Always be a thermostat, Never a thermometer.
On a chili evening in San Francisco a few weeks ago, I ran into my entrepreneur mentor Galen Yuen. We chatted from 11pm till 5am about entrepreneurship + life.
One great lesson I learned is to …
{ Always be a thermostat, Never a thermometer}
When you walk into a room filled with negative people, the thermometer minded person instantly become negative.
But if you’re a thermostat minded person, you control the “temperature.” You dictate your thoughts, which are correlated to your mood.
Simple, yet it takes a life time to master and perhaps seasons for this to become a habit.
I love this video. A few lessons I learned.
+ Do something you love. Life is so short. If you’re not doing something you love, slowly transition. If you want to leave your law firm and become a radio host, get a mentor in that field. Read up on that field. That fact is that people don’t want it enough.
+ Embrace hardship. Steve Jobs was adopted and never graduate from high school. He also got fired from the company he started. But all the hardships build character. Never giving up is a great character trait, but more importantly, never giving up becomes a life long habit.
+ Be HUNGRY, BE Foolish. Yes, all entrepreneurs must have this drive. It is 3:47am right now in Hong Kong and I am working. Be foolish, meaning try things that are different. Color outside the lines. Challenge authority, embrace change. Be the Purple Cow.
I agree with Ge Wang. We all have a creative side but we just need a platform or vehicle.
Being creative has many forms.
You can create music, write a Knock Knock joke, or simply create a new dance form.
After a night of dancing in Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong, I took a taxi home around 5am. As usual, I would ask my taxi driver questions.
“How is the Hong Kong economy?”
“How do people survive in this city?”
I like to learn from taxi drivers. They are observant and overhear thousands of conversations. At the end of the trip, I commented “never be too greedy in this city!”
Just after I paid my fare, Mr. Taxi (~58 years old) turned around and made a confession.
Three years ago, his son jumped off the 31st floor and committed suicide. It was not over money but simply his son did not succeed in school + had mental issues.
His son trapped himself inside his room and just played video games.
Mr. Tax man firmly said, “computers killed my son!”
Later, he said that that day another person had jump off the same building.
Mr. Taxi formerly worked for the Hong Kong government for over 30 years and on the side, he started a food delivery business along with his wife in order to afford to buy homes.
Three years later after the death of his son, he is still sad. As a Christian, he had lost faith and just had hated against the world. He works 12 hour days driving the taxi just to escape the pain he feels.
So he shared his story while he double parked his tax on the side of the road in Wan Chai for 30 minutes I had read enough self help books to know that the best thing I could do was simply listen and not provide solutions to how he was feeling so sad.
My takeaway from this experience. I felt blessed that taxi drivers open up to me and share intimate stories. I can also affirm that money does not business happiness.
The absence of pain does not equal happiness.
If anything, happiness is a state of mind and the ability to appreciate the present and the wisdom to embrace all the experience that comes your way.
I learned not to chase the cars or the white picket fence.
Instead, I learned that 80% of my happiness is having a healthy relationship with friends and family.
My mentor Galen Yuen taught me, appreciate and enjoy each grain of rice.
I live a humble life in Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, I live in a small 200 sq place, but boy I have to admit I am one happy dude.
I have friends that want to commit suicide because they don’t have the house or career their child friend posses.
Stop comparing! Live you own dam life.
so run wild, be foolish, and live a fulfilling life.
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If you want to be super star entrepreneur, read A Whole New Mind.
Who will be on the very top in the future?
Not programmers.
Not MBA’s.
Not lawyers or doctors.
There are plenty of these and many skills become commoditize.
The answer, those who have imagination and creativity.
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue created Flipboad for the Ipad + understands that layout, font, and format matters.
Rayfil Wong :: entrepreneur + philosopher
