Davidson Hang Reflections and Lessons from a life worth living

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 1. Gabby Bernstein-Author, Motivational Speaker, Podcast Host 2. Dr. Michael Beckwith- Author, Peace Activist, Spiritual Leader 3. Dr. Mariel Buque- Psychologist, Author, Trauma Expert 4. Erwin McManus - Global Expert on Human Genius and Personal Transformation 5. Rory Vaden- NYT Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker & Personal Brand Strategist 6. Dr. Caroline Leaf-Author, Communication Pathologist, Cognitive Neuroscientist 7. Dr. Trisha Smith- Coach, Speaker, Clinician- We did a meditation with her. 8. Maria & Calvin Wagner- Soundbath Facilitators 9. Chris Lee- Lewis Howe's Coach - We did a workshop on Relationships 10. 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 

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.   1. Getting over my fear of looking bad. 2. Having a growth mindset. 3. Love is the answer to everything. 4. Being able to create a vision for my relationship with my beautiful wife. 5. 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. 1. Working at a previous company where I called racist comments as my nickname. 2. At a team outing that traumatized with the Men's Cross Country and Track at Cherry Hill West. 3. With one of my best friends back in High School 4. A hurtful comment with a formal manager of mine 5. Random moments walking around Queens/Brooklyn/New Brunswick being called Jackie Chan. 6. 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… 7. 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. 1. Vincent Chin-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Vincent_Chin 2. Chinese Massacre of 1871-https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-mssacre-1871 3. Read this article by Michelle Kim- https://medium.com/awaken-blog/on-anti-asian-hate-crimes-who-is-our-real-enemy-207ee7354926 4. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth 5. 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 1. 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. 2. 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.  3. 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.  4. 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.  5. 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.  6. 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.  7. 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. 8. 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.  9. 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.    10. 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 1. What am I happy about in my life now? What about that makes me happy? How does that make me feel? 2. What am I excited about in my life now? What about that makes me excited? How does that make me feel? 3. What am I proud about in my life now? What about that makes me proud? How does that make me feel? 4. What am I grateful about in my life now? What about that makes me grateful? How does that make me feel? 5. What am I enjoying most in my life right now? What about that do I enjoy? How does that make me feel good? 6. What am I committed to in my life right now? What about that makes me committed? How does that make me feel? 7. 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? 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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? 1. 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. 1. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness- Eric Jorgenson, Jack Butcher, Tim Ferriss 2. I Can See Clearly Now– Wayne W. Dyer 3. The Magic of Thinking Big– David J Schwartz 4. 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 7. Time Travel: Through Consciousness and Advanced Technology– Frederick Dodson 8. The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything–Neil Pasricha 9. Notes from a Friend: A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Control of Your Life- Tony Robbins 10. 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 13. Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day– Jay Shetty 14. Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe– Neale Donald Walsch 15. ADHD and the Edison Gene: A Drug-Free Approach to Managing the Unique Qualities of Your Child- Thom Hartmann 16. Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire's No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs Tom Golisano, Mike Wicks 17. The Blue Zones, Second Edition: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest Dan Buettner 18. The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance- Tom Brady 19. North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail–Scott Jurek 20. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life-Brian Grazer, Charles Fishman 21. Living an Inspired Life: Your Ultimate Calling–Dr. Wayne W. Dyer 22. Call Me Ted– Ted Turner, Bill Burke 23. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century– Yuval Noah Harari 24. Let Love Rule– Lenny Kravitz 25. PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story– Alexander Shulgin, Ann Shulgin 26. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism– Robin J. DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson 27. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.– Clayborne Carson 28. The Brink: How Great Leadership Is Invented– Mark Hunter 29. Start Your Engines: My Unstoppable CrossFit Journey– Sam Briggs Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection– Brian Grazer 30. The Journey: Mastering the Art of Slowing Down into a Beautiful Existence– Cathy Trinh 31. As Many Reps as Possible– Jason Khalipa 32. How I Became The Fittest Woman On Earth: My Story So Far– Tia-Clair Toomey 33. Homeless to Billionaire: The 18 Principles of Wealth Attraction and Creating Unlimited Opportunity– Andres Pira, Joe Vitale 34. 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 35. Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance– Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker 36. Carry That Quota: Sales Tactics and Stories By the Rep For the Rep– Jesse Rothstein 37. 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: 1. You barely notice the strap, and it gives you the most data from Heart Rate Variability to Sleep Quality. 2. 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. 3. 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: 1. 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. 2. 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: 1. 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 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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