Start with yourself

I want to make an impact on the world. I want to do things I’m proud of and I want to enjoy life too. During this process as I’ve worked to improve myself, meet more people, and put myself out there in various different fields and circles, I’ve also encountered haters – people who will judge you for your imperfections, people who use you as an outlet for their own insecurities, and people who misunderstand your intentions and take things personally.

The saying “there’s always haters at the top” is true. It means that you are in the spot light and more eyes are on you. So of course there will be a percentage of people who want to judge you, are jealous of you, or feel threatened by you.

I think my thoughts are best summarized in these 7 points by one of my favorite entrepreneurs Tim Ferris!

1. It doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it. What matters is how many people do.

“It’s critical in social media, as in life, to have a clear objective and not to lose sight of that,” Ferriss says. He argues that if your objective is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people or to change the world in some small way (be it through a product or service), you only need to pick your first 1,000 fans — and carefully. “As long as you’re accomplishing your objectives, that 1,000 will lead to a cascading effect,” Ferriss explains. “The 10 million that don’t get it don’t matter.”

2. 10% of people will find a way to take anything personally. Expect it.

“People are least productive in reactive mode,” Ferriss states, before explaining that if you are expecting resistance and attackers, you can choose your response in advance, as opposed to reacting inappropriately. This, Ferriss says, will only multiply the problem. “Online I see people committing ’social media suicide’ all the time by one of two ways. Firstly by responding to all criticism, meaning you’re never going to find time to complete important milestones of your own, and by responding to things that don’t warrant a response.” This, says Ferriss, lends more credibility by driving traffic.

3. “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.” (Colin Powell)

“If you treat everyone the same and respond to everyone by apologizing or agreeing, you’re not going to be recognizing the best performers, and you’re not going to be improving the worst performers,” Ferriss says. “That guarantees you’ll get more behavior you don’t want and less you do.” That doesn’t mean never respond, Ferriss goes on to say, but be “tactical and strategic” when you do.

4. “If you are really effective at what you do, 95% of the things said about you will be negative.” (Scott Boras)

“This principle goes hand-in-hand with number two,” Ferriss says. “I actually keep this quote in my wallet because it is a reminder that the best people in almost any field are almost always the people who get the most criticism.” The bigger your impact, explains Ferriss (whose book is a New York Times, WSJ and BusinessWeek bestseller), and the larger the ambition and scale of your project, the more negativity you’ll encounter. Ferriss jokes he has haters “in about 35 languages.”

5. “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” (Epictetus)

“Another way to phrase this is through a more recent quote from Elbert Hubbard,” Ferriss says. “‘To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” Ferriss, who holds a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive tango spins, says he has learned to enjoy criticism over the years. Ferriss, using Roman philosophy to expand on his point, says: “Cato, who Seneca believed to be the perfect stoic, practiced this by wearing darker robes than was customary and by wearing no tunic. He expected to be ridiculed and he was, he did this to train himself to only be ashamed of those things that are truly worth being ashamed of. To do anything remotely interesting you need to train yourself to be effective at dealing with, responding to, even enjoying criticism… In fact, I would take the quote a step further and encourage people to actively pursue being thought foolish and stupid.”

6. “Living well is the best revenge.” (George Herbert)

“The best way to counter-attack a hater is to make it blatantly obvious that their attack has had no impact on you,” Ferriss advises. “That, and [show] how much fun you’re having!” Ferriss goes on to say that the best revenge is letting haters continue to live with their own resentment and anger, which most of the time has nothing to do with you in particular. “If a vessel contains acid and you pour some on an object, it’s still the vessel that sustains the most damage,” Ferriss says. “Don’t get angry, don’t get even — focus on living well and that will eat at them more than anything you can do.”

7. Keep calm and carry on.

The slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On” was originally produced by the British government during the Second World War as a propaganda message to comfort people in the face of Nazi invasion. Ferriss takes the message and applies it to today’s world. “Focus on impact, not approval. If you believe you can change the world, which I hope you do, do what you believe is right and expect resistance and expect attackers,” Ferriss concludes. “Keep calm and carry on!”

and now for a relaxing song by Michael Jackson:

After this whole MJ death. I admit I have been listening and reading more about him out of intrigue.

I dug this old video up from Dave Chappelle’s stand up. You gotta watch this. It’s hilarious.

I love good comedians because they can make strong social commentary that is in a humourous nature.

Also, if you hadn’t had a chance to find or see “Take Two” which is a rebuttal interview, take a look. It was very interesting.

I was watching the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” with interviewer Martin Bashir. I want you guys to know that Martin Bashir is full of crap (you can see it for yourself) and completely sensationalises his interview with Michael Jackson. He puts MJ under the spot light in a harsh and closed-minded perspective in order to skew the presentation of the documentary in a way that suits his end goals. He also snakes his way into MJ’s home and acts like a friend and gives him all this false praise just so he can lure Michael Jackson into saying things he can use for his piece. Besides being a shitty human being, he is also an idiot for thinking that the viewers won’t realize he is painting a one-sided picture.

He had a wonderful opportunity to delve into the entire life of one of the world’s most talented musician/performers, but chose to focus his energy on the scandal and superficial tabloid worthy material. Disgusting!

If you watch the youtube part 9/10 or 10/10 it gets worse. There is also a release of the behind the scenes which shows Martin’s two-faced side called Take Two.

Michael Jackson moved people, inspired people, and contributed to more charities than ANY celebrity. He hated the “fake” adult world which he recognized but didn’t want to be a part of. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what people implied and he took that heat and continued to show love to underpriveleged youth, terminally sick children, and so on. People out there took his innocence and love to their advantage. Seriously people, the guy was a millionaire. He doesn’t have to invite a terminally sick child over to a million dollar ranch just to get some. If that’s what you think, then you are just as wacky as people make him out to be.. and on top of that you’re not even contributing anything close to the level of music, inspiration, and outreach that he did. I do agree that some of his behavior is definitely not “normal” or “pc” but given his childhood and lifestyle you can’t imagine him to have a normal life. We (the public) are partially to blame for making his lifestyle so different.

Michael Jackson revolutionized music and dance as we know it. He helped millions of kids, charities, foundations. He donated his time, love, and money. He inspired artists like usher and athletes like kobe. What has Martin Bashir done? Act fake in order to create a documentary focusing on crap and bringing down Michael Jackson’s reputation in order to boost his own career. Good job.

Here is a synopsis of “Living with Michael Jackson”

I almost don’t want to show this to you guys because I feel like my Chinese is SO BAD!

Here is my interview with NTD TV Station last week.

To summarize, I just talk about my experiences with wushu, competitions, how I got into it, and other effects it has had on my life. When I listen to myself talk, I feel like I really need to improve my Chinese.

On that note- I am very very seriously considering moving to Taiwan or Hong Kong in early 2010.  I really want to improve my Chinese and be business proficient in my reading/writing. I’ve also booked 3 tickets today. 2 flights up to nor cal and 1 flight to Toronto for World Games. This is a big deal in more than one way. It marks the era of new freedom and new opportunities for me.

Wushu – I practiced today and was feeling A LOT better than Monday. I feel a little fatigued and sick, but had much more energy and precision compared to Monday. I think Monday I was REALLY not feeling it, plus I hadn’t moved around for almost 2 weeks. Wushu is really a sport that you have to upkeep. If you even stop for a week or two you feel a difference in endurance and precision.

Film – A buddy that is a director called me and wants me to audition for an online series he intends to shoot. I looked over the script and he said he would probably contact me further about meeting up this sunday. While we are the subject of films- I also came up with a GREAT action feature. I will post about it when I finish writing up my detailed outline. Know any good script writers?

Misc – I was watching the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson.” The interviewer Martin Bashir is a snake and he is full of crap. See my follow up blog on this.