New #Nike #Benassi slides for #Hawaii! I wanted their signature classic black ones with a swoosh, but I couldn’t find them in my size. The sales associate said mine would be a great conversation starter. So now I’m reppin’ #KevinDurant! #KD #KD35 #idontwearanythingthatisntcomforatble
#Texan in #Hawaii, y’all! #Aloha! #soexcited #Oahu #rainbowstate #itsbeenawhile #secondhome #perfectweather #beach #DiamondHead #shaka #spammusubi #shaveice #beachvolleyball #lifeisgood #thanksbetoGod
Mood: reflective, grateful, slightly anxious, hopeful, and excited.
I keep thinking about my past and how I got to where I am now. I had multiple opportunities to pursue a career in the retail industry, but for some reason, other opportunities arose, and I pursued them instead.
I had an opportunity to intern in the retail industry the summer before my senior year of college, but I miraculously, yes, miraculously got the most ideal, amazing, and best-fitting internship (for me). I was surrounded by some of the best bosses I’d ever had the privilege of working with and by corporate summer interns whom I’m still friends today. Did I mention that I got to spend my Toyota internship in Los Angeles and traveled to Baltimore, MD, Golden, CO, and New York, NY, for a Dew Tour event, Motocross event, and concert event for work? Badass.
Backtrack further, to when I applied to Business Honors at McCombs. What if I hadn’t gotten in? If I hadn’t gotten into the program, where would I be now? Who would I know? Who wouldn’t I know? I wouldn’t have a lot of the amazing friends I do now (Huy, Koby, Celeste, possibly Nami?). If I didn’t get into BHP, I wouldn’t have taken the same classes in the same order as stipulated by the honors program, which means I probably would’ve studied abroad sooner than Fall 2008, as a junior. Which means, I wouldn’t know any of my study abroad friends in Portugal, Norway, France, or Austria. Additionally, I would’ve probably recruited during the fall, which means I might’ve not pursued Teach For America and lived in Hawai’i for two years, touched many student lives, and met more awesome people including my good friends from Switzerland and Canada. Also, would I have gotten the job at Toyota without the BHP insignia?
Backtrack to even further than that, to entering high school. It just so happened that our volleyball coach in middle school, whom everyone loved, left the school when I was in 7th grade, so we got a replacement coach, whom everyone hated, when I was in 8th. I was pretty indifferent about her at first — she gradually grew on me — but she loved me and recognized my potential. So she put in a good word for me at Episcopal High School, where I got in on an athletic scholarship despite having no ties to the school and there being a waiting list. (I started middle back, btw, for those of you who view me as a big nerd, which I am, but hey, I got some other skills, too! lol) While at EHS, I had the opportunity to travel to China for spring break and Spain for a month in the summer where I lived with a host family. (It is there that I really gained the confidence to speak Spanish, as it improved significantly, and probably why I can still speak pretty well today.) And from EHS, I met three amazing, close girl friends, that I still keep in contact with today: Gabby, Alissa, and Amy. Another friend recently hired me as a tutor, so I have the ability to save some money to start my own business in the near(er) future.
Being a private school kid in a small environment 1st-8th grade and in a relatively small private high school molded me into who I am today: confident, hardworking, independent, and knowledgeable.
I feel like my life has been so perfectly orchestrated, even the many things that were out of my control somehow came into my life when I needed them. As I reflect back on my life — it’s something I do quite often — even at 24, err, 25 years of age, I can’t help but be so incredibly grateful, and honestly, in disbelief of the life I have led thus far.
I get scared, and sometimes I still do, as I ask myself, “What if I’ve already reached the pinnacle of my life? What if there’s nowhere else to go?? What if this is all there is for me???” Lately, however, I’ve been thinking pretty positively, about all the wonderful opportunities that could happen. I’m pretty hopeful about the future, and I really believe the best is yet to come.
Lew
So I realize that my prior post was ree-diculously lengthy, so I’m going to K.I.S.S. y’all: Keep it simple, stupid! (insert kissy face emoticon here, lol)
Rather than type out how to goal set, or tell you how I goal set, I’m going to redirect you HERE. It’s not that I’m too lazy to write an extensive post, but this website is already an excellent guide. No need reinvent the wheel, yah? (Like my pidgin??!)
Here are my two cents:
1) Use the SMART mnemonic: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-specific.
Example of my one year goal: “I will save $20-25K by mid-March 2013, so I can attend FIDM in April 2013.”
2) Break down your goals into repeatable, habit-forming actions, so that [insert goal here] eventually materializes naturally.
Example of a few of my 2011 New Year’s resolutions:
(If you notice, all of these habit-forming actions follow the SMART mnemonic.)
3) WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS! (And tell a close friend about them. Why? Because he or she can help keep you accountable when your willpower wanes.)
4) Make an action plan, and when its complete, DO IT ASAP!
5) Post your goals and action plan in a place you will see them every day (planner, bulletin board, desktop background, smart phone — yuck! Sorry, personally biased…), so you won’t forget what you should be doing.
6) Regularly review your progress / goals.
As part of a job application for lululemon, I used their template to backwards goal set from 10, 5, to 1 year(s). I took about 30 minutes to fill in the page (once I found out how to type on the dang pdf file, ha!). It was quick and easy only because I already have my extensive 12, 13, err, 15 year-ish plan (that gets updated about once a year — yes, I be crazy) written down.
Now its YOUR turn - go get your goal setting on!
Lew
PS—Check out some of the other links on the main goal-setting page, as they, too, offer a lot of great advice.
She taught me a lot. I mean, other than math (she was my Algebra 2 teacher my sophomore year at Kapolei High) haha. Check out her blog. She has a good head on her shoulders. She’s been all over the world. She graduated from UT (she was in their Business Honors Program, one of the top in the country). She taught math in Hawaii for two years. And now she’s going to FiDM to pursue a career in fashion! (Did I mention that’s where Lauren Conrad went? Yeah!)
Anyway, I could go on about her for a while. But she’s amazing! Check out her blog! You’ll learn a thing or two, trust me…
(I mean, after all, she was a teacher haha!)
This made my day! :) Of note: I’m not actually much bigger than Carli - I am the ‘big sister’ that stands maybe TWO inches taller than her, lololol! (What… we’re Asian! And a lot of people in Hawai’i are short, for obvious reasons!)
Upon leaving Hawai’i in June 2011, my yoga instructor asked me to make three lists. The first list of what I want in a man; the second list of what I want out of (my) life; and the third list of what I want to learn.
As I reflected on my past and pondered about my future, I finally completed my lists and proudly emailed her my PDF document: List #1: <50 items; List #2: 20 items; List #3: 15 items. This was her response to me:
“Well, I must admit you did way better with that than anyone before. It appears that you have things well thought out. Personally I believe that all that you asked for was reasonable or shall we say fair, but since when has love and life been fair? Now print them and keep them with you… and for the sake of the process shorten your man list to 25!”
Your protest to me (besides the obvious ‘Your man list consists of 40+ items?!’):
“Lew, I don’t know about all this list-making. That may work for you, but it doesn’t work for me. I’m not a planner, never have been, never will be.” Okay, that’s fine, I get it. I understand not everyone is a super detail-oriented, planner/lister, control freak, crazy person like me.
But here’s why knowing what you want is extremely important: Having a clear vision for your life points you in the right direction.
If you don’t know what you want, the result is wandering around in life aimlessly and listlessly (no pun intended, well maybe slight pun intended… LOL) and existing without purpose.
Which then warrants this…
That was my daily expression to my former students after they strolled in late or their pants sagged below their butts or they ‘forgot’ to do their homework or attempted to hook me up with their fathers, siblings, and/or cousins. (True story.)
———-
My point: KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT PUTS YOU ON THE RIGHT TRACK TO GET WHAT YOU WANT.
Here are a few personal examples from my life (as well as some from my friends’ lives):
In high school I knew I wanted to get into the best college / program possible. Senior year, I took 6 AP classes, held leadership positions in various clubs, and worked on my art portfolio in my spare time, sacrificing my HS experience for the promise of a better future. I finished at the top of my class, and I got into UT Austin’s business school.
No surprise, I wanted more - I needed to get into the Business Honors Program. Why? Because BHP students get offered the best positions from recruiters upon graduation. (And because the Business Honors Program is ‘exclusive. And fun. And leads to a better life’.) The only problem was that transferring into the BHP was extremely difficult. In 2005, the year prior to me applying as a sophomore admit, only 1 out of every 4 to 5 students was accepted out of a very competitive applicant pool. The average admitted GPA was above a 3.9, which meant that you could only get one B your freshman year.
As the second semester of my freshman year rolled around, I knew I had already made a B in a meaningless (fake) biology class (the difference between my A and B was ONE test question!), so I couldn’t afford another B on my record. Yet I was dangerously close to getting a B in math (which I ironically taught for two years). But the questions were tricky, and I needed a perfect 100 on my final exam to get an A in the class and a 4.0 for the semester.
What did I do? I decided to somehow make the impossible possible. (If Ethan Hunt could, why couldn’t I? I should send him my contact information - maybe the IMF will recruit me.) Here’s what I did (rocket science, I know):
I remember several weekend nights, while everyone was partying, I holed myself up in the business school study rooms (like a loser) redoing every. damn. question. In the end, my determination and hard work paid off. I got exactly what I needed on the exam to get an A in the class. I got a 4.0 for the semester and finished with a magical 3.9+ for the year.
Oh, and I got into the Business Honors Program.
So what’s the point of this story? Knowing what you want directs your actions; therefore, you will take all the necessary steps to be where you want to be or go where you want to go. But the first steps are knowing what you want and knowing why what you want is important to you.
———-
But enough about me - meet a few of my friends! (They’re real people, just like you! They’re pretty awesome-tastic, too!)
I met one of my best guy friends while we were both Resident Assistants in college. He had always wandered around with no real direction or ambition. After college, however, he finally figured out what he wanted to do with his life. He wants to hold a political office one day. Thus, he joined the military to gain invaluable experience and network with colleagues, and he’s going to use his educational award to attend law school, both of which will give him the perfect background for political office to institute change in public policy.
I have a good girl friend with whom I studied abroad and traveled around Europe with, who got promoted a year early at a big four accounting firm because, of course, she’s a baller - duh! She’s always had a passion for traveling, meeting people, and experiencing new things. By the time she’s 30, she wants to live and work in Australia for a few years. She has been offered a job in London, but she turned it down, and is waiting for an opportunity to go to Sydney. In the meantime, she’s ‘kicking ass and taking names.’ (And dreaming about a hot Australian surfer…)
One of my good guy friends is aspiring to be the best father he can be, doing all of the opposite things he saw growing up as a child. He makes all of his decisions based on his goal. If it helps him further his goal he does it, and if it doesn’t, he doesn’t do it. Because he also wants a great family, he’s also extremely selective about the girl(s) he dates. (Yes, ladies, he’s single. But I warn you, his list is almost as extensive as mine!)
Another one of my good girl friends knew that she wanted to help the less privileged ‘on the front line,’ so to speak. She spent a year doing Americorps’ Habitat For Humanity - what she would describe as ‘character building’ - and from that experience, landed her dream job at TOMS Shoes. She deals with NGOs and travels to South America, Asia, and Africa on a regular basis helping put shoes on children who would have gotten sick without them.
My cutie wanted to buy / own property sometime in his mid-20s. Growing up, his mother was never able to afford a house for him and his brother. He told me a couple of weeks ago that he bought a condo, and he’s now renovating it. (Apparently toilets are ludicrously expensive!)
My last example is of my dear high school friend. She always knew she wanted to go to medical school, but along the way, she experienced setbacks. She decided to go to grad school and work at a children’s summer program to add more experience to her resume. Even though she started a few years later than originally planned, she’s now in medical school with a scholarship. Now she can continue to help people (and hopefully deliver my baby when the time comes)!
———-
Just about everything you do should be to accomplish some greater goal, so that you don’t drift through life existing instead of really living out your dreams.
Knowing what you want helps you focus on where to go and how to get there.
Spend some time thinking about what you really want and why it’s important because in my next post, I’ll show you how to get what you want* through effective goal-setting.
Lew
*Next up: filling that empty space with HOW to get what you want once you KNOW.
