Living in the Present

Sometimes you don’t know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. ~ Dr. Deuss

Have you watched a film and thought to yourself, “Wow! One moment in this film is worth the last five movies I’ve watched?” Did you know our memories work in a similar fashion? Each one of us have a handful of memories that will remain with us forever and a day. 

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, writes about a friend who, whenever she sees a beautiful place, screams in a near panic, “It’s so beautiful here! I want to come back here someday!” “It takes all my persuasions,” writes Gilbert, “to try to convince her that she is already here.”

Do you do that? When you are at work, you dream about being on a vacation; on vacation, you get anxious about the pile of work waiting for you in the office. We live in the meddlesome memories of the past and anxious about what may or may not happen in the future. Consequently, we do not appreciate the moment by moment because our mind swings like a monkey from past to future without taking the time to breath in the joy and the beauty of the present.

Therefore, we have to learn to be mindful of each moment - actively and intentionally attending to the present. Are you enjoying your moments with your kids? Are you enjoying your moments with your family and friends? Are you breathing in the beauty of flowers and trees that litter the streets you drive as you hurry home from your work? Where are you right now? Breath in the present moment, giving gratitude for your life, which is made available to you today! Live with Power! Blessings.

Stress: Your Path to Success

If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. ~ Fred Divito

People naturally gravitate towards the path of least resistance. It’s easier to read a magazine than to read a classic. It’s easier to sit in front of the TV than to spend time with your kids. People generally don’t like to be challenged… it’s stressful! But Nick Hall, Ph.d., says that without stress, you can’t fully function at your peak level of potential.

Think of Newton’s Law of Physics that says for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A muscle without any stress will atrophy and diminish in its functionality. The principle of muscle growth works under this law. You stress the muscle to the point of exhaustion and then the opposite reaction, rest, is needed for muscle growth! So don’t go out of your way to avoid stress. What is important is that you have control over the stress. Stress is your golden ticket to stronger and greater you! Unleash your potential by navigating through your stress!

How are you challenged today? Don’t run from it, carve your future through it! Live with Power TODAY. Blessings!

What Marshmallows and Kids Teach Us About Success

Marshmallow Test conducted by Stanford University Researchers in the last 1960s submitted hundreds of four-year-olds to a little test of self discipline. The kids were put in a small room with marshmallows in front of them. They were told they could either eat the treat now, or if they could wait for another 15 minutes until the researchers returned, they could have one more marshmallow.

Some kids waited while others in the midst of vortex of temptation could not wait for even a minute. Many others struggled a little longer before eventually giving in. The most successful kids were the ones who figured out how to distract themselves from the marshmallow’s temptation by facing in different direction, closing their eyes, or kicking something…etc. These children delayed eating these seductive marshmallows for a full 15 minutes. What is interesting is that these kids who waited for 15 minutes were significantly more successful in life than the kids who gave in. Even the SAT scores were an average of 210 points higher among those who waited 15 minutes. 

The strength to achieve a goal and accomplish a dream come from self discipline. People who are on the path to destruction are people who are moved by their impulse. The path to success is found in those who are able to manage their impulse through self discipline. Discipline is indispensable in order to live in peace and harmony. It’s the power to live according to what we know to be true and right over impulsive living!

We make over 2,500 choices every day. Therefore, having the self discipline to choose to live according to the principles of life is the most important decision you can make. A person who lacks discipline is like driving a car down hill with broken brake system.

Ancient text says, “A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.”

Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychologist who endured an excruciating experience in a Nazi concentration camp in Germany wrote: “They stripped me naked. They took everything. I stood there naked and all of a sudden realized at that moment that although they could take everything away from me - my wife, my family, my possessions - they could not take away my freedom to choose how I was going to respond.”

Here are some quick tips on how to increase your discipline:

1. Meditate | Meditation increases your emotional intelligence. Even five minutes a day will increase your ability to exercise self discipline  As a person of faith I seek the wisdom of the Bible to help me move towards full expression of my potentials.
   
2. Sleep | A good night sleep will help you to be 30% more productive in life! Get your 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
   
3. Forgive Yourself | When you mess up, it is critical that you forgive yourself. Often people swim in a pool of overly critical attitude towards their own mistake and they wallow in it. But remember, what ever you focus on, you become! Instead of focusing on the immediate struggle for self discipline, focus on what you’re going to do to improve yourself in the future.

It takes time to increase your emotional intelligence but it’s possible. Try the above tips when you recognize the moments when you are straining with self discipline. Every day you have an opportunity to grow and mature! Choose growth! Live with power TODAY!

Your Extraordinary Life TODAY: GROW!

New school year has started for most students in the United States. Every year millions of students open their minds wide open before all powerful instructors to engage in an information eating frenzy. Education is important, but the current system of formal education neglects the unlimited potential that exists in the human mind to think and grasp beyond our current state of awareness. Formal education spends most of its time shoving information into the students to teach them WHAT to think, now HOW to think.

Most people are hard working people. Each day they work to achieve a life of significance and meaning. No one wants to live superficially, impacting and influencing no one. People want a great and extraordinary life. You wouldn’t be reading this article if you wanted an ordinary life. Your heart is pulsating for something more, and you long for something greater. You are telling yourself, “There’s got to be more than this!”

If everyone wants an extraordinary life, why is it that only small percentage of people actually reach it. What is the difference between the majority and the small percentage? The secret is their thinking! You cannot go beyond your own thinking. And most people simply do not engage in thinking.

George Bernard Shaw said, “Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think.” 

The first movement towards an extraordinary life is self-awareness. For most people, activity takes priority over personal develop. I am not minimizing activity, but activity without thinking is like running into a burning house with a bottle of water! But thinking without action is not any better either. Both are needed, but the priority must be placed upon thinking. I have had opportunity to work and speak to hundreds of people in my field of profession, and those who have reached the pinnacle of living, they all have one thing in common: priority in self-develop!

We simply do not ask enough questions about ourselves. Who can blame anyone when majority of education spends teaching what to think instead of how to think. One of the goals in my life is to add value to people so they can reach an extraordinary life! If you are reading this, you know your heart is longing for something greater! You want to live and exist in a higher plane. 

As we close, here are some tips until next time:

MAKE TIME FOR CREATIVITY: Spend 30 minutes to an hour each day to think, reflect and envision your future. Ask questions about where you are and what you believe about yourself and your direction. Some call this visioneering or as Walt Disney put it, imagineering time. 

It’s simply a time to find yourself alone without distractions to relax, think, reimagine, and let your mind wander to explore the possibilities of your life. What are your gifts? What makes you sing? What makes you cry? Take a self-discovery journey. Grab a journal with you and start to record your thoughts.

MAKE TIME FOR GROWTH: Spend 20-30 minutes each day reading and improving your life. I personally have five categories of reading: spirituality, communication, leadership, relationship and coaching.

Don’t put this off. Best time to start is TODAY. Until next time. Live Today with Power! Extraordinary life await you TODAY!

Sam Shin 

Coach | Leadership | Mastermind | Consultant | Spiritual direction

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Have you said to yourself…

“My work is too hard!”
“This relationship is too hard!”

“I need a new job!”

“Life is sooooooo…. hard!”

And as you have noticed, as you continue to think and repeat the mantra,  your life remains hard. In fact, it gets harder and harder. Our mind seems to lead us to the perpetual tunnel of unfortunate incidents simply repeating what you are thinking and repeating! Your mind has an amazing power to repeat what you believe.

An ancient king said, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Have you ever wondered why once you identify a car you want, you see it everywhere. It did not appear all of a sudden. It was always there, but you became aware. Awareness is power. Awareness gives you clarity and clarity is power! Here is an important question!

What do you want? If you can answer this question with clarity, your life will powerfully transform!

If you are a person of faith… what do you want?

You say, “I want to be close(r) to God?” What does that mean? What does it look like when you are closer to the Divine? Does that mean you go to a church every week and you read the Bible each day? Have you seen people who go to a church and read their bible everyday and still seemed far away from God? Of course. Define what it means to be closer to God. 

You say, “I want to be happy.” What does that mean? What does happiness look like? Does that mean you have a million dollars in the bank? Does that mean you are living in the house of your dreams? Have you seen people with million dollars in the bank and have the house of their dream and still are miserable? Of course. Define what it means to be happy. Happiness is a habit!

Today, I notice many young people changing jobs every few months to a few years. Why? What are they looking for? Most people I talk to, they want to change their job for some reason but they don’t know what they are looking for! How about you? Start with some clarity questions. What is your passion? What makes you sing? What makes you cry? If you don’t know what you are looking for you won’t find it. In fact, even if it’s right next to you, you won’t recognize it! Have you seen people who changed their job, acquired higher pay and better position and still be unsatisfied? Of course! Are you him/her?

What do you want? You have unlimited potential. Now that does not mean you can do whatever you want! But within the giftings and talents you’ve been endowed, the sky is the limit. I know I can’t beat Tyson even if I trained everyday as a boxer. My body is not made that way. I know I can’t be a world class diver! I actually don’t like water that much! I can dive, but no! But in the area of my gifting and talent, I continue to explore and discover the unlimited possibility. If someone achieved great success, it’s a proof that you can achieve it as well! 

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. ~ Napoleon Hill 

But what do you desire? What do you want when it comes to your spirituality?

What do you want in your relationships? What do you want in your life?

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain

Start the process TODAY. 

C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite writer said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

Start the process TODAY. There is a wonderful book called VISIONEERING by Andy Stanley. It’s an old book but it changed the way I think about life. If that’s too religious for you start here, INTENTIONAL LIVING by John C. Maxwell.

Start the process TODAY! Start with one book, one seminar, one statement, one question and move on up! In life everything’s easier if you take a bite at a time. One of my favorite line is “inch by inch everything’s a cinch.” Star the process TODAY, where else will you start?

Live TODAY with Passion!

Greatest Gift: SELF

In my design 5 class at California College of Arts in San Francisco, my final project dealt with the concept that life is a game. Come to think of it, life is a grand game. And what’s beautiful is the fact that everyone gets to play. No one is left out. It can be tough game but with right basics, you can win!

I love playing game. I love playing role playing game or strategy games such as Starcraft or League of Legends. At one point, I was so good at Starcraft, I was number 27 on the world ladder. How did I get there? Everyday I invested time and energy. I read upon strategy. I studied strategy. I spent countless hours (unfortunately) on learning the right moves, right resources in the game. Over and over again, I thought about it, read about it, learned from experts, and soon I could sense what I was doing without thinking too much (if you are a gamer you know what I mean). I got real good at it! I had the right strategy!

Life is a strategy game. There are some mini-games (dating, dancing, celebrating birthdays…etc.); and there are grand games (finding your purpose, God, marriage...etc.) but the key to winning in life is to manage your resources well. You put the time into the right resources and you get to reap!

There are so many people today who desire to reap without sowing. How can you reap if you have not sowed? Impossible! Common sense but not a common practice. We have people who want to reap without watering. How can a marvelous seed with all the possibilities grow and mature if the right nutrients are not poured over its life? Still, we have people who desire to reap without the activity of work necessary to grow the seed! It will not happen, unless you go for a life of thievery, stealing from other peoples’ sowing and hard work. This route will lead to disaster!

Jim Rohm said, “If you work really hard at your job, you’ll make a living. But if you work really hard to improve yourself, you’ll make a fortune.”

That is life changing. I never thought about this. No one taught me this. All the years of schooling did not teach me this practical and powerful strategy of life! People say, “Work hard!” I heard that before. But no one has ever said to work hard on myself.

I am a person of faith so my studies lead me to human potential and expression which meets its desire and focus upon the crossroads with God who lives in us! More I study the word, more I realize, everything is spiritual, including our thoughts, patterns of thoughts on our wealth, health, relationships, career, family, friends…etc. It’s not one or the other but balance in all of these.

Jim Rohm walked around the world with different strategy in the game of life. Most people around me work hard. They work very hard. They are making a living. But unless they learn to develop themselves, the greatest seed the Creator has placed in our possession, they will get by, but not thrive. Our greatest limitation is our awareness of our unlimited potential (...some of you are having a heart attack at this idea but I’ll get to this at another time).  You see unless you develop “SELF”, the limitless potential that exist in you will not thrive, will not jump, will not express itself. Let me remind you, the greatest “seed” God has given you and I, SELF!

Zig Ziglar said, “If you are hard on yourself, life will be easy on you. But if you insist upon being easy on yourself, life is going to be very hard on you.”

Grow! Stretch! See the possibilities. Invest in yourself before you start to invest in stuff! Invest in you and your world will become more and more beautiful. Not because the world has changed, but because you have changed. Live TODAY with Passion!