10. The beautiful drives up and down Hawaii's lush green mountains 11. Completing a Spartan Trifecta plus another Killington Beast for good luck! 12. Roadtripping to New Hampshire for the Spartan hanging out in Concord, NH 13. Hanging out with Lionel in Vermont 14. Starting at my dream company CoachHub! Hanging out with Anthony and Van. 15. When Ivana came to visit NYC! It's amazing when you meet someone who reminds you so much of yourself. 16. Hanging out in Berlin with CoachHubbers for our annual summit! 17. Opening up our NYC office at CoachHub! 18. HR Tech in Vegas! 18. Mountain Biking for the first time in Nevada with my cousin Jason! 19. Rail Explorers with my love~ #Catskills 20. When Davis and Regina came to visit us over on the east coast again! 21. Tony Robbins Date with Destiny wow what a powerful experience!

Here are the top books that I've read in 2021 that I would recommend to you all. #JoeRoganPodcast #SelfDevelopment #Audible #Kindle Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence- Anna Lembke- I heard about her from the Joe Rogan podcast and some really interesting research on our addiction to our phones. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know- Adam Grant Start Where Others Stop- Zack George (Great for motivation and people who are into personal fitness or starting your own business) Lots of tips for entrepreneurs people who are building their personal brand. The Last Lecture- Randy Pausch Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World- Charles Koch High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life- Tiffany Jenkins Alica Keys: More Myself: A Journey The Full Body Yes: Change Your Work and Your World from the Inside Out. Scott Shute Redefining Masculinity: Visions for a New Way of Being (Gotta give myself so Love) :) The Biography of Kamala Harris Audible(Audiobook) I always appreciate it when the narrator is the author and can be a bit biased because of that. Beginner's Mind by Yo-Yo Ma 26 Marathons by Med Keflezighi - incredible of one of the most competitive runners and world record breaker that I've ever heard of it. What an inspirational story. Will by Will Smith Act Like You Got Some Sense by Jamie Foxx My Year of Running Dangerously by Tom Foreman I Would Love Me If I Could. by Halsey Sell It Like Serhant- Ryan Serhant - This was great for motivation and if you want to hustle more. Inquire Within- In-Q How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big- Scott Adams The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani Founder of Mind Valley

https://youtu.be/hmRKSZwliMQ

https://pod.link/1507691859

I was trying to enroll one of my mentees into this Personal Development Program called the Landmark Forum, and I realized how frustrated I was getting when he told me he dropped out of the program. My blood was boiling. I can't believe how angry I was that he wasn't listening to me. It's interesting when you see so much on yourself in another human being.

Lately, I have been meeting with my therapist, CoachHub coach, and my executive coach that I have been working with for a year and a half now. I'm very grateful that I have so many support systems through work, surrounded myself with great people through the mens' group that I put together.

When I was doing the Tony Robbins Date with Destiny, one of the big realizations I had was that I would like to have more faith and trust in society, systems, and the world. I'm typically a pretty optimistic guy, and some of it was false optimism where I do believe in humanity, but for some reason, I have resistance towards big brother and organizations. I understand people are inherently good, but for some reason, when you get everyone together all of a sudden, the system is bad. It's interesting how the human mind works. We are capable of building such beautiful things, yet we are also capable of such destruction.

These are my top ten lessons that I learned from doing Tony Robbins.

I am loved, and there is no amount of external validation that will give me the type of love that self-love does the body good.
Knowing that, I know nothing. One of my survival mechanisms is judgmental guru meaning that I think I know better because I've read so many books and have listened to so many podcasts from the world's most extraordinary people. The more I dive into things, the more I realize how much we don't know. Pattern recognition is essential, and it's great for problem-solving but not great for when a loved one wants to be heard and recognized.
Keeping yourself in a peak state is essential- that looks different for everyone. For me, it looks like Crossfit in the morning, with some stretching so that my legs and body are loose. A bit of meditation, getting some air outside, and some social interaction. I also love being able to read and learn something new every week.
How lucky I have to be so blessed with a job that I enjoy. Not everyone has a career where they are excited to come to work every day. I get to work with Talent Development folks, and it's so cool to be able to contribute the way we do.
Tony Robbins is a masterful Story Teller. He's so gifted and talented in leaving you hanging on to every word. I've listened to a lot of speeches. I have read so many biographies, and I'm captivated by charismatic people. The way he understands someone's world and can help them get over things like depression and suicide is such a gift. He was able to help this one lady who was going to take her life right after Date with Destiny, and he flew her into West Palm Beach to meet him and everyone there. That was such a beautiful sight.
I've come a long way. To have this life where I get to make a difference, be present to my beautiful wife, and how much unconditional love we have for each other.
Effective Blaming- We all remember a lot of the negative things that our parents have done "to us," but most of us do not remember all of the beauty that our parents have created for us. I was present to how my dad sacrificed a lot for us to live a life in America. The pressures of being a parent are not easy, especially when you have three kids. He lost a bit of himself taking care of us. I can genuinely acknowledge him now, and yes, sometimes I have my off days, but I can truly just be with him and not want him to be any different. That's huge for me even to say that.
To focus my energy and time on family and with my wife- I'm so lucky that she's been very patient with me, and I love how we have been spending time cooking together and discovering each other newly. I don't need any more friends. I have enough friends a part of me will always enjoy meeting new people. This new chapter in our lives will revolve around enjoying the present moment and being able to spend quality time with my lovely wife. Yesterday, we watched Doctor Who, and being able to enjoy and give time so that I can even watch TV with her is a blessing.
Creating my relationship vision where we get to intentionally design travel and visit all of the countries. Whenever we focus our energies on something. It's way more likely to happen.
My new primary question which is, How can I fully appreciate the peace at this moment? Such a simple reminder of being able to enjoy my life and not rush the process.

I hope you enjoyed my takeaways. Please subscribe for more content.

Sharing with you my vision, Mission Statement, Towards and Away Values and Rules. My Relationship Vision, My Power Virtues, and my top 4 year goals.

Towards Values and Rules. 1. Abundance 2. Connection 3. Generosity 4. Prosperity 5. Gratitude 6. Wealth 7. Adventure 8. Family 9. Grace 10. Mission 11. Growth 12. Compassion 13. Cheer Power Virtues 1. Commitment 2. Passion 3. Honesty 4. Courage

https://youtu.be/1uSsCwIr_1Y

I wanted to share with you what's been going on in my life. If I love myself fully I can be with any communication.

Hope you enjoyed my vulnerable share. Thank you for Landmark for the beautiful coaching.

Your strength report is a first important milestone for setting goals with your coach during your first session. We will show you here an overview of your coaching assessment based on your responses. You will find your biggest strengths in an ordered list starting from the top. It’s up to you to decide on what you would like to focus during your coaching - be it strengthening your strengths or activating your resources in certain areas.

Sharing with you my results from CoachHub's Strengths Report

10/8/21 Vision 10/10 Growth Mentality 10/10 Values 10/10 Goal Setting 10/10 Motivation 10/10 Problem Solving 1010 Delegation 10/10 Appreciation 10/10 Collaboration 10/10 Time Management 9/10 Emotional Regulation 9/10 Authencity 9/10 Feedback 9/10 Resilience 8/10 Centeredness 8/10 Mindfulness 8/10 Communication 8/10 Conflict Management 7.5/10

We discussed reflections on happiness, gratitude, what I'm excited about, travel, my honeymoon coming up, what I'm proud of, enjoying the most, and what an amazing year so far!

Career Hopper

Being labeled as a career hopper certainly has messed with my confidence. I have been told by leaders that no one will ever hire a career hopper because they simply aren’t committed. I remember being told that and feeling so hopeless. I now have the perspective that I gave it my all and contributed so much to every organization I have been a part of. I even had a company I worked for that went out of business and saw that I get to be with the consequences of my decisions.

I also realized that it's okay to be want to explore and try so many different things. I no longer have any regret for the 30+ different jobs I’ve worked at over the course of my lifetime. From waiting tables and understanding the value of a dollar. I was able to meet so many interesting people and I fall in love with humanity every single time. I’m fortunate to have a job that pays extremely well and I get to travel the world. It wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies. I’ve been told be careful hiring him he is definitely someone who might not stay here a long time. Luckily because I have been so fortunate to work for so many companies I know what perfection looks like in terms of employee experience and company culture. I have been able to find the purple squirrel the company that I have been looking for my whole life. Many people give up the pursuit of perfection in many areas some of us are still seeking that in their partner. CoachHub gives me the autonomy and ability to coach and be able to have impact in the world. Finding your northstar can be challenging with all of the noise and responsibility that comes with living in Western Society. There is a pressure to fit in to make money, buy nice things, live in a pretty house, and drive cool cars. It’s hard to believe that I have that life now where I get to impact so many people every day. If I’m truly present I can pinch myself every day because I get to wake up to a beautiful wife, live in what I perceive to be a mansion in a new construction home where I never even thought was possible at my age.

I remember feeling so hopeless and that I was so behind when I was making $26k a year graduated with a Bachelors and when I interviewed at 100+ different jobs. Going through what I call a quarter-life crisis. In my 20s, I feel like I was not a good salesperson. I was always good at meeting people and making friends and in my career, I was never too motivated. I dated someone once who asked me what I wanted to make in my 30s,40s,50s I remember thinking that $100k was a pretty decent salary. I feel extremely blessed to have had so many opportunities where people took a chance on me despite having not the most stable backgrounds and job history. Giving myself a lot more credit than I did in the past, I can honestly say that I poured my heart and soul into all of my jobs. I always give effort and I wore my heart on my sleeve.

Being an ENFP, I also realize that when choosing a career/job make sure it’s social and does not require doing the same task over and over again. I get to go to cool conferences where I learn something new every time. I get to travel and experience different cultures, airports and meet genuinely good people who are trying to make a difference in their company through training and development. If you were to tell me 10 years ago that I will be working with Learning and Development professionals every day I would have told you that you are crazy. I honestly didn’t have much confidence in myself. There was no proven track record of anything other than being extremely social and being a part of many different groups, organizations.

Thanks, everyone!

So far on Amazon, we’ve sold 33 paperbacks and had 203 Kindle Downloads!

It’s been a team effort!

Mark Hunter, MCC, Edwin Aristor, MBA, Christopher Paige, Alex Terranova, PCC, ACCC, CHC, Elizabeth Hill, MSW, ACC, Ryan Hall, Peter McLean

Let’s help us climb up the Amazon Best Sellers List!

“Man up!” “Be a man!” “Are you man enough?” Well… can you? Are you? Are you sure of who you are as a man? Maybe you’ve given it a lot of thought and struggled. Maybe it never occurred to you to explore this topic! Either way, it is now time to think deeply of who we are and who we want to be in the world. And that includes expressions of our gender identity. The concept of what makes a man, what really defines his masculinity, has been the topic of much debate, exploration, and controversy in recent years. In this compilation of insightful essays, our group of thought leaders and men reflect on what shaped their own masculinity. Dream with them of a future where masculinity is no longer a topic around the battle of self, but instead embraces a vision of healthy strength and balance, and a strong sense of who you can be as a modern man in a constantly changing and challenging world. We explore topics such as: Defining the word masculinity – both its negative and positive uses -Moving beyond toxic masculinity -Self-expression -Vulnerability -Intimacy -The role of ethnicity and racism -Relationships -Expressions of faith -Ego -Relating to the same and to opposite genders

Men, if you’re ready to explore your sense of self, if you’re ready to take the next step and begin to define a healthy sense of masculinity for you, if you’re ready to cast off society’s toxic expectations … then this book is for you.

I want to acknowledge everyone’s contributions! Thank you for contributing and lets us know if you are interested in purchasing a signed copy. I just bought 100 more physical copies that are coming in the mail this month. (Donating a portion of it to the Orphans’ Futures Alliance) My goal is to raise $10,000 to support Orphans in Southeast Asia.

redefiningMasculinity

Redefining Masculinity: Visions for a New Way of Being

I wanted to discuss and closeout Mental Health Awareness Month with this message. I just finished a Peloton ride about it's okay to not be okay all of the time and wanted to discuss this critical topic with you all. It's okay to show that you are struggling and that you've had a tough year. I've been guilty of only highlighting certain aspects of my life, for instance, when I get married and just purchased our first home, but the reality is that life is full of ups and downs. I've been better at showcasing some of the downs in my life, but I could do a better job sharing with you all during these down cycles.

Here are my takeaways from Next Level Trainings Discovery an Emotional Intelligence 3 day experience with Christopher Hawkins.

Getting over my fear of looking bad.
Having a growth mindset.
Love is the answer to everything.
Being able to create a vision for my relationship with my beautiful wife.
Law of attraction-related lessons. https://www.nextleveltrainings.com/ Next Level emotional intelligence leadership trainings draw on theories from psychology, neurolinguistics, neuroscience, sociology, and organizational development to support participants in unlocking their full potential. These are not boring classes, they are sophisticated, intensive, experiential workshops. The experience of them is fascinating, powerful, provocative, and undeniably valuable. They are for people who are ready to create extraordinary results in their lives.

Lessons from an Asian American perspective. These passages really stood out to me. For those of you who do not know who David Chang is. He is one of the most famous restaurateurs out there and I enjoyed his book on overcoming adversity from the lens of being an Asian American. "The downside to the term tiger parenting entering the mainstream vocabulary is that it gives a cute name to what is actually a painful and demoralizing existence. It also feeds into the perception that all Asian kids are book smart because their parents make it so. Well, guess what. It’s not true. Not all our parents are tiger parents, tiger parenting doesn’t always work, and not all Asian kids are good at school. In fact, not all Asian kids are any one thing. To be young and Asian in America often means fighting a multifront war against sameness." Imposter syndrome is real for many Asian Americans who don't feel like they will ever fit in white Society because of the color of their skin but stick out like a sore thumb in Asian because of their American tendencies and ways. Asian names that could be misinterpreted as swear-words in English. The EPA tried to shut us down because they were getting complaints of pork smells emanating from the restaurant, which is not an uncommon grievance leveled against Asian establishments in gentrifying neighborhoods. PETA picketed the restaurant on the few occasions that we served foie gras. When we started getting complaints about the noisiness of our HVAC unit, I swear it was the vegans trying to bleed us dry. We spent thousands changing the fan belt and proving that the noises coming from the exhaust were inaudible to human ears. I’m tempted to blame han. Throughout this book, I will argue against the validity of various cultural truths, but I believe in han. There’s no perfect English-language equivalent for this Korean emotion, but it’s some combination of strife or unease, sadness, and resentment, born from the many historical injustices and indignities endured by our people. It’s a term that came into use in the twentieth century after the Japanese occupation of Korea, and it describes this characteristic sorrow and bitterness that Koreans seem to possess wherever they are in the world. It is transmitted from generation to generation and defines much of the art, literature, and cinema that comes out of Korean culture. "I will not deny that there are benefits to being part of what is often described as a “white-adjacent” or “model” minority. I grew up trying my damnedest to integrate into white society. But among the many problems with the myth of the model minority is that it erases the nuances of the Asian American experience. It also sows division, both within our community and with others. Now, if you will forgive a little bit of self-directed racial discrimination, I am what you might call a “twinkie.” Yellow on the outside, white on the inside. There are various factions within the Asian American population, and I definitely reside in the one that looks Asian but lives like a white person. When I visited Korea as part of a program with students from multiple colleges, I found myself excluded from all of the Korean-born, Korean-speaking, and generally more Korean social groups that formed. Then, once we landed in Seoul, the locals knew immediately from my size that I was a gyopo, or foreign-born Korean, so I gravitated to the other twinkies. I didn't yet know how to embrace my Korean heritage, which, ironically, only deepened my experience of han." Check out my blog post for all of the quotes. https://davidsonhang.com/2021/04/01/david-changs-memoir/ 9. By confronting failure, you take fear out of the equation. You stop shying away from ideas just because they seem like they may not work. You start asking whether an idea is “bad” because it’s actually bad or because the common wisdom says so. You begin to thrive when you’re not supposed to. You just have to be comfortable with instability, change, and a great deal of stress. "These were the same guys who had said things like “I need to take a shower to wash the gook off” after hooking up with Asian girls in school. Now there was a class reunion coming up and they were inviting me to hang out. That sort of interaction really screwed with my head. I didn’t become famous for being handsome or athletic or musically gifted. I was just a cook." My takeaways from the book is he was able to take advantage of the internet and all of these rising bloggers and realizing the importance of building a community and treating them right where against did not respect them and the power they had. He discussed very vulnerable about a lot of the microaggressions and straight-out racism he has experienced in a eurocentric dominated industry with how fine dining is considered to be European and more recently he has seen that Asian restaurants are starting to be more respected but we have a long way to go in America.

I woke up at 6am this morning feeling confused and had the urge to share my thoughts on Anti-Asian Hate crimes. I am just speaking for myself and do not represent all Asian Americans but I am just sharing some of my experiences as an Asian American Male who despite being born in America will never viewed as an American even though I've never been to Asia just because of the color of my skin. Reading Michelle Kim’s article inspired me to want to share openly in hopes of educating a few what many people don’t know about Asian American hate crimes. "They show a 91-year-old Chinese man being shoved to the ground in Oakland’s Chinatown on Sunday, January 31st, just two days before an 84-year-old Thai man, Vicha Ratanapakdee, was pushed and killed in San Francisco, and multiple accounts of robberies targeting Asian-owned businesses in Chinatowns. In New York, a 61-year-old Filipino man was slashed across the face from ear to ear on Feb 3rd, and on the same day, a 70-year-old Asian woman was assaulted and robbed in Oakland." I would like to share with you all some stories from my past that I know have made me who I am.

Working at a previous company where I called racist comments as my nickname.
At a team outing that traumatized with the Men's Cross Country and Track at Cherry Hill West.
With one of my best friends back in High School
A hurtful comment with a formal manager of mine
Random moments walking around Queens/Brooklyn/New Brunswick being called Jackie Chan.
A story about my wife’s younger sister sharing that she was walking to Target and had a bus of kids say go back to China…
My mom was afraid of going to Costco because of the racial comments fearing for her life. In the US, there were 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents, mostly against women, in past year. Asian women report hate incidents 2.3 times more than men.

The founder and director of demographic data and policy research nonprofit AAPI Data have said that a confluence of factors, including the effects of poverty and financial struggle exacerbated by the pandemic, as well as opportunity, could have played into the heightened anti-Asian sentiment.

How can you be an ally and take action?

Educate yourself. These articles and learning more about these incidents will give you some more awareness of how we have been feeling but Asians typically don’t have a voice in mainstream media.

These 5 articles are a good place to start.

Vincent Chin-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Vincent_Chin
Chinese Massacre of 1871-https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-mssacre-1871
Read this article by Michelle Kim- https://medium.com/awaken-blog/on-anti-asian-hate-crimes-who-is-our-real-enemy-207ee7354926
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth
Learn more about the Model Minority Myth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txbtTCckp_k

It wasn't easy creating this video to share openly about how I feel about the Anti-Asian Sentiment but Thanks for listening.

These are some of the passages that really stood out to me.

"I’m often asked where my melodies and lyrics come from. I may never fully comprehend how a song sprouts from nothingness into existence, and truthfully, I’m not tempted to decode the mystery. I hope to be constantly surprised, in amazement of how the tiny seed of a possible chord or lyric miraculously springs to life. That unexplainable process, that alchemy, is part of what separates art from logic and reason. I don’t create from a set of rules or formulas. I tap into my true feelings and experiences and allow them to guide me."
"Life’s current was so obviously carrying me in the direction of music, and rather than trying to swim back upstream, I simply let the tide carry me forward. At the time, I wouldn’t have described it that way, nor did I truly understand that there was a flow with my name on it. But from this side of life, I can see how every moment, every experience, every pivot, even my supposed missteps have been life’s way of getting me where I have always been meant to go. Rather than resisting the current, I’ve learned to surrender."
"a mother whose very presence gave me a deep sense of stability, the solid grounding I felt each time I walked through our apartment door. In essence, I longed for two mutually exclusive realities: inextricable connection and full-fledged self-reliance."
“It saddens me that most of my heart is bitter towards you,” I wrote. “It’s only that little part that feels sad that’s not bitter … all I want is for you to mind your own business. I don’t want the phone calls. I don’t want the letters. I don’t want the fake acts you pull to try and make me think you care. I don’t want anything.” By the time those words rolled from the tip of my pen and onto my notebook paper, my longing for my father had hardened into resentment. My mother still recalls the many times when Craig said he’d fly in to see me but, for reasons unknown to me then, he did not show up. I’d sit beside the window in our living room, looking down over the terrace to see if I could glimpse him arriving. An hour or so after the appointed time, the phone would ring and I would overhear my mother, in hushed tones in her bedroom, saying, “Okay, I understand.” Moments later she’d emerge into the living room with disappointment etched on her forehead as she announced, “He can’t make it.” That was it. Conversation over. Expectations once again dashed."
"became my people. And yet through every age and stage, I kept my mask in position. The less others really knew about me, I reasoned, the less ammunition they’d have to make me look foolish. Only if I revealed my tender spots could they wound me. My true self, the one I kept so deeply concealed, only emerged in my diaries. There, I could unveil. If Mom got heated and I got tongue-tied, I could escape to sort out my thoughts and gather my words before the two of us spoke again. And alongside my musings and misgivings lived my poetry, my unfinished lyrics, my schoolgirl crushes, my feelings about Craig. On cotton pages scrawled with purple ink, I didn’t have to be tough or brave or capable or strong. I could just be me."
"My ballet teacher, thin and lanky, ordered me to “tuck in” my thick behind after I’d already tried to do so. With her second request, I became acutely aware that my butt was never going to “tuck in” as tightly as those of my classmates with smaller backsides. I suddenly felt self-conscious about a curvaceous figure that I’d been mostly happy with up till then."
"My mother had to be strict as a matter of my survival. I grew up near Times Square before it became Disneyland, during a time when Hell’s Kitchen lived up to its name. The kitchen, in most homes, is the place where the action goes down, where everyone passes through or congregates. It’s hot. It attracts dirt. It’s often loud and odorous—all accurate descriptions of my old stomping grounds."
"Chopin was my homie. His compositions were poetry for the piano: layered, measure by measure, with the dark passion and poignancy that still speak to me. Ms. Pine believed, as I do, that great music is not confined to one style. As she guided me in studying the greats in every genre, she also encouraged me to add my own flair, to play from my heart. If I heard a song I loved on the radio, like Brian McKnight’s “Never Felt This Way,” she’d have me create and perform my own composition. Her approach wasn’t traditional, but it was genius because it kept me tuned in."
"In my mother’s gaze, I see grace. I see her profound love for her only child, a baby she once bravely chose to keep. I see a woman whose father was gone too soon and a mother determined to protect her own little girl from life’s sharpest edges. I see someone who, on a prayer and a paralegal’s meager paycheck, called on heaven to help her firmly ground me."
"Craig never knew his own biological father. His birth certificate listed only his dad’s name and occupation: policeman. “Do you want to meet him?” his mother had asked a few times when he was a boy. Craig had no interest. Between his mom and his stepfather, Michael, he had all the love and nurturing he needed, he’d tell me years later. Yet I’ve often thought about how the absence of Craig’s father must have impacted his relationship with me, perhaps in ways he was not conscious of. I can only imagine how Craig, fatherless himself, must have felt on that summer afternoon when my mother sat across from him and said she was expecting me, and that, yes, he was the father. He was just twenty-seven then and, as he recalls it, still trying to find himself. As far as he was concerned, things had turned out well enough for him even without his dad around. The child my mother was carrying was undoubtedly his, but as he told her on that day, he wasn’t prepared to put on the heavy mantle of fatherhood. Only now, as a parent myself, can I understand what may have been true: Craig was living out of the template he’d inherited. In the empty space left by Craig, my nana and fafa stepped in..."

Overall I found her writing to be quite deep and a lot of what she is saying resonates with the pain of not having a father and growing up and how much that impacts your motivation and gives her the depth to make such powerful music.

Reading a teaser from my chapter with you! If you are interested in purchasing an autographed copy send me a Venmo @DavidsonHang for $25 with your address and that will pay for shipping.

I wanted to share with you all tips for completing your work week powerfully so that you can build awareness around the activities that gave you the best results.

For the Visually inclined:

https://youtu.be/-JfIHuDVk1I

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

These were the top ten passages that stood out to me when reading Dale Carnegie's book on how to stop worrying and start living. "Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw stars. “I read those two lines over and over. I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present situation. I would look for the stars. “I made friends with the natives, and their reaction amazed me. When I showed interest in their weaving and pottery, they gave me presents of their favorite pieces which they had refused to sell to tourists. I studied the fascinating forms of the cactus and the yuccas and the Joshua trees. I learned about prairie dogs, watched for the desert sunsets, and hunted for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when “What brought about this astonishing change in me? The Mojave Desert hadn’t changed. The Indians hadn’t changed. But I had." ‘You think now that spending a year in bed will be a tragedy. But it won’t be. You will have time to think and get acquainted with yourself. You will make more spiritual growth in these next few months than you have made during all your previous life.’ I became calmer, and tried to develop a new sense of values." “How many of you have ever sawed wood? Let’s see your hands.” Most of them had. Then he inquired: “How many of you have ever sawed sawdust?” No hands went up. “Of course, you can’t saw sawdust!” Mr. Shedd exclaimed. “It’s already sawed! And it’s the same with the past. When you start worrying about things that are over and done with, you're merely trying to saw sawdust.” "Worry is like the constant drip, drip, drip of water; and the constant drip, drip, drip of worry often drives men to insanity and suicide." ‘Look here, Jim Grant, how many fruit cars have you handled over the years?’ The answer was: ‘About twenty five thousand.’ Then I asked myself: ‘How many of those cars were ever wrecked?’ The answer was: ‘Oh maybe five.’ Then I said to myself: ‘Only five-out of twenty-five thousand? Do you know what that means? A ratio of five thousand to one! In other words, by the law of averages, based on experience, the chances are five thousand to one against one of your cars ever being wrecked. So what are you worried about?’ “Then I said to myself: ‘Well, a bridge may collapse!' Then I asked myself: ‘How many cars have you actually lost from a bridge collapsing?’ The answer was-'None.’ Then I said to myself: ‘Aren’t you a fool to be worrying yourself into stomach ulcers over a bridge which has never yet collapsed, and over a railroad wreck when the chances are five thousand to one against it!'" "Do I tend to put off living in the present in order to worry about the future, or to yearn for some “magical rose garden over the horizon”? 2. Do I sometimes embitter the present by regretting things that happened in the past that are over and done with? 3. Do I get up in the morning determined to “Seize the day”-to get the utmost out of these twenty-four hours? 4. Can I get more out of life by “living in day-tight compartments”? 5. When shall I start to do this? Next week? .. Tomorrow? ... Today?" Ask yourself,' 'What is the worst that can possibly happen?” 2. Prepare to accept it if you have to. 3. Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst. "I recently had some correspondence with Dr. Harold C. Habein of the Mayo Clinic. He read a paper at the annual meeting of the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons, saying that he had made a study of 176 business executives whose average age was 44.3 years. He reported that slightly more than a third of these executives suffered from one of three ailments peculiar to high-tension living-heart disease, digestive tract ulcers, and high blood pressure. Think of it- a third of our business executives are wrecking their bodies with heart disease, ulcers, and high blood pressure before they even reach forty-five. What price success! And they aren’t even buying success! Can any man possibly be a success who is paying for business advancement with stomach ulcers and heart trouble? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world-and loses his health?" Keep a diary-a diary in which you ought to record your triumphs in the application of these principles. Be specific. Give names, dates, results. Keeping such a record will inspire you to greater efforts; and how fascinating these entries will be when you chance upon them some evening, years from now! "Just For Today 1. Just for today I will be happy. This assumes that what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that “most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals. 2. Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my family, my business, and my luck as they come and fit myself to them. 3. Just for today I will take care of my body. I will exercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse it nor neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding. 4. Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. 5. Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, as William James suggests, just for exercise. 6. Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, criticize not at all, nor find fault with anything and not try to regulate nor improve anyone. 7. Just for today I will try to live through this day only, not to tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do things for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime. 8. Just for today I will have a program. I will write down what I expect to do every hour. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. It will eliminate two pests, hurry, and indecision. 9. Just for today I will have a quiet half-hour all by myself and relax. In this half-hour sometimes I will think of God, so as to get a little more perspective into my life. 10. Just for today, I will be unafraid, especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, and to believe that those I love, love me. If we want to develop a mental attitude that will bring us peace and happiness, here is Rule 1: Think and act cheerfully, and you will feel cheerful." Here is the link to all of the passages that I highlighted. https://davidsonhang.com/2021/02/03/how-to-stop-worrying-and-start-living-by-dale-carnegie/

These were my top ten quotes that resonated the most with me from her biography.

"For as long as ours has been a nation of immigrants, we have been a nation that fears immigrants. In the mid-1850s, the first significant third-party movement in the United States, the so-called Know-Nothing Party, rose to popularity on an anti-immigrant platform. In 1882, an act of Congress banned Chinese immigrants to the country. In 1917, Congress established a host of new restrictions on immigrants, including a requirement that immigrants would have to know how to read. In 1924, the number of newcomers allowed into the country from Southern and Eastern Europe was cut dramatically. In 1939, nearly 1,000 German Jews fleeing the Nazis in a ship called the St. Louis were turned away from the United States."
"Children of immigrants also faced a new kind of torment: bullying. Kids are being taunted by other kids, told they will be deported, told their parents will be deported, told they should go back where they came from. The cruel words and actions of one prominent, powerful bully in the White House have been mimicked and adopted as the rallying cry of bullies everywhere. But how do you handle a bully? You stand up to him."
"Whenever I travel to a country for the first time, I try to visit the highest court in the land. They are monuments of a certain kind, built not just to house a courtroom but to send a message. In New Delhi, for example, the Supreme Court of India is designed to symbolize the balancing scales of justice. In Jerusalem, Israel’s iconic Supreme Court building combines straight lines—which represent the rigid nature of the law—with curved walls and glass that represent the fluid nature of justice. These are buildings that speak. The same can be said of the United States Supreme Court Building, which, to my mind, is the most beautiful of them all. Its architecture recalls ancient Greece and the earliest days of democracy, as though you are standing in front of a modern-day Parthenon."
"For most families, buying a home is the biggest purchase they will ever make. It’s a really special moment in your life, proof of all your hard work. You trust the people involved in the process. When the banker tells you that you qualify for a loan, you trust that she’s reviewed the numbers and won’t let you take on more than you can handle. When it comes time to finish the paperwork, it’s basically a signing ceremony that feels like a celebration. When the bankers put a stack of paper in front of you, you trust them, and you sign. And sign. And sign. And sign."
"But the real reasons lie deeper in our complex financial system, of which mortgage lenders are just one piece. Lots of powerful people bent the rules and built elaborate schemes to make money off these bad loans. Even though most Americans didn’t realize it, our entire economy had grown dependent on these scams. But it was like building a tower of blocks on top of a balloon, and when the balloon popped, the entire economy came crashing down, and we ended up with the Great Recession."
"But in the 1970s and ’80s, corporate America—the owners of big companies—decided to go its own way. Instead of spending the money the company earned on workers, the corporations decided that their only real obligation was to their shareholders, those who bought company stock and therefore owned a piece of the company. From big business’s perspective, it was those owners who deserved the lion’s share of the riches, not the people who made the company run. So while productivity kept improving—a whopping 74 percent between 1973 and 2013—workers’ pay rose just 9 percent. In the 1980s, President Reagan made that idea core to the Republican Party’s view of economics. Cut taxes for corporations. Cut taxes for shareholders. Oppose minimum wage increases for workers. Oppose the very idea of a minimum wage. Crush organized labor—unions—the most powerful force fighting for workers’ rights to fair wages and decent working conditions. Roll back government regulation of corporations. Ignore the human cost."
"Second, I choose to speak truth. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it leaves people feeling uneasy. When you speak truth, people won’t always walk away feeling good—and sometimes you won’t feel so great about the reaction you receive. But at least all parties will walk away knowing it was an honest conversation."
"In the spring of 1966, Cesar Chavez led a 340-mile march of Latinx and Filipino farmworkers from California’s Central Valley to its state capital in an effort to draw attention to the mistreatment and terrible working conditions of his fellow farmworkers. That summer, the United Farm Workers was formed, and under Chavez’s leadership, it would become one of the most important civil rights and labor rights organizations in the country."
"When I travel the country, I see that optimism in the eyes of five- and seven- and ten-year-olds who feel a sense of purpose in being part of the fight. I see it, and feel it, in the energy of the people I meet. Yes, people are marching. Yes, people are shouting. But they are doing it from a place of optimism. That’s why they’ve got their babies with them. That’s why my parents took me in a stroller to civil rights marches. Because as overwhelming as the circumstances may be, they believe, as I do, that a better future is possible for us all."
"In fact, in 2016, researchers found that more than half of Silicon Valley’s billion-dollar start-ups were founded by one or more immigrants."

Episode 65: Buying your First home tips and advice Sharing with you that it wasn't an easy process, and it took a lot to get me here, but I'm grateful for everyone who has helped contribute in some way.

Tips for First Time Home Buyers

Start the research early. Speak with a mortgage broker early on. We started the conversation eight months before we bought the property. We bought a new construction, but I would recommend early on to know what to budget for so that you become knowledgeable about the whole process.
Make sure you don't work with too many mortgage brokers. I made the mistake of evaluating using three different brokers. Fortunately, I did get a pretty incredible rate, but it was quite stressful having to send so many documents.
Focus on getting your credit score up. Luckily, my in-laws and my wife were pretty good about holding me accountable for doing the best I can to get my scores up. I was able to get my score up by a whole 100 points which significantly reduced my interest rate.
Chat with your financial advisor to figure out what the new budget is going to be. This will give you peace of mind and allow you to be intentional about your range when working out your monthly costs.
Make sure you have all of your bank statements, pay stubs, W2s for the last three years ready. You want to be proactive about getting your statements early- create a folder with all of these. It will help expedite the process.
Stay in communication with your mortgage people regularly. If anything comes up and there is no such thing as a stupid question. I had so many questions because this was my first time and if you to be as knowledgable as possible.
Make sure you stay organized because you will be getting so many emails and documents. Make sure you organize them in a way that is easy because there will be many things and tasks for you to accomplish. This will make your life easier as you will be referring back and forth a lot.
Make sure you are throughout when going through the appraisal and check-in process. We are fortunate enough to have a new property, so there weren't as many issues, and we were relatively on time with the closing. There are so many nuisances, so make sure your real estate agent attends the walkthroughs with you. It's nice to have another set of eyes to look at everything.
Save up to 20% on the downpayment so that you don't have to worry about mortgage insurance. I know that not everyone has a 20% deposit, but this will make your life easier so that you don't have to pay extra money to take out a mortgage.
Have fun throughout the process. It's a learning process, and although the process can be quite stressful. I've grown so much, and I've become a much better person during this process. Hit me up if you ever have any questions, and I'll help you the best I can.

https://youtu.be/90twdOmMyWg

Sharing with you that it wasn't an easy process and it took a lot to get me here but I'm grateful for everyone who has helped contribute in some way.

Thank you, David Chang, Jack Ma, Stacy Wiley, Jaffe, Theresa Meyer, Louise, Tommy Tran, Tim, and Carl.

I wanted to share with you all takeaways from a Tony Robbins mastermind that I was blessed to be a part of. I hope everyone has a beautiful day!

Tony Robbin's questions that will help transform your state questions into gratitude, fulfillment, joy, and love.

Morning Power Questions

What am I happy about in my life now? What about that makes me happy? How does that make me feel?
What am I excited about in my life now? What about that makes me excited? How does that make me feel?
What am I proud about in my life now? What about that makes me proud? How does that make me feel?
What am I grateful about in my life now? What about that makes me grateful? How does that make me feel?
What am I enjoying most in my life right now? What about that do I enjoy? How does that make me feel good?
What am I committed to in my life right now? What about that makes me committed? How does that make me feel?
Who do I love? What loves me? What about that makes me loving? How does that make me feel?

My Personal 2020 Year In Review Thank you, Bea for posting yours and inspiring me to share the same. This will be a reflection of my year. This year has been challenging for me- those of you who know me know that I am quite an extrovert. The beauty of this year is that we all got to focus more on family and had the opportunity to slow down. Although I miss the office greatly, I was able to read more books than I usually do because I now have the time to do so.

Lessons & Themes

1️⃣ How do you describe this year in 3-5 keywords?

Solitude- This year brought reflection and has helped me analyze whom I want to be in the world. Reflecting on the moments that gave me the most fulfillment at work was when I was coaching SDRs to get promoted. I was so grateful to be a part of the process when my friends Emily and Ryan were promoted. That gave me so much fulfillment. Also, with my coaching practice helping many of my clients land promotions or with their career transitions gave me a lot of joy to know that I've helped them get SDR positions. Even though I enjoy quiet time from now to then, jumping all of the way to the other extreme was quite hard for me initially, but I am now enjoying time hiking with myself in the mountains and woods. It's helped me listen to some of my favorite stories through audible.
Relationships: This time has helped me double down on relationships as I got the time to start my own men's group. I've never forget how I cried when they put together a video of gratitude for me where each of the guys shared how I've made a difference in their lives. To be able to be someone who can help create communities is a beautiful thing. I was also able to zoom with my best friends in other states and cities. I'm glad that even though we are all so career-oriented, we could connect and hang out again.
Love: With engagement, marriage, and moving into our first home. Being a homeowner was one of the biggest obstacles for me because I labeled myself someone who loves to travel, and I never thought it was possible to do both. Self-love through leveraging tools like Lyra and having an executive coach is key to personal fulfillment. I realized how much external validation I needed and this time being away from the office helped me be much more comfortable with myself. I am still Amazing without all of the accomplishments and accolades, and that's a beautiful thing to own. Opening myself up to my wife has been challenging too because as someone who labeled himself independent, I saw being tied down as something that would hamper my travel goals but in reality, she's the rock and foundation that has allowed me to grow tremendously being someone who is about something more than just myself.
Gratitude: Some of the most memorable moments were when we Video called with a BuildOn Ambassador, and it showed how much the villagers in Africa appreciated us helping them build a school. That was such a touching moment for me, and again to be able to see the Orphans in Vietnam whom we've contributed to was heartwarming. Being able to still be involved with many of the non-profits through Streetwise Partners, IMentor, and Pencil has also been highlights to impact new grads, high schoolers, and students in college.
Eye-opening: One of the most life-changing programs I did this year was Tony Robbin's Unleash the Power from Within. Tony is such a great storyteller when he shared with us his story of being an imposter, being someone who did not have enough education, and the financial means. He went into detail with all of his insecurities that helped me realize how I saw myself. Not having to travel to Florida or California but still being able to connect with other similar minded people helped me grow and step into my greatness. Thank you to everyone who've I've met through the Sales Success Summit, Next Level Training, and Tony Robbins this year. You have all made a massive difference in my life.

2️⃣ What were my top lessons learned?

Compassion: There is so much wasted energy trying to change people or trying to be righteous about what I think is the right way to live life. There was so much mental energy into wow, the government is controlling our lives- if I wanted to live in a dictatorship, I would move to a different country. Realizing that there is no right or wrong and that my perspective is just one perspective is a huge lesson for me. I can only control who I want to be in the world. Yes, like with any other country, there are ways I believe America can improve, but at the end of the day, we have many more luxuries than most countries most of the time. Striving for perfection gets you so far, but there is something peaceful about acceptance that I can move on once I accept something. That doesn't mean resignation, but at least when I accept something, there is some opportunity to build on it. If you want to read the rest of it check out my blog post. https://wp.me/p8Gxir-1Fx

These are my favorite books I’ve read in 2020 that I would recommend.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness- Eric Jorgenson, Jack Butcher, Tim Ferriss
I Can See Clearly Now– Wayne W. Dyer
The Magic of Thinking Big– David J Schwartz
Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America’s Stolen Land–Noé Álvarez 5. What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence–Stephen A. Schwarzman 6. The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone–Colin O’Brady
Time Travel: Through Consciousness and Advanced Technology– Frederick Dodson
The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything–Neil Pasricha
Notes from a Friend: A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Control of Your Life- Tony Robbins
My Philosophy for Successful Living- Jim Rohn

11.Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from Your Spiritual Heart- Ram Dass 12. Zero Regrets: Be Greater Than Yesterday– Apolo Ohno

Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day– Jay Shetty
Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe– Neale Donald Walsch
ADHD and the Edison Gene: A Drug-Free Approach to Managing the Unique Qualities of Your Child- Thom Hartmann
Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire’s No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs Tom Golisano, Mike Wicks
The Blue Zones, Second Edition: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest Dan Buettner
The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance- Tom Brady
North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail–Scott Jurek
A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life-Brian Grazer, Charles Fishman
Living an Inspired Life: Your Ultimate Calling–Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Call Me Ted– Ted Turner, Bill Burke
21 Lessons for the 21st Century– Yuval Noah Harari
Let Love Rule– Lenny Kravitz
PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story– Alexander Shulgin, Ann Shulgin
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism– Robin J. DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.– Clayborne Carson
The Brink: How Great Leadership Is Invented– Mark Hunter
Start Your Engines: My Unstoppable CrossFit Journey– Sam Briggs Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection– Brian Grazer
The Journey: Mastering the Art of Slowing Down into a Beautiful Existence– Cathy Trinh
As Many Reps as Possible– Jason Khalipa
How I Became The Fittest Woman On Earth: My Story So Far– Tia-Clair Toomey
Homeless to Billionaire: The 18 Principles of Wealth Attraction and Creating Unlimited Opportunity– Andres Pira, Joe Vitale
The Great Pause: Blessings & Wisdom from COVID-19– Elizabeth Hill, Dr. Barbara Milton, Dr. Davia H. Shepherd, Michael Robert Eck, Kathleen Troy, Elizabeth Hall, Melissa Molinero, Ryan Hall, Denise M. Simpson, Karla Archambeault, Jacqueline A. Baldwin, April Goff Brown, Anne Collin, Ian Charlery, Dr. Christine Rapp Dombrowski, Stephen Fowler, Davidson Hang, Michele Kean, Brittany Luna, Christine A. Mola, Caren Pauling, Gina Raposa Johnson, Kristi H. Sullivan, Mary Ann Waterman, Annamarie Wellington
Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance– Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker
Carry That Quota: Sales Tactics and Stories By the Rep For the Rep– Jesse Rothstein
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design– Charles Montgomery

What are some of the favorite books you’ve read this year? Biographies I enjoyed- Lenny Kravitz- the founder of Paychex.

I enjoy reading biographies because you learn a lot from how deep into the human mind they go.

Sharing with you my takeaways from using Oura, Fitbit, and Whoop Fitness trackers.

AltaHR #Oura #Fitness #Whoop #Tracker

I wanted to share the pros and cons of each of these fitness trackers with you and have I have leveraged these tools to stay fit and healthy through consistency accountability. I want to acknowledge that before COVID I was attending regular yoga, Meditation, Crossfit, and HIIT workouts. I miss those so much, but I have leverage YouTube to do free exercises to stay in shape since then.

Pros and Cons of Whoop

Pros:

You barely notice the strap, and it gives you the most data from Heart Rate Variability to Sleep Quality.
Whoop has a community. For instance, my friend Ian invited me to the Cayman Islands whoop group, and if I am feeling competitive, I can push myself.
They give you a strain score and lets you know how much you are pushing yourself every day. Depending on your goals, this can help you maintain an optimal level of fitness. For instance, yesterday I pushed myself, and it showed that I pushed myself more than I usually do. My heart rate was high, and I maintained the right level of optimal heart rate percentage.

Cons:

It's the most expensive option out of the three options, and I would only recommend it if you are serious about your fitness, and you are trying to take it to the next level. It's worth the investment if you want to see how far you can push yourself. For instance, Jeff, Paul, Hayden, and I will do regular As Many Reps as Possible sets in 12 minutes where we complete five sit-ups, ten push-ups, and 15 squats. I was able to go from 21 sets to 31 sets completed in 12 mins over the course of the last few months. Whoop was able to show that I can put more strain on my body but breaking down my muscles even more. This helped me push my limits. Sometimes when I get a reading that I need more sleep- I already know that sometimes ignorance is bliss but can you improve something you do not measure, which is why I still want to get better. If it's a blind spot, then I should deal with it.

Get a free WHOOP strap and your first month free when you join with my link:

https://join.whoop.com/#/7FC83A

Pros and Cons of Oura Ring

Oura Ring is a ring that you put on yourself and it measures Sleep Score Lowest Resting Heart Rate Average Resting Heart Rate Total Sleep Restfulness REM Sleep Sleep Latency Sleep Timing Bedtime Deep Time Wake Up Time REM Sleep Light Sleep Awake Time Respiratory Rate

All of this data is meant to help you to be able to prioritize sleep.

It's an interesting time to experiment with all of this has COVID has enabled us to have more free time. I've been sleeping more than I usually have before the pandemic, so that's one thing I am grateful for. I have noticed myself functioning more optimally and being efficient.

Pros: 1. The ring looks cool. I got the gunmetal black one, which I enjoy- It's barely noticeable. You get used to it, so it's not a big as the Fitbit, which I notice more, so I don't wear the Fitbit Alta to Sleep.

The data is clean and the ring charges quickly, and it has a very long battery life. Out of all of the three fitness trackers, Oura seems like it requires the least maintenance, but it doesn't have as many data points as Whoop.

Cons:

You technically don't need any of this data. Sometimes I'm not even sure what to do with the data. They give me a pretty accurate readiness score. It seems to know the quality of my sleep, which will impact the quality of my day. Knowing that helps me able to want to sleep.

Pros and Cons of Fitbit Alta HR

Pros

I order the Fitbit because of the large community- because it integrates with Facebook. I was able to add so many of my friends who being able to attempt to be the #1 steps person every day has helped me live a pretty healthy life. Since I have moved to the suburbs it's been harder to get as many steps in and because there is a pandemic I'm a bit more cautious when I go to the park and things like that.
It lasts pretty long- I've had it for over three and a half years, and it works perfectly fine. It's never had any huge issues or anything like that. The battery life will last me at least three days, and I'm pretty active too.
You don't need to log anything. It will automatically track it for you, so it requires low maintenance in terms of being able to track data.

For whoop, for instance, you have to track all of your activities, requiring more work on the front end. Leave a comment or if you want me to review more products- post below.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Bp8Dx53_6Fs

Subscribe to my podcast for more content about how to optimize your health and mindset.

Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/davidson-hang-reflections-lessons-from-life-worth-living/id1507691859

I'm reading my chapter in The Great Pause: Blessings & Wisdom from COVID-19

Here is the link to the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Pause-Blessings-Wisdom-COVID-19/dp/0999197657/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+great+pause&qid=1606765052&sr=8-2

The Journal Companion guide is releasing in a couple of days- let me know if you are interested in purchasing those as well.

if you would like to purchase a signed up copy for $20- please msg me or email me at DH@DavidsonHang.com

It would mean a lot to me.

The Great Pause: Blessings & Wisdom from COVID-19

These are my powerful takeaways from his 4-day conference with 12,000 other people.

See it as it is, not worst than it is
Energy is everything
Bring certainty to the table
If you don't measure it you can't manage it
Would you ever date a 5? (energy level wise)
The quality of your emotions is the quality of your life
You can train your energy level
Energy like a little kid not like a boring ass adult
Getting people pumped is a valuable skill especially doing COVID
Find the blessing even in what you perceived is the worst moments
Be spiritually and relationship Rich
Happy people get happier- Surround yourself with people with a positive mindset and it will transform your life
We love people who change our state
Faith/ belief is missing from the success cycle; Good with Potential, action, results
Faith imagination directs towards an outcome you want
What are you going to focus on? Focus = feeling
Live Lucky
Do you focus more on what you have and what's missing?
If your software is looking at what's missing? Always going to have scarcity
Achievers tend to focus on the future: instead of being present and appreciating what you have
Life is happening for me not against me
100% responsibility
List of why you failed lack of resourcefulness
Know who your ideal client- know the needs of your ideal client create an irresistible offer
The dance between what you desire the most and fear the most
Focused on the future instead of being in the present
Clarity is power
Model what they are doing differently than me
Success leaves clues
Grace-faith
Commitment and focus: you can achieve anything
Master the art of fulfillment
Everyone loved Robin Williams 98% loves him
Success without fulfillment
Diversity is powerful different perspectives
Abundance doesn’t make us happy because our expectations change and grow
Faith- everything happens for a reason.
How you spend time when you are with yourself
Who is in a beautiful state all of the time? Surround yourself with people like that.
I do have to do anything. It's all a choice. Take action on your commitment.
In order to be enough I need to achieve- when you first walk everyone gets excited.
Dance with the fear
Being able to shift your energy quickly
Everything happens for a reason, it's all a gift
How fast can you change your state
All progress comes from Breaking up patterns
Learn NLP, Conditioning
Shoulding on myself
I should change now instead of it should change now
Disney was rejected by 302 banks. Past does not determine your future
Change is never a matter of ability, it's always a matter of motivation Change= Massive, extraordinary amount of pleasure (Leverage)

Today I'm attending Tony Robbins 4 day event called Unleash the Power from Within. I'm excited to learn some new things. These have been the reflections for the week.

My good friend Gina asked me to share tips on networking and how to approach building relationships.

I want to share the following tips that have served me well in cultivating new relationships and making it a priority to stay in touch with friends and family.

Figure out who you want to surround yourself with. Who lights you up, and who makes you happy? Double down on those relationships. Ryan Johnson, Emily Linder, Zack Mulhall, Edwin Aristor, and Ivana Pham are some of the people who come to mind whenever I catch up with them, I immediately feel lifted. We all have people who come to mind that automatically brighten the room when they enter it.
Intentionally block off time on your calendar to dedicate to coffee chats.
Don't be afraid to proactively put time on their calendar. Obviously, ask for permission first but take the initiative and be the one to look through their calendar to eliminate any friction.
Not every conversation has to be productive. Some of my most connected 1on1 coffee chats were trying to get to know each other better. Not everyone would agree with me here, but until they understand you, they won't be able to help you.
Write hand written cards- getting birthday cards in the mail and even a thoughtful voicemail or voice msg saying Happy Birthday can make someone's day and is not too time-consuming.
Manage your energy- if you are burnt out and are too tired or if you label yourself an introvert. Make small little habit changes. You don't have to jump off the deep end tomorrow. Just add one more coffee per week if that's your cup of tea.
Update your mentors and let them know what's going on. People love it that you are implementing the feedback that you are getting from other managers and leaders. That's the whole reason why people get into executive positions so that they can ultimately mentor, coach, and help ICs get promoted and progress in their careers.
Have fun- networking is fun. If you relate to networking has something you hate of course, you are going not to like it. Meeting new people is fun. You get to learn something new, and you get to hear another person's perspective. Everyone has value to give- even if you don't necessarily agree, those are often the conversations I've personally learned the most. For instance, when I meet someone who is process driven and is very systematic in their thinking, I can save time as someone who would instead go with the flow and be in the moment.
Have relationship goals- think of ways to brighten someone's day, even if it sends them a quick gratitude video or something different. The more impact you have in the world, the more purpose and driven you become.
Make it a game- sometimes at networking events or anything involving meeting new people- I'll have a goal to build three stronger relationships throughout the hour event. Do something that pushes you outside your comfort zone, and you will grow tremendously because of it.

Thanks for listening to my podcast.

Subscribe if you enjoyed these tips on living a meaningful fulfilled life.

These are the best ten investments I've made in my life so far.

Engagement Ring/ Wedding Bands
Lasek Eye Surgery
Accomplishment Coaching
Landmark
Next Level Training
Hiring full-time coaches- Shout out to Jason Dukes, Alex Terranova, Laura Westman, and Mark Hunter for helping me reach so many of my life goals.
Podcast subscription (Podbean and Podomatic)
Amazon Kindle
My Website and Blog
Transcendental Meditation

Here are the links to everything I just described above.

https://www.facebook.com/eddiehsaio- Reach out to him he hooked me up with a beautiful custom ring. (Reach out to me if you want me to introduce you directly)
https://www.sightmd.com/locations/manhattan-office/?utm_source=GMB&utm_medium=Yext&y_source=1_MTUwOTE1NTktNzE1LWxvY2F0aW9uLmdvb2dsZV93ZWJzaXRlX292ZXJyaWRl (I used SightMd and Dr. Jonathan Ellant was my surgeon)
https://www.accomplishmentcoaching.com/ (The World's Finest Coach Training Program)
https://www.landmarkworldwide.com/
https://www.nextleveltrainings.com/shift
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hunter-mcc-a216126/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexterranova/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/beyourcaptain/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurawestman/
My Spotify Podcast

ITunes: A Life Worth Living

https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Paperwhite-Waterproof-Storage/dp/B07CXG6C9W/ref=sr_1_5_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=kindle+paperwhite&qid=1604938439&s=digital-text&sr=1-5-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNVpGMk1VVlNHSVY1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzYwMDA0SjlUU0lVMDdXWjExJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxOTExNzlVUklER1haTE9LTlQmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
DavidsonHang.com
https://www.tm.org/

Reach out to me if you want to discuss any of these more thoroughly. DH@DavidsonHang.com

Kindle Paperwhite – (previous generation - 2018 release) Waterproof with 2x the Storage – Ad-Supported

Sharing with you all ten reasons why I love my wife

Her Big Beautiful Heart
Innocence and purity in thoughts and emotions.
Video Games- We love playing co-op games together and shout out to Pierson and Sharon for the PS5 gift. You both are amazing friends to us and we are lucky to have you two in our lives.
Family
Fashionable, Style, and her Design thinking
Great memory and listening skills
Being a true player and her partnership
Foodie Adventures!
Being the Ying to my Yang
Music, concerts, festivals
bonus: Her love for board games and want to win at everything! Competitive nature.

My call to action is that you write that ten things you love about your partner and for people who aren't in a relationship- write down the top ten things that you would be looking for in a relationship.

I know it was on October 10th, but I wanted to relax on my weekend, and I went on a long hike, which was extremely relaxing and much needed after being cooped up inside of a house for this long.

These are ten ways and things I have done to help me cultivate a positive mental state.

Journaling exercises- I purchase Moleskine journals because I enjoy the look and feel. Journaling every day allows me to process things think about the good, the bad, and what I can improve on, and what I appreciated about my day. A journal entry can contain everything from gratitude for the mentors and people who have made a positive impact in my life, or it can be a running to-do list that I haven't completed, and when I wake up in the morning, I can tackle these unresolved items/ emails.
Gratitude practices: I have a gratitude journal, and I create videos on things that I am grateful to share with the world to spread positivity and acknowledge people who have impacted my life.
Couple's Journal/activities- being able to block off time and intentionally do things that we enjoy together, like playing video games, helps us connect with each other and unplug from our work. We have been playing the mobile League of Legends, and it's been a lot of fun. She’s really a pro, and we win so many games together. It helps bring us closer when we do cooperative games like Borderlands and League.
Create a space to reflect and gather your thoughts- I work with therapists, coaches, and mentors to talk through some of the issues and talk through some of the anxieties we have and that I come up against. Everything from imposter syndrome and working in a remote environment. Processing the loss of my workplace working in the beautiful Empire State building is something that I had to come to terms with. It sounds silly but losing that was a big part of my life but then realizing how much of my identity was tied to work that I made a commitment that I will be dedicated to my job but it will not define me to the point of losing my true identity.
Meditation practice- Luckily, we have cool support structures like Scott’s Month of October Mindfulness challenge, where we do 20+ mindfulness meditations. We run a daily meditation group every morning at 9:15. One of my favorites is Transcendental Meditation. I’ve tried many different types of meditation, and this has been my favorite so far. I always feel a sense of calm, and it helps me tap into my intuition.
Doubling down on relationships and friends- The men's group that I created we meet every month and have a buddy system where we get closer to our buddies. That has served me so much in being able to have deeper connections and create separation. We can be vulnerable and talk about our insecurities and our life story. It’s a beautiful thing when men come together to share vulnerably about what it means to be a father. You don’t feel alone when you have a group of men who talk openly about their feelings and what they are out to create in the world.
Creating boundaries- being able to turn off helps so much- With everyone working from home. Well, a large portion of us is. Turn off notifications when you leave for the workday and make sure you aren’t overloading your calendar so that you still make time for yourself is crucial- remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. I can do a much better job at this, but I did take 3 PTO days the last three workdays, which helped unwind going for a long hike.
Block off time for just you- Self-time for me looks like a reflection, doing what I love to do that sources me.
Reading a lovely book and biography helps me relax. I enjoy a nice story or reading about these past great leaders like Ben Franklin, Tesla, and Leonardo Davinci’s lives that inspire me and takes me away from thinking all of the time. I can truly unwind and be myself.
The top things I’ve learned from seeing a therapist is that often the stories we make out in our subconscious and unconscious often take control of our lives. We don’t even realize how much it's affecting us. Most of us don’t have the awareness to be able to take a bird’s eye view in looking at our “problems and issues”. By not dealing with it and pretending that it doesn’t exist it makes it out to be bigger than it really is. That’s why I love taking advantage of LYRA health- a mental health/ Employee Assistance Program. A lot of people say it's expensive to pay for a therapist- well I think having peace of mind and being able to function at 100% is worth the trade-off don’t you think. Being able to be even more effective in your job, life, and relationships, in my opinion, is always worth the ROI. What are some of the ways you work on Mental Health? Please share it below.

Check out my blog for the full post at Davidsonhang.com

Starting something new. I am creating daily vlogs on YouTube, Committing to my blog, and podcast has helped me process so many of these emotions that many of us are going through right now.

These are my reflections on the things we've worked on together and how she's helped me reach so many of my goals in life inside and outside of work.

Ten things I learned from my manager-Manager of the Year award during our Annual Sales Kick-Off

I love sharing my reflections with you all because it helps me process things and it ends up helping people during the process.

Keeping it simple- She's a pro at communication. She's always concise and has pushed us to simplify everything. Every email or conversation with a client. She's a huge advocate of less is more.
Focus- everyone knows I have so many things that I would like to accomplish- Being involved with the LinkedIn Asian Alliance has granted me some of my best memories, but at the end of the day crushing my role will allow me the space to be able to dedicate to other things. She's a massive advocate of excelling at your day to day before you take on additional responsibilities. I'm grateful that she helps me stay grounded throughout a hectic last six months.
Time management and calendar management- what a valuable skill in the world of distractions. By color-coding my calendar- it helps me focus on my core activities.
Taking care of self and energy management- She always makes sure that we are doing okay as a human being first, and that simple check-in means the world to me. Obviously, we all have a job to do, but she's super aware of reading people's energy and can tell when something is off. It's nice to know that she cares about us as human beings and, during the hiring process, admits to hiring kind, good-hearted human beings first.
Being adaptive to everyone's needs- she's super inclusive and is able to get everyone's opinions so every team member feels heard. That is such a powerful skill and truly takes compassion and adaptability to be able to be so understanding all of the time.
Knowing your business well and build a strong foundation- Understanding the ins and outs of your business is crucial and, to be honest, I did not focus on that as much as I should have in the beginning. I am doing a much better job at it now because I realized that taking LinkedIn Learning courses on how to read a P&L and understanding strategy a lot more will help me not only in excelling as an Account Executive but as a human being too.
Not getting distracted by external things- She's so incredibly focused on coaching and helping others get promoted. Clarity is her super power-her desk is so clean, and you can tell that she is entirely present because of how clarity of thought and words.
Understand everyone's strengths and areas of opportunity- She's able to build a well-rounded team through understanding how we all operate and pushing us to work on our weaknesses to become more well-rounded professionals. It's no surprise that our team is excelling so much because she's able to help understand why some of our weaknesses is preventing us becoming the best versions of ourselves.
Having bigger goals- A mark of a great manager is seeing greatness in her team before they even see it themselves. I want to say that I always think of myself as an intelligent human being, but she pushes us to think bigger and has a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) which, what do you know actually works.
Joy in the process- The last team meeting we spent it playing pictionary together, which was a lot of fun. She knows when to work hard and play hard too. It's awesome to see us laugh and smile and reading the room to be able to pivot when we need it.

Thank you, KP. I appreciate your leadership, and I'm so grateful that we get to build dreams together through active listening and execution.

Some of my favorite passages from the book Conversations with God book 3. Shout out to Accomplishment Coaching to introduce me to the great Neale Donald Walsch

"Through you, I can know every aspect of Me. The perfection of the snowflake, the awesome beauty of the rose, the courage of lions, the majesty of eagles, all resides in you. In you I have placed all of these things—and one thing more: the consciousness to be aware of it."

"Life is a single occurrence, an event in the cosmos that is happening right now. All of it is happening. Everywhere. There is no “time” but now. There is no “place” but here." "Believing that you cannot have something is the same thing as not desiring to have it, for it produces the same result."

"You've moved away from each other. You've torn apart your families, disassembled your smaller communities in favor of huge cities. In these big cities there are more people, but fewer “tribes,” groups, or clans whose members see their responsibility as including responsibility for the whole. So, in effect, you have no elders. None at arm's reach, in any event."

"Ultimately, all thoughts are sponsored by love or fear. This is the great polarity. This is the primal duality. Everything, ultimately, breaks down to one of these. All thoughts, ideas, concepts, understandings, decisions, choices, and actions are based in one of these. And, in the end, there is really only one. Love." "Most people believe if they “have” a thing (more time, money, love—whatever), then they can finally “do” a thing (write a book, take up a hobby, go on vacation, buy a home, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to “be” a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love). In actuality, they are reversing the Be-Do-Have paradigm. In the universe as it really is (as opposed to how you think it is), “havingness” does not produce “beingness,” but the other way around. First you “be” the thing called “happy” (or “knowing,” or “wise,” or “compassionate,” or whatever), then you start “doing” things from this place of beingness—and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you've always wanted to “have.”

"Seek only to be genuine. Strive to be sincere. If you wish to undo all the “damage” you imagine yourself to have done, demonstrate that in your actions. Do what you can do. Then let it rest. That's easier said than done. Sometimes I feel so guilty. Guilt and fear are the only enemies of man."

"Yet I tell you this: So long as you are still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them."

"Whatever you choose for yourself, give to another. If you choose to be happy, cause another to be happy. If you choose to be prosperous, cause another to prosper."

Let me know what you think about this book. Has anyone else read it? What books has anyone been reading that they would recommend to their peers during this time?

These are some of the passages from Conversations with God book 3 that resonated with me.

Let me know if any of these resonate with you too.

"They see a health-care system that is really a diseasecare system, spending one-tenth of its resources on preventing disease, and nine-tenths on managing it, and deny that profit motive is what stops any real progress on educating people in how to act and eat and live in a way which promotes good health."
"For what you resist, persists. Only what you hold can disappear."
“Right” and “wrong” are philosophical polarities in a human value system which have nothing to do with ultimate reality—a point which I have made repeatedly throughout this dialogue. They are, furthermore, not even constant constructs within your own system, but rather, values which keep shifting from time to time. You are doing the shifting, changing your mind about these values as it suits you"
"In truth, there is no such reality. There is only one moment, and that is the eternal moment of Now."
"Fear is that which you are not. Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is the opposite of love, which you have created in your reality so that you may know experientially That Which You Are."
"This is the main difference between your culture—which is a “baby” culture, really; a primitive culture—and the highly evolved cultures of the universe. The most significant difference is that in highly evolved cultures, all sentient beings are clear that there is no separation between themselves and what you call “God.” They are also clear that there is no separation between themselves and others. They know that they are each having an individual experience of the whole."
"Their First Guiding Principle is: We Are All One."
"Yet right now one-fifth of the world's people are using four-fifths of the world's resources. And you show no signs of changing that equation. There is enough for everybody if you would stop thoughtlessly squandering all of it on the privileged few. If all people used resources wisely, you would use less than you do with a few people using them unwisely. Use the resources, but don't abuse the resources."
"As for communication, a HEB uses as his first level of communication the aspect of his being which you would call feelings. HEBs are aware of their feelings and the feelings of others, and no attempt is ever made by anyone to hide feelings."
"If you decided that “we are all one,” you would cease treating each other the way you do. If you decided that “there's enough,” you would share everything with everyone. If you decided that “there's nothing we have to do,” you would stop trying to use “doingness” to solve your problems, but rather, move to, and come from, a state of being which would cause your experience of those “problems” to disappear, and the conditions themselves to thus evaporate."

Conversations With God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book #3)

These are my top ten takeaways from the summit of greatness in 2020.

How to build a community by adding value to everyone and serving the world
Being of service and continue enriching the lives of your members
Surround yourself with amazing people
Live a life of gratitude, cherish the down moments because they will lead you to where you are right now
Practice acknowledging people. Lewis is a master of acknowledgment, which is such a valuable skill the more people you impact in your life. Practice being with people and all of the different emotions that come up in life, especially during a pandemic.
Play a bigger game- when you think you are reaching the outer limits of your comfort zone, think bigger. You will surprise yourself when you set bigger goals for yourself.
Create a platform for others to share their stories. Humans love being able to hear stories and the bad ones are the most relatable.
His friendship with Jay Shetty touched my heart. They really do care about each other you see it in their interactions.
Rolling with the punches despite all of the technical difficulties, he can still create and not make it mean anything about himself and move forward.
Having fun in the process- what's success if you aren't laughing and smiling during the way up.

It feels so nice to unwind and recharge. I hope you all take this time to relax and take care of yourself. Happy long weekend!

What a month! Having a great month work-wise, with buying a house, moving out of NYC, and planning the wedding in October. It's going to be a busy year for me.

Takeaways, gratitude, practice and reflections on an interesting year for sure.

Thank you Jeff for your accountability. I wanted to be consistent with sharing my journey because it helps me reflect and acknowledge myself for a productive day. We are often our worst critics. This is a healthy practice designed to help you be compassionate to yourself.

It's been awhile journey so much has changed and I am grateful for all of your support.

What a tough period it is for everyone.

In the last five months, we've experienced people coming into the realization that race is a topic that we haven't discussed.

These are some of the reflections and things I've learned from the last five months of COVID.

Friends and family: Relationships Matter - People coming together to help support each other. There is an abundance amongst the chaos.
We Americans are prideful and do not like listening to authority- Guilty as charged. I'm certainly someone who is rebellious when someone tells me to do something I tend to do the opposite. I think that's what makes American so Innovative but at the same time its a curse because of what's going on right now. it just seems like we are not able to obey any suggestions despite everyone knowing that it's highly contagious.
Everything happens for a reason- my company had a lay off of 960 people. I remember feeling so down and devastated when I was let go in many of my previous positions. It led me to LinkedIn right now, and I am so grateful, but I remember feeling so lost and confused during those troubling times.
We are Resilence- humans are such strong creatures. We can create anything we put into mind to it. I've heard so many inspiring stories of people coming together, and I've read a lot of touching stories of transformation and growth amongst racial tensions. I feel much more woke and still have a long way to go, but at least I'm making a conscious effort at the end of the day its a decision.
Asians in Sales Community- I had no longer so many others felt the same way about being many times the only Asian on their client-facing role. It's great to create a community where we support each other during these times. I'm happy that there is a place where we come together to support our black Allies.
My Fiancee is so lovely. She took care of me when I was recovering from Lasek, and I'm grateful that she came up to NYC to take care of me. I'm very fortunate that I have such a loving and giving partner. We have a good yin/yang balance, which makes life easier because we compliment each other so well. We don't see eye to, but we are growing and improving and learning to support each other the best way we can.
I'm so lucky to have the best friends who are so supportive. When you surround yourself with people who make you happy all of the time, Life is so much better. I'm fortunate I can call up Pan, Sue, Jeff, Brandon, Prem, and so many other people and just be able to chat through any issues or stuff that's coming up. I'm grateful for the opportunity to connect with people globally now that distance is less of a barrier as society transforms into a more connected universe.
Becoming a trusted partner- I see myself stepping into the role and becoming a more consultative person. I see that I am being curious, asking more questions, and questioning my preconceived notions. It's refreshing to see such growth in the last five months alone.
Trusting my instincts and being able to write more. I care a little bit less about what people think of my writing, which is excellent!
Partnering with other people and leveraging everyone's else talents. Life is so much fun with you surround yourself with people who complement your skill. I'm never going to be the best at everything but I can surround myself with people who are always willing to lend a hand who make me better especially at the times I need a lot of work on.

Last year, I was able to raise $3,439 of dollars to impact 44 children in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. It was really rewarding for me to be involved with this because I am Vietnamese and we all have so much privilege compared to these Orphans in Vietnam. it's such a rewarding cause and I appreciate Thank you to everyone who contributed to this cause. It means a lot to me.

How has your support impacted Orphans’ Futures Alliance today? With your generous support, we have implemented and continue to expand the scholarship and mentoring programs in Vietnam with 34 children for Scholarship and 44 in the Mentoring programs for 2019. We have started to support our second partner in Chiangmai, Thailand by providing scholarships for 15 kids.

Since our founding in 2012, we have impacted 575 children through our scholarships and various confidence-building and nurturing activities. For the 2020-2021 school year, we aim to support 115 kids for a total cost of $115,000.

Our Programs: Scholarship Program: The purpose is to support a student’s education, awarded based on academic needs and achievements, as well as other criteria, such as alignment with OrFA’s mission. Those who are in the scholarship program are automatically enrolled in the mentoring program. Mentoring Program: The purpose of our 1:1 mentoring pairing is to help orphans develop and maintain a stable mental state and a positive outlook in life. We believe that by having a mentor, the children will have an added support/role model/friend to help guide them throughout their adolescence. In turn, we hope that this will empower them to have more confidence in their decisions, stimulate their passion and drive to pursue their dreams, and overcome any obstacles that life may bring. It is our mission that they will become their best selves and truly shine.

https://www.mightycause.com/story/Ud0nvf

These are some of the quotes that stood out to me from reading this book.

"I am also using my insider status to challenge racism. To not use my position this way is to uphold racism, and that is unacceptable; it is a “both/and” that I must live with. I would never suggest that mine is the only voice that should be heard, only that it is one of the many pieces needed to solve the overall puzzle. People who do not identify as white may also find this book helpful for understanding why it is so often difficult to talk to white people about racism."

"Multiracial people, because they challenge racial constructs and boundaries, face unique challenges in a society in which racial categories have profound meaning. The dominant society will assign them the racial identity they most physically resemble, but their own internal racial identity may not align with the assigned identity. For example, though the musician Bob Marley was multiracial, society perceived him as black and thus responded to him as if he were black."

"When multiracial people’s racial identity is ambiguous, they will face constant pressure to explain themselves and “choose a side.” Racial identity for multiracial people is further complicated by the racial identity of their parents and the racial demographics of the community in which they are raised."

"White people in North America live in a society that is deeply separate and unequal by race, and white people are the beneficiaries of that separation and inequality. As a result, we are insulated from racial stress, at the same time that we come to feel entitled to and deserving of our advantage. "

"But exploring these cultural frameworks can be particularly challenging in Western culture precisely because of two key Western ideologies: individualism and objectivity.

"Briefly, individualism holds that we are each unique and stand apart from others, even those within our social groups. Objectivity tells us that it is possible to be free of all bias. These ideologies make it very difficult for white people to explore the collective aspects of the white experience.

"Individualism is a story line that creates, communicates, reproduces, and reinforces the concept that each of us is a unique individual and that our group memberships, such as race, class, or gender, are irrelevant to our opportunities. Individualism claims that there are no intrinsic barriers to individual success and that failure is not a consequence of social structures but comes from individual character."

for example, we look at the racial breakdown of the people who control our institutions, we see telling numbers in 2016–2017:

• Ten richest Americans: 100 percent white (seven of whom are among the ten richest in the world)

• US Congress: 90 percent white

• US governors: 96 percent white

• Top military advisers: 100 percent white

• President and vice president: 100 percent white

• US House Freedom Caucus: 99 percent white

• Current US presidential cabinet: 91 percent white

• People who decide which TV shows we see: 93 percent white

• People who decide which books we read: 90 percent white

• People who decide which news is covered: 85 percent white

• People who decide which music is produced: 95 percent white

• People who directed the one hundred top-grossing films of all time, worldwide: 95 percent white

• Teachers: 82 percent white

• Full-time college professors: 84 percent white

• Owners of men’s professional football teams: 97 percent white

10 things I want you to know about me and 10 things I don't want you to know about me

This was the video that inspired me to do my version of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARWlF2XLe4

A video about shame and how being open helps you get over the fear of others' judgments. Its a practice like with anything else that is worth it.

People ask me every day what it's like in NYC. This is just my radical opinion take it with a grain of salt. I believe that the lack of human to human interaction is probably more detrimental to society than actually big picture COVID in general. This is coming from an extremely social person so its just my opinion. I am not a public health major. I was a community Nutrition major in college.

TDLR version: It's probably going to be uncomfortable for many to read this because its about race. Its a story about where I still have my own unconscious and my journey through therapy, coaching, and making my own mistakes to become a better human being.

It's been a bit tough to sleep for me because of so many reasons being couped up inside and not being able to meet in large gatherings and because of the systematic racism that is still taking place.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine and there was some guilt and shame associated with not having a lot of these struggles that many blacks experience across the globe. Luckily, we have a relationship where he feels open enough to share with me. I said something that was very hurtful to me, and he told me that he couldn't sleep because of it.

For context, he is a black male living in New Jersey. I told him I wanted to interview him for my podcast and said you are well-spoken, and that would resonate with my educated audience with many of the professionals I work with. I had a feeling in my stomach that didn't land right. I caught up with him a few days later, and he told me that really hurt his feelings, and I realized then that 1. I have a long way to go in my allyship and 2. My intention of doing the podcast was not in alignment with the impact that it created by saying those hateful comments.

At Linkedin at our Global Sales Kick off, we had a workshop where many black males shared with us about how they face these unconscious word choices that offend my black male colleagues. They say if I were white then you would never say that I am well-spoken, articulate, or an eloquent speaker. Maybe people mean well, but that's not the point. The point is how the other person is left feeling after your interaction. Many will justify it with well I meant it as a compliment. When people say aren't Asians suppose to be good at math or you guys never experience any adversity, I've had colleagues say statistically speaking Asians are doing so much better than everyone else. How is that suppose to make me feel?

I started to reflect on why this is important to me to bring up this topic and start a conversation to have others take a look inwards, and I recall so many times where people make jokes about Asian males and our lack of masculinity shown in mainstream media. Many of the Asian males play roles where they are the nerd or geeks or the victim who gets bullied and beaten up by the more masculine characters. How about that as a confident booster growing up and all of your TV you watch show a certain archtype of what many would consider models for a teenager or young adult.

How many times have you made a joke about an Asian male and our packages? I remember growing up, and still, to this day as a professional in the workforce, I still get inappropriate comments like you should take testosterone because you are not aggressive enough. I do understand that people often project, and the most insecure people are the ones that are saying these things. I'll never forget when one of my best friends in high school said some racist comments because of a mistake I've made, and from that day on, I could never trust white people. That was my story until I did Accomplishment Coaching and realized that I had to heal some trauma there. Years of therapy and workshops/coaching later, I am much more receptive to trusting Caucasians, but I do notice how I automatically close myself off in most instances.

I remember being bullied at a previous company, and I was so afraid to come to work. Not only did it add to my depression, and I felt like such an imposter every day because I was often the only Asian person not only in sales but at this Private Equity, HedgeFund, Family office events.

The point in me sharing these stories is that we are often now aware that we make a lot of these hurtful comments. Even as an Asian are putting other Asian races down.

Being Vietnamese and ironically never even having been gone to Asia in my lifetime yet... white people often ask me where am I from? I say New Jersey, no, they say before that. "I was born in New Jersey...." "No, where are your parents from?" You could have just asked me what nationality I am, but I would have just say American.

It starts with yourself and noticing when you make comments. All I am asking is to be more aware of your comments and unconscious bias and or microaggressions.

I make these mistakes all of the time, and I am certainly not perfect clearly stated in my first story. It breaks my heart that he was not able to sleep well because of my hurtful comments. I know what it's like because I've had so many of these comments as well on the track team when this happened at a friend's birthday party. You never want others to say, Is it true that Asians have small penises?

I did a simple exercise the other day, where I thought what if George Floyd is my good friends Melvin, Edwin, or Aaron... I would fkin devastated I cried like a baby yesterday when I even thought of it. Although, I'll never truly understand what black people go through in today's age I can have the compassion and remember back to how little I felt when I get these racist comments more often then you would think and how much it hurts when it was from your closest friends people you have spent hundreds of hours with every month inside and outside of school.

Thanks for making it this far, I know it's not an easy topic for many but starting to think of instances where you may have say something that could have impacted someone in the wrong way is the first step.

According to a study published in Alan S. Cowen and Dacher Keltner Phd from Berkeley there are 27 human emotions. I will discuss 26 of them in processing my emotions to see if others feel the same way.

Admiration-I have admiration for others taking action and when white allies are acknowledging their white privilege it makes me happy that we are moving in some sort of progress because I do think that acceptance is the start before any change happens. I tell people all of the time, if I see my friends getting bullied. I'll say something and acknowledging that by doing nothing- I am actually sending a message that it's acceptable that this racism exists.
Adoration-I have adoration for my friends like Aaron and Melvin who have openly shared with their struggles with being black from being arrested/shot at/ or being pulled over by cops just because of their dreadlocks or the color of their skin. It breaks my heart when I see that even though we live in this great country, we have not made that much progress at all. Thank you for your vulnerability. I am releasing a podcast episode this week about Aaron's authentic experience of what it's like being black in this country. Stay tuned and would love your feedback on your takeaways from the conversation. It's going to be raw and authentic unfiltered.
Aesthetic Appreciation- Although I do appreciate the aesthetic appreciation of luxury goods. I know they are being targeted in some unpeaceful riots all over metropolitan areas. I have strong opinions about this, and you don't have to agree, but at the end of the day, material items are not as valuable as human lives. If there are thousands of racist killings a year, then honestly even if it's millions of dollars of merchandise. I would choose for us to make progress on changing the way we look at other races over the cost of what it is to fix these windows and the dollar value of luxury goods.
Amusement- I used to laugh at the racist jokes aimed towards me as a way of dealing with it as a survival mechanism. It never feels good when you feel alone and that you are the only Asian in the room especially in sales. There has been so many meetings when met with decision-makers or even at a networking event where people talk about golf or their multiple homes in other states. I always felt like an imposter and it was hard for me to relate to simple topics like pop culture.
Anxiety- Who isn't feeling anxiety right now? Especially compounded with COVID-19, your job, and your livelihood of paying the bills. For those of you who are privileged enough where you do have a family with a place to stay outside of NYC. I am fortunate that I can even escape NYC to stay at my fiancee's parent's house. Not all of us have the luxury where we can escape to go somewhere else. I'm extremely blessed, but I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that I feel like I've betrayed my city by leaving it, but I do acknowledge that it's probably the smart thing to do when became "dangerous" to stay in NYC.
Awe- I am in awe of all of the peaceful protestors of all of colors, backgrounds, and experiences. When cops are marching with the protestors in some cities that gives us hope that change will eventually come even though it's taken us this long to start the conversation for it be worldwide.
Awkwardness- It's never an easy conversation when you bring race up as an issue. People inherently don't like change- Think of how many old school parents still think it's okay to treat blacks like a second class citizen. Asian parents are some of the worst, and yes I get it there is trauma or their own racism that they have to deal with in the past but when you take a stand it's never easy to try to help others see a different perspective.
Boredom- I am fkin bored staying at home. Honestly, I hate it. I do feel bad that I should be doing more. With COVID-19 and large gatherings being potentially dangerous to because you have a higher probability of contracting the virus, I realize that there are other ways to contribute as to whether its writing things like this or a podcast I've created about interviewing Garrett how to be a good Ally. Thank you, Garrett, for this resource and for bringing the conversation to light.
Calmness- Meditation has been a great source to ground me. Thank you to the mindfulness community and the bountiful resources we have here at Linkedin. Even though it helps process what's going on right now I do still feel like its been harder to sleep because we are all are thinking of ways where we can contribute to progressing society and the world.
Confusion- Feeling confused some days- you feel great and blessed to be privileged and some days there is a feeling of helplessness and confusion about where to even start.
Craving- I am craving restaurants/bars/ and large gatherings. I am a social creature and even though this isolation has drastically changed who I am. It's helped me actually stand for something in the belief in something more than just myself. It's helped given me purpose in many of Employee Resource Group related endeavors that I've been involved with since I've joined Linkedin.
Disgust- Absolute disgust that police officers have gotten away with as much as they have so far. I get it that not all police officers are bad and not all white people are evil but every time I read something about another police officer getting away clean from these deaths. I have that much disgust in my stomach that this is happening still in 2020.
Empathetic pain- A blessing and curse. I am an empath, and it's really hard for me to separate my pain from others. Sometimes it paralyzing, sometimes it really helps me get a good cry in where I can process these emotions. My beautiful fiancee is another empath where when she sees someone in a TV show or movie gets hurt she says wow, my tail bone hurts. That's why I love her so much because of her big gigantic heart in feeling the emotions that people do in videos and movies.
Entrancement- There have been moments of entrancement where I've created the space example in my men's group to be vulnerable and for us to share how we feel about the current situation or even when my team at Linkedin created the space for us where we can have this potentially uncomfortable conversation. That makes me extremely happy that I can work for a company where this is a valid topic of conversation. I know not everyone has that privilege.
Envy- I used to be so envious of white American males. The opportunity they get to move up in management or being lucky enough to be born into wealth. That used to consume me, (the hatred, the anger of social injustice) but now I see that with any power comes the necessity of being a leader and that pressure is not easy. Having responsibility is not always easy, but it's needed right now.
Excitement- I am excited that I am optimistic and see that there is change starting to happen. I know it's not going to be easy, but with every tragedy comes an opportunity. Speaking for myself, through the biggest challenges in my life I am been much more involved with non-profits, and social impact work. If I did not experience my father's leaving us as a child, racism against Asians, and a ton of other adversity I do not think I would be as passionate as I am about these types of conversations.
Fear- Of course, there is fear in regards to my professional brand. It is going to affect my future career choices. Knowing that many executives and decision-makers are white. I know that not everyone is ready to have this conversation, but I am firm in who I am and standing for social equality.
Horror- The horror as I watched George Floyd and many other videos over the past few years. I ask myself, that could be my close friends who are black. Actually sitting with that and being with that thought scares me.
Interest- I am interested in change and how companies like Linkedin are starting this conversation. We know action is more important, but for many, starting to take interest is one way forward. This can look like educating yourself through a bunch of different media channels so that it's not completely biased.
Joy- There's so much joy when I see us come together and start to view others not as strangers but as one species as a human.
Nostalgia- I miss the simplest days where I could have walked around the halls of work ignorant to what's going on around me. In a way, humans are great at avoiding the problem. Many of us naturally love avoiding conflict, life is much easier that way. I've lived most of my life avoiding conflicting by running away or not having to deal with this. It's that easy to unfollow someone on social media if they do not agree with your perspective.
Romance- I am in love with reading Trevor Noah, Kevin Hart, and other influential black people's biographies and when leaders have influence and speak up vulnerable about their experiences growing up- what it's like being black with systematic racism. Their vulnerability is so relatable. That is what standing for something looks like.
Sadness- Extreme sadness that it's 2020 and jails are basically a version of slavery. From watching the 13th documentary, I find it hard to even watch the whole thing on Netflix in one sitting without being sick to my stomach.
Satisfaction- I will be satisfied when I start to see real change instead of speaking about change.
Sympathy- I have sympathy for others who are not taking action because of their fear of looking bad. I was one who cared about that too at one point and still do from time to time. But like I have said being doing nothing, you are sending a message as well.
Triumph- We will triumph through this like we always do because humans are capable of beautiful things when we come together. I know not everyone shares this optimism but I do.

I hope you enjoyed this full range of human emotions post and would love to hear your thoughts on what's going on right now as well.

I'm typically a guy who never discuss politics or race publically, but with what's going on with the systematic racism, I feel a desire to raise awareness around these issues.

I am privileged that I can run around the neighborhood without being shot.

I'm privileged that when I walk around a grocery store, security guards do not profile me and follow me around.

I'm fortunate enough that people do not have to hold on to their purses when I'm near them.

These are all experiences that my friends have shared with me. One of my good friends from Philly feels the tension in the air when he enters a bus, or when he is walking around Philly, he feels like people are afraid of him. He's the nicest guy in the world too! I love you, Melvin!

I was pretty ignorant of all of these things because I was always too worried about what my fellow Asian brothers and sisters were dealing with ourselves in our own bubble regards to all of the adversity we've encountered as a race, especially with the president calling it the Chinese virus.

I am also torn because I'm pretty close with some police officers and I remember living with one and he would always tell me that with cell phones around about many officers hesitate and it drastically affects their decision-making skills when time is on the essence when your life could be taken in a many of seconds when working with criminals in Camden, NJ- one of the most dangerous cities in the US.

I'm extremely sad that there is violence in the world and that it has resulted in this much chaos.

I get that we've reached a breaking point because of all of the systematic racism going on in the world. I remember feeling so helpless when I heard about the death of Vincent Chin, and when I read up about our history in America. We've come a long way, and I respect that. In many ways, we've gone backwards as well as a society. With every tragedy, there lies an opportunity. It makes me happy that people acknowledging that white privilege is a thing. I think with any change, the first step is acceptance.

Having a victim mentality most of my life, I made middle-aged white males as the enemy in the world. Having many more experiences and being able to change my perspective, I realize that I cannot generalize with anything.

Working at LinkedIn, we get exposure to these types of conversations more often. Through many self-development programs such as Landmark and Accomplishment coaching, I had the privilege of hearing many saddening stories about the justice system in America and how some of my African American colleagues feel about when people are afraid of their sheer presence. I am so fortunate in so many ways, and I am generally sad it takes protesting for policymakers to begin the conversation of change finally.

Being involved with LinkedIn's Asian Alliance and having attended many Hispanics of LinkedIn and the Black Inclusion Group events and panel discussions has opened up my eyes to being able to have these conversations finally. I was always afraid and quite frankly triggered when others had these conversations. I would say to myself ugh... Social media can be such a paralyzing place. I am finally starting to realize that everything starts with a conversation. From my men's group yesterday, I realize that it begins with each individual, and by saying nothing, you are saying something. I would never let my friends get bullied in front of me, so why would I be silent with millions of people who are systematically at a disadvantage from birth? We have a long way to go, and now is the time we come together as one and start to realize that we are all the same. The more I dive into self-development, the more I realize that we all have the same emotions and feelings even though some of us are at a disadvantage from birth.

Acknowledging our feelings is the beginning, and although these conversations are never easy. It needs to start somewhere.

Thank you Jeff Weiner we are going to miss you as our CEO. I remember when I was a senior in high school I knew I wanted to work at LinkedIn I thought it was cool that I could reach out to people whom I looked up to seek advice from.

Having access to anyone was always intriguing to me.

That's where I met Garrett Rafols who took me in and mentored me.

From the mindfulness community to the work we are doing for equality with women, minorities, and people of different religions, thoughts, and experiences are all valued here.

We are not perfect but the culture and compassionate leadership you have cultivated here at LinkedIn lies within all of us. It's deep-rooted within every employee and our interactions inside and outside. All 15 thousand of us are an extension of your values of humor, integrity, transformation, results, collaboration, relationship matters, inspire excellence, and so much more.

Thank you, Jeff you inspire us to be authentically leading through listening and by bringing our full selves to work every day.

Why I started a blog, podcast, and YouTube channel

www.DavidsonHang.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/davidsonh87

https://open.spotify.com/show/4H475Y8hPnuqUTDOKtwOWQ

Inspired by Katie Page Weiss's post on Linkedin. I've decided to share why I am so passionate about Mental Health Awareness Month.

Imposter syndrome, the other day I shared a bit about Imposter Syndrome doing a meeting with another team here at Linkedin.

I'll never forget the day I was crying in front of my manager, and I didn't know why I was doing that. I've moved around a lot in my life and have a ton of my support in my life luckily. A ton of friends, I went to college, there were many things to be grateful for.

Still, I felt a sense of aloneness, it almost didn't make any sense because I worked at a company where my people would dream of working, we had fun happy hours, it was a strong name brand, and my coworkers were brilliant. I was fortunate enough that I had excellent health insurance, and it allowed me to pay for a therapist. I wasn't sure what compelled me to look into mental health; all I knew is that I had a lot of emotions to process.

Growing up, my father left us one day without telling us, and I always felt different than everyone else. We all experience some trauma in life that's just growing up. I was so grateful that my therapist almost took the place of my father where I was able to heal some of my past.

I remember moving back to the town where I spent most of my life growing up in Cherry Hill, NJ. I reached out to all of my previous teachers and acknowledged them for being there for me and for helping me expand on my curiosity. There was still something missing...

Fast forward, I end up moving into NYC, and my girlfriend and I got a place together in a tiny Manhattan apartment. I went to so many networking events because I enjoyed meeting people and learning about other people's stories and lives. I met Joslyn from Accomplishment Coaching, and that year-long intensive program blew open my world. I learned about my survival mechanisms, which in the program mine were Big Hero No, Optimistic Orphan, and Judgmental Guru. These were the names of who I grow up to be because of my trauma and stuff that I've interpreted in my life as my father not loving me enough to stick around for.

During this really intense program you get to deal with all of your dark secrets and realize that wow I am not the only one going through all of this craziness that's in my head. I started to see that actually, my parents and everyone else around me love me for what I am and not for my accomplishments and awards.

I started meeting other people who were into this kind of work of self-discovery and forgiveness and stumbled upon a program called Landmark, and that blasted away another layer of the complexity that is a human being. I started making amends with all of the people whom I perceived as having unresolved issues with. I called my old bosses, where I left for another company or an ex-girlfriend whom I've left in the past. I took responsibility for my actions, and it felt great. It wasn't easy or fun, but I felt a huge burden lifted off my shoulders.

We all still have our ups and downs, and I am grateful for all of those who stood for me and helped me process so many of these feelings of imposter syndrome, doubt, anxiety, and constant comparison.

Thank you, Katie Page Weiss. We don't know each other, but I am so glad you shared your story because when leaders do it, other employees are compelled to open themselves up as well.

The five things I would recommend in helping us during our Mental Health journey is

Meditation or find your grounding practice. For me, it looks like taking a walk around the park or being in nature. Try different types of meditation. Headspace was the one that got me into all of this. I remember saying to myself meditation is hard, but like with anything else with practice, it becomes easier. I would also recommend Transcendental Meditation or for anyone who is located in NYC- the Inscape studio in flatiron or MNDFL is excellent as well for anyone in the 50s midtown east area.
Find a physical exercise you enjoy and make it a part of your routine. Crossfit, Flywheel, Yoga, and weight lifting has been fun in having more self confidence on my physical well being as well as mentally. It helps build a sharp, healthy habit and mind.
Find your tribe or group of friends where you can be yourself. For me, it's the social impact community, Sales folks, the coaching, and personal development communities. I love being with people who are curious about themselves and others and want to become the best version of themselves by having a growth mindset.
Find a therapist and try different types of therapy. Everyone has a different style, and different techniques work well for different people. Try Somatic Therapy and EMDR . Ping me if you want to discuss or want a recommendation on how to go about finding the right therapist for you. Reiki, Acupuncture, and having a Chiropractor in a way is helpful for healing for me.
Hire an Executive/Life Coach- It's helpful to have an unbiased accountability partner who you speak with regularly. They can help you by being an objective point of view of whats going on and will hold you accountable to be responsible for your actions, goals, and your results. You might not always love what you hear but you will be grateful at the end of the tunnel when you've generated breakthroughs in areas of your life where you never thought you could.

I had a story about how I was not a great writer and times like these give me the opportunity to impact at a much larger scale because writing reaches the masses much more easily than one on one conversations. I hope this inspires others to share their own Mental Health journey.

These were my takeaways from Next Level Trainings in the first-ever Accelerate Training with Chris Lee.

I was about to create my code and it helped me figure out my why in life so that I can be purposeful with my intentions and what I want to create in the world.

Here is the link to the program if you are interested. https://www.nextleveltrainings.com/

My life's purpose is to create Curiosity, Reflection, and Abundance.

Curiosity in the inner world dispelling our own preconceived notions to grow. It starts from within and being curious about other people to tap into their greatness, joy, and strengths.

Practicing Gratitude leading to abundance. When you appreciate something the value of it goes up. I want others when interacting with me to see what's possible in themselves and others.

My intention is with reflection as a coach in life is when others are in my presence they see a reflection on what's possible within themselves, question some of their actions to be in alignment with their values. I help others see the humanity in themselves by helping people find a purposeful drive so that they are happy, fulfilled, and radiant joy. From reflecting on what legacy I am creating for my family, communities, and the world.

Emotional Intelligence Training Program

May 14 reflections and takeaways

In Honor of Mental Health Awareness Month: I am discussing my insecurities and how imposter syndrome shows up in my life.

I am committing to posting daily content on topics about our mental health and mental well being in May 2020.

I've noticed that the more I continually practice creating podcast episodes the easier it gets.

Trust the process and being able to improve by listening to feedback and implementing it.

Episode 29 of my podcast on 15 ways my Survival Mechanism Shows up and how I hide them.

Sharing with you all in the practice of being vulnerable to help me in Toastmasters and public speaking engagements

Sharing with you tips around self-development/self-improvement. Quick discussions about creation and getting better with practice.

Mental Health Awareness Month- Day 9 Friendships

Mental Health Awareness in May 2020: Day 8 of sharing about my struggles with trying to fit in and belonging.

In Honor of Mental Health Awareness Month: This is day 7 of my 30-day challenge in s.haring with you my relationship to Love. Practicing vulnerability and being fully self-expressed.

Sharing with you stories about my time in High School at Cherry Hill West, NJ.

Sharing with you all my stories from Rosa International Middle School and Cherry Hill West in Cherry Hill, NJ in a town not too far away from Philadelphia, PA.

In-Service of Mental Health Awareness Month- I'm sharing with you all vulnerable moments and all of this is helping me flesh out my biography.

Thank you Rose for pushing me to speak openly about my depression in service of mental health awareness month and how therapy got me into a lot of these life coaching programs.

What I've learned from Ted Turner and Michael Jordan's trainer

Here is a link to the books I was talking about

https://www.amazon.com/Relentless-Good-Great-Unstoppable/dp/B00R4TQNP6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=relentless&qid=1588158689&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Call-Me-Ted/dp/B001L4EECE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=call+me+ted&qid=1588158720&s=audible&sr=1-1

None

Call Me Ted

We've been on lockdown for 2 months so far here in NYC.

I discussed some of my takeaways having the space to grow and learn more about myself during this time of isolation/ social distancing.

The most interesting and valuable relationships were when I went outside my comfort zone to reach out to people after I've listened to their podcast interviews or when I have read their book.

From recording this podcast, I will commit today to reach out to Zack, Dean Karrel, Scott Galloway, James Altucher, Jordan Harbinger, Rich Roll, and Lewis Howes.

Reflections on what I am dealing with self-doubt, judgment, and how I currently view the world.

These are my survival mechanisms during this crisis that is showing up for me.

Elitist Rebel
Optimistic Failure
Righteous Outsider

Please reach out to me at dh@davidsonhang.com

I'm curious about what you have gotten out of during this exercise yourself. Let me know if you need help with it.

I recently completed a 30 day acknowledge your partner challenge. Here were my reflections from after doing this challenge.

Here is my Instagram for anyone who was curious to what that looked like exactly. My intention is to inspire others to start a gratitude practice.

https://www.instagram.com/theappreciationcoach/

Woke up with these thoughts at 6am and I had to share it with the world.

Reflections on my meditative walk around the neighborhood this morning. Being able to appreciate the beautiful colors, trees, and being with nature.

I recorded a bunch of podcasts episodes but I was too afraid to release it to the public because of my fear of looking bad. I'm so glad I got over that hump honestly. Let me know what you are thinking about doing but you are letting the fear of something get in the way.

Sharing with you all my takeaways from leading my first Toastmaster meeting. Shout out to Cathy and Zack for making Toastmasters happen here at Linkedin.

Sharing with you all a practice speech- Relistening to your speeches is always nerve-wracking but you get better at it every time. I hope this inspired you to take action.

Sharing with you advice on how I landed at my dream company.

Sharing with you a useful tool in manifesting your goals. Follow these steps and let me know how it works out for you all.

Today, I will show you how to manifest and share with you all a visualization that will help you get one step closer to your dreams.

April 10, 2020. This is especially helpful during these pressing times.

At Linkedin, all of the NYC office is working from home so 1000 employees. It's interesting to see how people are reacting to this coronavirus scare. I think everyone is not sure what to expect but everyone is gearing up to expect the worst.

Hopefully we will look back to this moment and learn and take away some things from this experience.

Sharing with you to build consistency. Short and easy actionable steps for you to have a fulfilling life.

March 6,2020

Being consistent with my podcast helps me build healthy habits and routines.

March 6, 2020

My interesting experience during Meditation today.

Here are my Reflections from our Value Engagement Methodologies training so far.

March 4th, 2020

My intention will be to produce consistent content and my goal is to inspire others to put themselves out there. Let's do this!

Recorded on March 2nd, 2020.

These are my lessons from being involved with Pi Delta Psi- An Asian American Cultural Interest Fraternity. Happy 26 years anniversary! Thank you Damien L and Ronny Chow for all that you have both contributed to our community and to the society.

Lessons learned from Tony Robbins, Lewis Howes, and other self-development gurus from learning about their healthy daily habits that have helped them become successful in fitness, health, business, and relationships.

I am sharing with you all my story about how it was like growing up for me trying to fit in, not realizing that working hard isn't the way to success.

I am thankful for all of the mentors and people who have helped me along the way. Creating this will help me create my autography that I am committed to finishing the bulk of it by the end of the year.

I am super excited to practice vulnerability and share with you all my journey into this and I will be committing to posting much more regularly. My goal is to release one podcast episode per week or a grand total of 48 by the end of the year.

Wednesday the February 19th, 2020 Reflections after my marriage proposal.