My personal lessons learned from this story:

• being in the middle of things increases your chances for opportunities (in NYC with a roommate working at a big studio)
• everything great that happens in your career starts with someone you know (my roommate)
• when you hear of an opportunity you want, you have to go for it completely, over-the-top, not casual, and work your ass off to get it

Derek Sivers

After some reflection, I realized that even though seizing opportunities leads to success; it’s passion that creates those opportunities in the first place. Mix that in with a positive attitude and just faithfully producing something, with time I’m pretty sure you won’t live your life unnoticed.

Many times, I have been paralyzed by many irrelevant constraints whenever I try to venture into something new. This always stops me from getting things done. The list is long and it always seem so important in ensuring success.

1. I don’t have the right contacts
2. I don’t know anyone who can teach me
3. I dont have enough money
4. I’m not as good as “[INSERT SUPERSTAR HERE]“

All these obstacles are very real, and if you are betting your life on being successful the very first try, then the odds are against you. However, you don’t have to be a genius or have the stars align for you to get better at something. The current “you” might be lacking but in time you will be able to knock off those obstacles one by one. To remind myself what I need to do, I made a list.

1. Just keep getting better (with tenacity)
2. Produce something often (even though its nothing great)
3. Share it
4. Be with people of the same passion

Opportunities will slowly present itself with time. When that happens, don’t hold back and go over-the-top. Who knows, one day you could one day be called a genius.

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Many things went through my mind at that time, but the most important question was “What if I died today?” Expecting some sort of flashbacks of my life, or to come up with a reason why I shouldn’t die; my mind was entirely blank. I knew where I was going and had no regrets or any compelling aspirations in life which I had to achieve.

Its only at that very moment though, you will realize how sure you are of what you’ve been doing. Have you been wasting your life trying to achieve something that doesn’t really matter in the end? Have you been living a life where you can say confidently, even if this was my last moment, I have no regrets?

So i leave you with this burning question, “What if YOU died today?“

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Even if the world is shrinking, you can only meaningfully connect to a handful of people. I call this your personal Sphere of Influence. Everyone has a unique set of people which they will influence over the course of their lives. You must be thinking, that’s definitely not me, because I’m not a dominant person and I’m always a follower. Most people would say this but fail to realize that everything you say or do, how you react and just being you; a little bit of you will rub off to the people around you.

Realizing that would make you ponder if you’re being a good influence to those around you. Why don’t you try to up the ante and try to make a lasting, life changing and meaningful impression on those within your sphere of influence. I’m sure the world would be a step closer to being a better place when everyone stops being too self absorbed and takes a step to make a positive change.

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Looks like search domination is not enough. Will we have Google Ads on TV? Check out the video after the break

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In my previous company, 3 interns came in from a local college and they were absolutely clueless and had no usable skillsets to help them on the job. Their college irresponsibly produced multimedia students with totally no exposure to any graphic editing software except ms. paint (but that’s another story). My manager took the liberty to specially train them in Corel Draw every (non-working) saturday in the office even though its not required of him. That gesture changed the lives of the interns forever and I’ve learned to respect him even more.

You can do the same, even small things. Should a janitor just do his job to just keep emptying the dustbins that overflow during the weekends, or take a step further to install another one nearby? Should you complain or embrace when you’re a photographer and your boss asks you to help edit videos?

Caveat : You have to be the one picking the value you want to create, not let it be thrust to you. Doing extra is useless if it affects the quality of your main job, or the quality of your life.

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The way that’s supposed work but doesn’t work as of Rails 3 Beta2

So I had to force a default into the session store

You might want to have different domain settings for each environment. Go ahead and create a YML file and load it from there

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She has mastered the art of storytelling. And her art is so deeply personal and transparent that the recipient understands the artist just by receiving her art.

That is exactly what Seth Godin meant when he says that everyone is an artist in his latest book, Linchpin.

Art isn’t only a painting. Art is anything that’s creative, passionate, and personal. And great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator. – Seth Godin

Everyone produces art, whether in the form of a blog post, a warm smile or a history lesson that doesn’t tranquilize the whole class. Art has to be a gift though, something produced out of generosity to bless the recipient. You can sell the medium it resides on, a canvas, a cd or the book published, but the idea itself is free to be shared and to change the recipient.

Closely inspect your daily interactions, the work you produce or the hobbies you love, see if you’re producing art, one that’s deeply personal and uniquely you.

In my future blog posts, I’ll try to learn from how Taylor Swift writes her songs, a tad more personal so I can connect better to you guys, my blog readers. Thanks for generously spending your time on my blog.

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We follow a bunch of soap operas (or jdramas) to be moved by scripted life story of someone else in another place and another time. Yet when we approach our own lives, any “drama” is a nuisance.

Maybe if we learn to see the little things, we appreciate our own lives more. Maybe we can embrace the “downs” as part of enriching the story. Maybe then, we can take little steps of our own to add a little colour to life for those around us as well.

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How can you be the only smart phone without “Multitasking”  (until now) and still be wildly successful?

Imagine, paying a bomb for a phone that doesn’t allow you to check your email while you’re in a skype call; when you’re streaming music on Pandora, you can’t load the browser to check lyrics because that would close the Pandora app; or your GPS app closes when you open an sms.

Why do people clap when Apple implements multitasking on the iPhone OS 4.0? Weren’t customers being ripped off in the first place?

Its how they made you feel, not the feature list stupid.

You have to hand it to them, the Iphone did reinvent the US mobile industry. No other phone was as elegant, and the phone is indeed a revolution in its time. Owning one made you feel like you’re a part of that revolution. Owning one made you feel you’re better than the masses. Owning one makes you feel connected to others who are part of the movement. And thats all that matters.

Stop checking your competitors features, just revolutionize your industry.

You will have enough time to implement them as you go.

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Superficial – concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually

You always have someone whom you admire. Most probably some trait or talent that makes him outstanding like being really intelligent, good at sports, charisma, talented in music or just knows how to be cool all the time. Or you just can’t understand why a person is liked by everyone.

Most probably when what goes through your mind is “Life’s unfair, if I could just be as talented as him in …. “, you could be too superficial to think that it only takes mostly talent and not effort to be good at something.

No matter how talented, every master of their craft would have sacrificed time and effort to be able to reach the result you see now. Most talented people are not born with amazing skills contrary to popular belief.  If you were able to see the full process, you would know talent is effort and you can do it too if you’re willing to make the sacrifice.

So instead of envying others, why not take the leap and try it for yourself. You might not be world’s best, but i’m sure you can be pretty darn good at what you put your focus in.

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