Live Truly

I finally got out of programming and went to learn how to sell. The job is as front line selling as you can get. Outside sales. Following Kiyosaki’s footsteps–almost too closely. It was a bit tough to get out, but at the moment, actually for the past few months (not including the months of debate), I think it’s the right decision. We’ll see how things turn out.

After months of postponing the decision, I realized I really needed to build my sales skill set and that I just wasn’t growing in my current position. The projects were interesting, but instead of learning how to run a business, I was learning how to code more efficiently. True, there are many things one can learn from managing one’s time, from pulling all-nighters, and from dealing with unrealistic deadlines, and live coding, and it was interesting to watch how the business developed and contribute to it, however I felt that I just wasn’t learning enough interaction, deal-making, selling, and actual business. I think the greatest part wasn’t actually realizing I needed to change direction, but was making the step and leaving the team.

When I finally made the decision that it was time to act, I found the perfect job on craigslist. It was an outside sales job, lots of training, and pretty close to my home too. I went and interviewed in the morning. It worked out really well because the company VP was there on a visit, so I got all my interviews done in one day. It was a huge surprise getting back the acceptance call and the offer. I asked to delay the start-date as long as possible so I could close all my projects and later that day told my boss the news.

It’s really strange in that there wasn’t anything I had to complain about about my current position–well yes there was, but that wasn’t my reason for quitting. So when he asked if it was pay or office relations or hours, the answer was no. I was grateful for the experience, the team, and the interesting projects, and responsibility, but I feel I need to learn an entirely different skill set.

I’m really excited, wish me luck and learning =)

It’s interesting, but the last five or so books I’ve gone through (not including the historic one) have focused on very similar topics:

You need to control your response to any situation.
You must keep what’s most important most important.

I just finished a very interesting book on Siddartha Gautama. It’s amazing how much Buddhism and Chassidism have in common. I love the second lesson. It’s just beautiful. I am not a Yogi so I may not fully understand it, but the idea of no self is so simple and clean. Everything is moving–always changing. It’s fantastic!

I’ve whined quite a bit about my current regime. Sleep between work is not living, even if I like what I’m doing. It’s time to break it.

I re-found something that I actually like to do and can do reasonably well (although hopefully better in time). I also learned that when working for someone else, these preferences don’t matter one bit. If I want to build these skills and do more things that I like, then it’d have to be on my own time–which I simply haven’t had any of except in sleep.. sometimes.

Last weekend, I finally kicked it with my old roommate. It was so refreshing to be able to talk freely and have someone who actively listened and understood. He asked some penetrating questions: Do you like your life now? What will you change to make things better? If you had a choice to be doing anything, what would it be? What are you doing to get there? We discussed the fears and practices and cycles behind choices.

It’s interesting, working for other people how easy it is to lose yourself–and I don’t mean lose your self. I whined my last whine last night, and decided to respond rather than react. I wrote down a plan–a specific and long term one. It already made today a lot better.

The past two weeks, especially the last one, were insane. I had almost half a week of allnighters all the way up to this Monday.

I learned quite a bit though. Cleaning up an online store and gui and adding new parts to the product at the same time. It’s been a bit overwhelming because on one hand I’d love to make it look as nice as our artist designed it, but on the other hand I have programming projects which are a lot higher priority riding me, violently. The greatest challenge though as in communication. Responding through text and emails is vital, just letting the rest of the team know what’s going on, even if projects keep jumping on your shoulders. This is definitely an area I will improve in.

I also found something I absolutely love doing. The design and the GUI. It’s so much fun and it’s so rewarding to make a part look better. It’s up there with drawing. I’d like to work on things like this more in the future, I’d love to be able to finish cleaning up our sites. But I’m not the boss and we have different priorities. Hah, maybe the way to do it is to clean up my portfolio and take a few gigs on craigslist…. when I make the time (and whether or not any of that goes to other gigs, I need to make some time soon)…

Work has completely taken over and as much as I love what I’m doing, I really miss being able to sleep enough, to dance with my friends, and just to have a day off to relax. It actually got to a point where I turned down some late night invites because I was just too tired from work! Not healthy. The part that really gets to me is that I’m working crazy hours and yet it seems like I get nothing done. I really want to either build up my speed or find something I’m better at. I know I’m a thousand times faster than I was before, but its still sad seeing my pace compared to what I expect.

During this past week I’ve been listening to some pretty cool motivational cd’s. If not for them, I don’t think I’d be in as good a mood right now.

I’m exhausted, but very happy to have my first semi-weekend in two weeks.

Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith is my first marketing book (outside of search engine marketing). It has a lot to offer. A few of its many new concepts:

Better strive for “excellent” rather than “best” - people don’t believe “best”
If you want to sell… raise the price - you’ll have to listen to the cd for the full explanation
Give one compelling reason - don’t try to satisfy everyone, focus on ONE good thing (fantastic example with an airline)
Keep people informed of your work - if you don’t want your clients to forget or regret, keep them in the loop
You owe your clients - they risk giving you work, they risk their reputations on you, and they think you owe them, and they’re right
Keep your promises modest and clear - try promising a report by 1pm and delivering it by 11am
Brands “replace” warranties - in services there’s no product to return, but people want a to know they’re going to get a good service and the closest thing to this is the brand

This week was pretty crazy. To be exact, an offer from the dream workplace place and the promise of pay negotiations at my current place. On one hand I have a chance to work in a fantastic environment, surrounded by hundreds of people my age who are enjoying what they do, I save forty minutes on a commute, get free meals and all sorts of cool perks, the ability to get home before late at night, with my job left at the job, and a decent wage. On the other hand I have a chance to grow as a programmer, carry more responsibility, help build a new company, work on a very promising, interesting, new product, and see firsthand what it takes to build a business, and most importantly help the team. On one hand I think my boss is among the most interesting, intelligent, and inspirational people I’ve ever met, and I feel indebted towards him for giving me a chance to learn and grow there. On the other hand, I wonder if I’m growing in the right direction; all my friends who work at the other place (I actually have quite a few), have time and energy for pursuing other dreams. This is a problem, it’d be better to devote all your time (including work hours) into pursuing your dream, but I’m scared that I’m not getting anywhere closer to pinning it down yet. Decisions decisions.

The past few weeks have been destructive. No sleep. No fun. Just work. It seemed everything came together. Work got hardcore, my student had his test Saturday morning, had to cover a midterm and final for my real estate class, along with half the book in about four days. Plus two half days spent in San Francisco getting TB clearance and trying to get rescheduled. The earliest I got home this week was 10:30, minus the day I stayed in to finish the real estate course. The weekend didn’t let off. Another project due. Spent both days and this night coding. Just submitted my latest versions. It’s been a real test, getting through it, but I think these past weeks have really made me stronger,, although I’d need a nice day or two of sleep to show it.

During this whole time I’ve been listening to a semi-fitting book: Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALs : Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results.

It’s a good wake-up book and it has lots of strong smart realistic advice on everything from how to arrange a team to moving on and doing something you can and want to do. The CD is a bit like the whole Rich Dad series in that it was kind of a pitch to join the SEALs, and after listening to it I can say I’m a lot more open and enthusiastic about such an idea than I could imagine before hearing it. It was really inspiring hearing the organizational structure, what to be and look for, how to live with a purpose and do things to the best of ability. It had many lessons. One that stood out a whole lot, along with dozens of others, is that in the platoon, in business, and in life, being an honest and dependable person is one of the most important things you can do. Another really imprtant aspect was on setting objectives and goals. How do you judge a mission to be successful. This book had a really good insight into that when it told about a rescue mission that went flawlessly minus the fact that the hostages were moved. The best thing about this book is it’s no nonsense approach, after listening to it all excuses and all fuzzy-big-picture-but-no-results actions are clear for the wastes of time they are.

I feel I’ve kind of stopped growing for the moment or maybe I grew up a whole lot. I put all my focus on just getting things done. There was no time to “look within” or anywhere else, only time to get things done. In the few moments with enough time to think clearly I kind of thought about what I’d want to do. I can’t wait to get back to Thailand and kick it with Rains. Can’t wait to just hear her voice. Can’t wait to hit up SF and visit the grandparents and can’t wait to kick it with my bro. Can’t wait to get back to dancing and dancers. It’s crazy how easy it is to take things for granted, but when there’s absolutely no time, in the few moments you chill out, you really realize some of the things you really miss. This weekend though, I made it through and got things done. Now sleep. Sweet sleep.

Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad isn’t just about money, it’s about life. His dad, an educated PhD, a successful and respected academic official, spent most of his life struggling to find time and to get by financially. He was successful, but there was never enough time and never enough money. His friend’s dad never finished high school, but managed to build a financial empire. When he was a little kid, he asked his dad how to get rich. When “making money” led him and his buddy to melting lead toothpaste tubes, both their fathers were happy with the initiative, but suggested he study from the future millionaire about how to get there. This book flipped my world view. Before I read it, I never thought about my path in life. I just figured I’ll get a good degree, get a decent job, become better at it, and try to enjoy my weekends and hours after work. This book reveals, in very powerful and simple terms, that the difference between rich and poor is that the rich let money work for them and the poor work for their money. It’s very eye opening stuff.

The story started almost half a year ago. Not far from when I started my web development internship. My dad set an anchor for learning Spanish and, right on time, a new guy joined his company–fluent speaker, with software in the language. He also let my dad listen to some tapes called “Rich Dad Poor Dad”

At the dinner table:
Dad: “Say you need some extra cash, what do most people do? What’s the most logical thing to do?”
B: “Get another job?”
D: “That’s what most people say. But it’s absolutely the wrong answer. To really make it, you shouldn’t work two jobs, you need to start your own business. A business can grow and make you more money, but working that second job, you’ll just be wasting your time. You won’t be getting any better at it, advancing, or getting well paid. It’s just not worth it.”

I liked this idea. Both my parents work two jobs. They make decent money, but end up stuck in the same situation, working to exhaustion and worrying about losing their jobs. Making almost nothing with the internship and learning even less, I started thinking about what to do. I realized this job was leading nowhere and perhaps school wouldn’t be so bad. I needed to study for the GRE’s or the GMAT. Since I’ll be studying, why not start a business as I do it. Tutor kids in SAT’s and practice my own stuff at the same time. It would pay just as much for like a half or third the time I spend at work, and it’d be time well spent.

For about a week I searched for a desk on craigslist. Coming home tired, I’d just look for an hour or so, then crash. One night I just had enough. I was just going to go buy a new one. It would be an investment, a place where my students would study. I ran out of the house to buy the perfect desk at Target, from the Metropolitan Collection. Sleak, simple, and comfy and tall. (Sorry for the tangent, I’m quite a fan of interior design.)

After one final check for responses to my desk inquiries, I was out the door. Right as it closed I remember the faceplace to my CD-player. I go back in and switch it with my keys and head out again. Again, I realize the keys are gone right as the door clicks locked. With my roomate out for the day and a spare car key in my wallet, the journey began.

I got the desk. Oh, so lovely. But now what? With no way to get into my place and nowhere nearby to go, why not hit up a book store? I drove the desk over to Borders and somehow ended up picking out that book. I finished a third by the time the store closed.

All my training, my programming, my getting programmed. It finally dawned on me. What am I going to do to make it? I couldn’t put down this book. It’s like picking up a manual on your life. Not just some VCR manual, but a fun one, written in real words, by real people, and about you. I just couldn’t stop.

After the store closes, I read another hour in my car, but realizing that it’ll get too cold to sleep there, I call up J, a buddy in the Mission. Just a few weeks back, my roomate and I stopped by J’s place for a chat. Back in the days, J and I would carpool to math classes at the local high school and were micro-community presidents, in high school we were both programming nerd and took classes at the JC with my dad. Toward college, we didn’t kick it as much, although I’d end up at a bunch of political rallies with his mom. He was a contractor for Y2K stuff and a waiter, while I worked at the library. He started college a semester before me, and by the time I started, he joined a frat. I joined some atheist group. Eventually realizing what a waste of time it was, I evolved to a dance group. By this time he took on a job at the Computer Center. He ran the house budget and then ran the house, while I took summer school. He eventually chose Cog Sci, and I followed in his tracks. By the time I followed him to becoming an advisor, he went to study business in Spain. While I grunted through my last year, he took a trip to Peru to teach and raise funds for an orphanage in Peru. By the time I was done with Cal, he’d joined an internet company and worked his butt off. He had a powerful work ethic and a very strong personal and leadership skills and I had only respect for him. And tonight, he saved me from the cold (the desk could take it).

That night, as he and the girl he met on match.com had some fun in his room, I kept reading the book. Around three, a few friends came back from the bars and crashed in the living room too. I took a nap and went into the bathroom to keep reading. Around six, his roommates came back from the clubs. This whole time I was reading. I couldn’t stop until I finished. I finished around six in the morning. I can’t describe what’s in the book. The first few chapters take all the things you learn in school and flip them on their head. It’s just amazing.

Reading this book was one of the biggest turning points in my life. It shook me up and made me realize that I need really sit down and really think about how I want to live my life. While this book isn’t a clear formula, it’s a big wake-up call and should be mandatory reading for people going into high school. I wish I read it then.