Five Principles To Live By
I’m lucky enough to be able to live in a fascinating country (China) and have enough disposable income to travel when time allows. The other day I unexpectedly received an email from a student in the US who was interested in knowing how I managed to afford to travel so much as it was also their goal once they graduated. What they probably didn’t know is that I actually have a full time job and my blog isn’t really a representative view of my life as whole but this got me thinking about the wider issues of how you can achieve your goals and be successful in life.
There are a million and one books and websites you can read about how to improve your life and anything in it (Amazon lists 124,526 titles in their “Self Help” section alone). Likewise there just as many people claiming to know the “secret” to success and so on. Whilst I’m sure there are some useful nuggets of advice contained within these tomes I’m always dubious of anyone doing it for profit and frankly think much of that industry is a con (or a smart placebo).
I’m not going to make any such claims here but there are a few principles which I have found useful in both work and life over the past few years which I thought I’d share today (for free and with only limited bias!). By no means do I assert these to be original; they’re just things which I’ve picked up along the journey of life so far and may or may not be useful to you personally:
- Life can’t be learned in advance; you make it up as you go – when you’re young you expect your parents and teachers to have all the answers. They don’t and nor do you. Accept this and move forward as the best way to learn is through experience which will include both success and failure. Treat failure as an opportunity to improve.
- Embrace change and take calculated risks – many people fear change and avoid risks which might take them outside their comfort zone but unfortunately this is the only way you’ll ever make progress. Regret is the consequence of inaction and avoiding change causes stagnation. This is not the same as being reckless with your life.
- You can’t please everyone; don’t waste your time trying to – life is short and if you spend all your time trying to make everyone you meet happy then you will just end up unhappy yourself. You don’t have to be rude or unkind about it but it does require some discipline. Likewise don’t expect everyone to always do your bidding.
- 80/20 Rule: 20% of effort (input) leads to 80% of results (output) – I’m a strong believer in focusing on the things which provide you or your objectives with the most value / benefit. The applications for this principle are endless; learning how to focus your energy is the tricky part. Delegate or discontinue doing anything outside the 20%.
- KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid - I can think of no circumstance where making something simpler isn’t beneficial. Be it designing a product or planning a holiday keeping things simple will lead to a much more pleasurable end experience and less stress/confusion all round. For me the key is to evaluate and reduce then repeat.
I’m still fairly young (24) but it seems with every passing year things become less black and white than they once were which validates my belief that it’s important to keep an open mind when developing a sense of direction. Life is a learning experience and the above is just a list of things which seem relevant to me now; no doubt it will further evolve with time.
What would be on your list? How do these translate to your goals in life?
Life Relocated
In this time of increased personal mobility and global connectivity the world is nowhere near as big as it once was. The days when you made a home for yourself near the place you were born are long gone and, certainly in places like the UK, multiculturalism is now well defined and spreading. Whilst a discussion of the cultural implications of such movements is beyond the scope of my question it does present an interesting challenge…
Going on holiday somewhere exotic is one thing. Relocating there is a completely different proposition.
I don’t usually like to talk about myself here but I’m going out on a limb today – ever since spending a few months living, working and travelling out in China last year I’ve wanted to go back for a longer dose of the excitement, energy and adventure I found there, but am struggling to find the right path. The traditional route is to study Chinese or teach English out there, neither of which really appeal to me – I ideally want to work and use the skills I have to do something both personally enriching and meaningful to a wider audience of some sort.
I may be asking too much but luckily I have age on my side (I’m 23), a lack of personal responsibilities, and a valuable few years of experience working as a technology consultant (loose definition!). My investigation has so far proven that finding an opportunity out there is probably going to come down to a large amount of research and an even bigger dose of luck. I am however willing to bet that someone out there within a few degrees of separation of here (if not an immediate connection) knows of some opportunity and it’s just a matter of making that connection which is partly why I’ve written this post.
So what to do? Preferably something related to technology and the internet but am quite open to something new. Finding a job with a local company is probably out of the question as I’m currently in London and don’t have a Chinese work visa. The best route appears to be through a western company who require native speakers with the appropriate skills.
The challenge I have set myself is to relocate myself to China (or possibly elsewhere in east Asia) within 1 year or less. It’s not that I’m unhappy with what I currently do but would like to try something a little different before it’s too late!
Any help or advice anyone might be able to offer would be hugely appreciated – I’m easily contactable either by commenting below, the contact page or via my profile on LinkedIn. Thanks!
Retrospective
This time last year I was finding my feet during my first week living in Beijing. I can hardly believe it’s been a year since that fateful adventure and at the same time I’m pining to get back out there. There is something very alluring about the adventure of living somewhere which is so foreign (for want of a better word) and developing at such a fast rate.
© AP
That said, I don’t particular envy my friends in China right now suffering severe snow blizzards and ice storms. What makes it all the more worse is that the bad weather has come just as the time people are heading off for the annual spring festival. For many migrant workers this the only time of year that they have the chance to head home and see their families which for some is now an impossibility. Many have been stuck at rail stations for days.
© AP
If you are unlucky enough to have got caught up in the chaos you may want to check out this innovative mashup map service Google has created to show the current weather and transport across the country. [via]
If anyone is looking for a highly-motivated English-speaking business analyst/technologist/project manager in China please get in touch!
Back to Basics
September was all about Korea so it’s about time to get back to the basics and a little more random! The past few weeks have been predictably busy at work. I’ve been busy designing a web service API (Application Program Interface) for a major organisation which basically allows it to syndicate it’s content and data to others for various purposes. It’s been an interesting challenge with many different aspects to it, not just technical, but that’s about all I can say here!
iPhone UK Launch
We’ve been waiting so long for this magical piece of technology to hit British shores that you would imagine the hype would have died down by now but since getting my hands on an iPod Touch for a few minutes I for one am still very excited! Yes, it’s not cheap, not 3G yet, and Apple haven’t exactly warmed to the 3rd party apps/hacks but it still marks a landmark device which fuses a host of technologies in revolutionary ways to create something pretty unique. The iPhone is just the first step in changing the way we interact with technology, the internet, and ultimately each other. I’ll certainly be lining up on Nov 9 to get my hands on it!
Harry Potter – WARNING: *POTENTIAL SPOILERS*
During my long flights to and from Korea I read the final Harry Potter instalment. To be honest I was a little disappointed. Two-thirds of the book are spent with the characters in a tent arguing with each other and the rest watching countless other characters getting killed in rather predictable ways. After all that Rowling could have at least killed Harry off properly without all this resurrection nonsense and then a sappy flash-forwards to their future lives. I guess there’s no satisfying everyone and it’s somewhat sad to see the end of the series.
China Is Getting Ready
“In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese Government continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers. Get involved: www.amnesty.sk” [via]
I know Amnesty is somewhat controversial but I still wholeheartedly believe that China are continuing to sweep human rights under the proverbial carpet. It’s such a shame because the Olympics were the perfect opportunity for China to clean up it’s act. As I once heard someone say, China likes to seem democratic on the outside but on the inside it’s as despotic as it ever was. The sad thing is that many of the Chinese I’ve spoken to don’t really care as long as they have a satisfactory quality of life.