I was reading an profile about the great chess player Bobby Fischer one day, and the picture included with it caught my eye. The black and white photograph shows Fischer huddled on a boat, framed against the bleak coast of Iceland, where he was preparing for a match at the time. This is accompanied by a quote from the legendary chessmaster Garry Kasparov, who said the following about Bobby:
Caught between reality and mentality, he tried to convince himself he could prevent any mistake and never lose. The horror!
That quote really resonates with me - partly because I approach life in much the same way I do chess, but also because I am well aware of the inherent risk that such a perspective can carry. Throughout my life, I have had numerous experiences which have demonstrated life’s volatility in visceral ways. As a result, I do not subscribe to Fischer’s rhetoric that “he could prevent every mistake and never lose”. Even if we theoretically could prevent our every misstep in life, we could never avert those of others. Nonetheless, I find myself and others fall prey to this mentality all too often. It is sometimes very easy to lapse into a state of mind which believes cognition alone can solve one’s problems and navigate life’s passages. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It didn’t work for Fischer, and it won’t for us either. Despite all our greatest efforts at planning, life will inevitably throw externalities our way that abide by no set of rules and at times can seem senseless. It is during these moments that we need to think dynamically rather than overthinking ourselves into a state of paralysis. Prayer and seeking guidance from the Lord is also most helpful.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery famously once wrote that “it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” In chess and life, this couldn’t be more true. Just as the placement of pieces on a board is meaningless without an invisible and potent improvised strategy, so too are our life decisions. Roadblocks and opportunities will be present everywhere we travel, but without good discernment, they will be rendered impossible to deal with. I have found that thinking with an equal balance of heart and mind yields much greater results than simply thinking oneself into oblivion. Something I learned awhile ago, but only in the past couple years have I begun to apply it seriously to my life. I haven’t gotten myself into checkmate yet, so that’s a good sign.
Photos and more, coming sooner than later.
“The small man builds cages for everyone he knows.
While the sage,
who has to duck his head when the moon is low,
keeps dropping keys all night long
for the beautiful rowdy prisoners.”
— Hafiz of Persia, circa 1352
Hello, all! Like many people, I’m starting to use Twitter more and more to consume news and communicate with the world at large. Particularly in the past year, I’ve found more uses for the service than I ever would’ve imagined. Today, I want to highlight some great personalities to start following thus year, as well as briefly talk about what value these people add to my timeline. I’ve decided to separate this up into a two-part series - the second part will be posted here tomorrow. These individuals are all poised to have a big year for various reasons, and they’re well worth following. Here goes for the first six!
1. Elon Musk 
| @elonmusk
Why: A new entrant to the world of Twitter, Musk is already shaking things up, both on and offline. A brilliant businessman, he was the cofounder of PayPal before proceeding to found electric car design company Tesla. These days, he splits time between running Tesla and managing SpaceX, his aeronautical company that aims to have regular flights to space running by 2013. In the meantime, the company is working on numerous government and scientific contracts. If you’re interested in getting inside the mind of an individual who is a business-minded scientific genius, check this guy out.
2. Lotay Yang | @Lotay
Why: Yang is the founder and chairman of the philanthropic-minded Black Card Circle, an organization that helps wealthy people recognize the power of giving and take action on that realization. He is continually setting up philanthropic events around the world, and seeks to divert as many resources to those in need as he can. An extremely active user, Yang frequently tweets words of wisdom and inspiration that apply to all. This guy is doing big things in the world of corporate giving and social responsibility, and his role is likely to increase in the year to come. A true inspiration.
3. Virgil Abloh | @virgilabloh
Why: As creative director for Kanye West, Abloh’s tweets are an eclectic mix of dispatches from around the world. Heavily involved in the contemporary art world, Abloh collaborated with Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci to dream up the album artwork and stage design for West’s Watch The Throne tour. He also runs RSVP Gallery, a boutique in Chicago, and is currently flying around the world providing creative direction and consulting to various fashion brands, artists on the GOOD Music record label, and of course West himself. One of the most innovative people in the global art and music industry, hands down.
4. Tim Ferriss | @tferriss
Why: A former neuroscientist at Princeton and now successful author, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and marketer, Ferriss is now being hailed as a visionary in the business world and beyond. His philosophies for balancing business, travel, and life are spot-on (check out The 4-Hour Work Week) and his advice on starting a business has been sought after by some of the fastest-growing startups around. Ferriss frequently tweets interesting quotes, links, and thought pieces of his own making. A must-follow.
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5. Eric Duvauchelle | @supermorebetter
Why: Currently residing in Amsterdam, Duvauchelle is the head Art Director for Nike’s Global Brand Initiative. Splitting time between his hometown, Portland, and Paris, he tweets about his travels, design aspirations, and upcoming projects with the ever-innovative Nike marketing team. Very forward focused.
6. Michael van Poppel | @mpoppel
Why: This enterprising 22 year old is the founder of BNO News, a wire agency based in the Netherlands that is redefining the way news is acquired, broken, and distributed. Van Poppel uses his extensive contacts and professional network to obtain news before it is broken by major news sources. Quite simply - if you need the latest news before anyone else knows about it, this is where to get it. Succinct, instantaneous, and accurate.
Alright, that’s all for now! Be on the lookout for the second half of this all-star lineup, coming later this week. Got anyone you think is well worth following? Feel free to leave a response in the comments.
Throughout the last week of 2011, I was reflecting on the past year and how much has changed – as well as what has remained the same. Much in the same vein as my thoughts on 2010, I decided to chronicle the highs, lows, and various notable points of 2011. Memories change over time, so I want to preserve these while they’re still fresh in my mind. This is a stream-of-consciousness journey through the past year, with a destination yet to be determined. Here goes.
The past year, I have continued to attend Concordia University here in Austin, and am on track to graduate with a double major in Business Management and Marketing in the spring of 2013. International business remains my focus, so I always strive to put what I learn in the classroom into a global perspective before filtering it back into my own life. I worked hard in my studies and was blessed to maintain a 4.0 GPA. Even more exciting is the clarity that all of my studies have given me what I want to do with my life. This is a process that seems to compound year over year, and it far transcends what any grade or quantitative metric can indicate. I wince when people ask me what I want to do after college, because I am painfully aware of how life can drastically change beyond our control in a short period of time. I know where I would like to be in 5 years, however, I cannot assure that I will be there with any degree of certainty. I cannot predict the future; I can only project it. Nonetheless, overall I am relatively satisfied with where I am academically. God is good.
On the travel front, I was able to get around a decent amount this year, and was fortunate enough to go at least somewhere every month of the year. One of the highlights this year was travelling down to Belize and Guatemala in March to study tropical biology and marine ecosystems with a collaborative class of students and faculty from Austin and Portland, Oregon. It was an incredible experience – not only did I learn a lot about tropical science and history, but I made some great friends and memories. Hiking around the Mayan ruins, diving on the world’s second-largest coral reef, and relaxing on isolated islands are all experiences I will never forget. In July, I traveled up to Washington DC for a week, followed by another week of visiting family in Ohio and Kentucky. It was fascinating seeing the historical center of America as we know it today, and I learned a lot. In early October, I went to Louisiana for an international relations conference – this was a precursor to a competition I helped out with on behalf of Concordia in San Antonio in November. Immediately following that trip, it was off to a business leadership conference in Atlanta as part of the Thrivent Scholars Program. It was a memorable trip with some great friends, and the diverse range of speakers we heard there were fantastic! The next day, I flew up to the Pacific Northwest for a week and visited my uncle and his family in Washington, as well as some friends at Concordia Portland, in Oregon. This was followed by a trip to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, and a relatively quiet month of December. Hopefully there will be more adventures to come in 2012!
Detouring back to school for a moment, it was a good year for extracurricular activities as well. We had another great semester with Concordia’s business club, The Executives, with some fun events and many good conversations. Here’s to another great semester, guys! I continued to co-host Not.fm, a weekly internet radio show with three of my friends at school. It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for music, so I’m sure our show will be as well! Another fun project has been helping to start up Storm Chasers, an on-campus bike-sharing program for Concordia students and faculty. It’s been an exciting process, and I’m excited to see where things will head in the year ahead!
As is the case in all of our lives, a unique set of challenges presented itself this year. It was stressful at times balancing a full class load, 35+ hours a week, and whatever else I was involved in at a given time. I’m incredibly thankful to still be working in real estate management and property preservation, as it provides a degree of flexibility for scheduling during the school year. In the latter part of the year, I broke my right wrist and had surgery on it, from which I’m still healing. While not the optimal way to end the year, it’s taught me to slow down (at least a little) to relax from time to time. As an added bonus, I even got a little extra sleep! It’s also given me an increased amount of gratitude for the otherwise outstanding health I do have.
Every challenge is a blessing in disguise.
To recognize the light within darkness is sometimes the most difficult thing to do in life, and it’s something I’ve been working on for years. Currently, I liken it to trying to take a step back and survey the landscape of life while on a speeding train. You can do it, but it’s pretty difficult. Nonetheless, the faster life forges ahead, the easier this gets. Not because I have an ever-expanding canvas to look at, but because I can so much better see how all of the pieces fit together, and this gives me peace. As my mom once told me, “Now I can see some joy through the clouds.” It’s so true. There’s so many little lessons I learned while she was alive that are turning out to be big lessons now, and I’m so thankful for the time that I did get with her on earth. There’s so much I have to improve on personally in life, and I am thankful for the fact that I have had good guidance to direct me along the way. Life has been full of difficult experiences, but I try to use them as catalysts to positively influence others, directly or otherwise. For better or for worse, I’ve been endowed with what sometimes appears to be a slightly different perspective than others, and this brings me to my next thought.
This year has been yet another exercise in patience, and it remains something I need to work on in the year ahead. Too often I try to explain things to people who sound overly judgmental and forget to remember that they don’t know any better. In an ironic twist, the judged becomes the judger. I now realize that no matter how eloquent or concise I may make my words, sometimes the message just isn’t going to get across. There could be any number of barriers to this, and I now know that sometimes it’s impossible to make someone “get the point”. They haven’t lived my life, and I haven’t lived theirs. I am okay with this, for I try to make my words as impactful as possible. Control is retained up the point of dictation, and I will be at peace with whatever reactions may follow.
But at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words, so I am going to focus simultaneously on being even more mindful of my actions and discretionary in my wording, both in speech and in text. Actions are important, but words are immortal – and if your actions are indeed significant enough to be immortalized, then words will be the vehicle for doing that. So yes, words are powerful indeed. Shoot for more than just an epitaph on a tombstone.
I’d like to say thank you to everyone in my life this year. Our paths all intersect for different reasons; I’m not sure what all of the reasons are but I do know that the composite of the story arcs of all of our lives will be a sight to behold when all is said and done. To my family and friends, I’m endlessly thankful for your encouragement, unconditional support, prayers, and friendship. You all are valued more than you know.
One last note to those readers who are detractors of retrospectives. People say to live in the present and look towards the future rather than dwelling on the past, but you know what? Sometimes the past bleeds into the present, which helps to shape our future. Without a proper mental context of where you’ve been, how are you to know where you will go?
Alright, that’s all I have to say for now. I hope you all have a blessed 2012, here’s to another incredible chapter in our life as we know it!