I spent my 24th birthday in the emergency room, because of a terrible stomach ache had kept me up the entire night. I drove myself to urgent care, and the doctor directed me to the emergency room.

As I was laying down in the waiting room, I was thinking about my list of todos. I was tunnel-visioned on the deadlines I needed to meet, and in a rush to get out of the hospital so I could get some rest so I could continue my routines. I remember thinking, “hurry up and tell me it’s food poisoning, give me whatever I need to take so I can get on my way!”

After my computed tomography (CT) scan, I was directed back to my bed to wait. The doctor came by around a half hour later, and put his hand on my stomach and said that I had appendicitis. My appendix was swollen, but hadn’t quite burst yet, which was a good thing in a bad situation. He told me I needed to have surgery, to notify the people I needed to let know, and assured me that the surgery is relatively simple. He and the nurses also mentioned that there is no well-documented reasoning for why we need our appendix, so I wasn’t missing out on much having it removed. There is also no well-known reason for the cause of appendicitis either. This organ is filled with mystery.

I took a deep breath, and accepted the situation at hand. I was surprised that I wasn’t very afraid. I did a quick study on my phone about the surgery, and was convinced that it wasn’t something to make a big deal about.

What struck me more was the recovery time that I would need. No physical activity for 2-3 weeks, and I would barely be able to move in my first week. My exercise routines subsequently stopped, my appointments with friends were halted, my birthday plans cancelled, and I missed out on a trip to Lake Arrowhead! I remember feeling overwhelmed about this missed time. I would also have to reestablish my habits. I felt like I had just begun to develop good habits too, and then appendicitis struck me! I knew it would affect me for more than the 2-3 weeks, because I would need to put in more time and effort into getting back to normal. It felt like my life was being pushed back a month or more, and it made me uneasy.

I’m proud to say that I didn’t dwell on it much. I remember noting in my head two things:

1. I knew I had no sleep at night, so I told myself that I’m not thinking straight, so be wary of any negative thoughts that might come around.
2. This is the reality of my current situation, so I need to bite down on the situation, and make it the most fun, learning experience I can. It was an opportunity to learn about my body and it’s healing process.

I joked with the nurses, asking them to save my appendix and put candles on it to celebrate my birthday. They said they appreciated seeing a young person in their hospital who was in good spirits. I felt in good-care, my Mother knew the supervisor of the hospital, and she had set me up with what seemed to be a luxury hospital room. I had a genuinely fun time in the hospital.

Moments before the surgery, one of the nurses asked if I was scared. I answered with an honest “no.” I was smiling as they pushed me into the operating room and reusing my appendix-birthday joke as often as I could to the new faculty members I would see. I was a little nervous about the surgery, but more anxious about my healing process and how soon I could get back to my routines.

The surgery went well, and I’m sitting here a week later, walking at 80% speed, and in good spirits. At the cost of my appendix, I got a few good jokes, a birthday to remember, and a newfound appreciation for health, family, and friends. I’m reminded that the journey to our goals is not one that is linear. It’s filled with pit-stops, and things that may seem like set-backs at some point in time, but these things eventually turn into things that happened that taught us about “x, y and z”. With the correct mindset, we can turn any situation into a learning experience. The stories we tell ourselves about how we interact with the world and vise-versa quite literally shape the entirety of how we think and act. So next time something “bad” happens to you, try to pause and see how that exact situation helped teach you something positive in some obscure way that took you some time to realize. Continue this thought exercise for years, and I’m convinced that that person will be wealthy, fulfilled, happy, and successful.

What a way to start to my 24th year!

I spent this morning listening to Terry Crews on Tim Ferriss’ podcast. Terry speaks of his hardships, and the lessons he has learned throughout his life. He speaks of the importance of belief, and how that belief literally shapes who you are and how you mold the world around you. It’s one of the most compelling and inspiring podcasts I’ve listened to all year. Give it a listen here! I’ve found this to be true in my world, and as I look back on all the experiences I have had this year, I feel an excitement rushing within me as I prepare to outdo myself and these experiences in the coming year.

I had finished my 30 day comfort-zone challenge a few weeks ago, and I was still riding the high of chasing after exploring the things that lay outside my comfort zone. I felt more empathetic towards others, and felt I could easily connect with strangers that I met.

I had been involved with Hack-a-thon’s in the past, but never participated fully in one. Fortunately, the HackUCI team was able to put up a great event that allowed me to both participate and volunteer!

I came into the event with no team, so I had to improvise. I was nervous at first, but after going around and introducing myself to a few others, I decided who I wanted on my team. It was a pre-made team of 3 friends from high-school, I told them about some of the things I worked on, and they agreed to have me on as their last member.

We decided on an Android App, and things got moving very quickly. We used Trello as a tasking system, and worked on creating a Broadcasting Application using Firebase, Android Studio, SF OpenData API, that allowed users to broadcast their locations to others in the area that were willing to meetup. Unfortunately, we overshot the complexity of our app, so we weren’t able to have a fully working version, but we created a mockup of what it might look like to demo to judges. It was a pleasure working with you guys, Calvin, Ho-Ren, and Jerry.

A few weeks later, a non-profit I was working with had our first public event! Wanderlosters set up these big boards on UCI’s campus, and we asked students about their goals, and the expected obstacles between them and their goals. The objective was to help students define these goals, and have breakthroughs in how they might achieve them.

I remember being surprised at how exhausting it was to try and approach so many people and form a connection.

After taking my first Muay Thai class at UCI, I became obsessed with it. Muay Thai become a huge part of my life. I would go to the gym almost every day to practice what I had learned from class. I would videotape myself and try to correct the errors that I could catch. I spent hours watching coaching videos, and would frequently throw elbows and punches while in the shower, trying to perfect my form. My slow & steady improvements was further proof that I could progress in anything as long as I continued to put in the effort. It’s sometimes difficult to see improvements in other aspects of life, but in Muay Thai, I could tell I was getting better every month. After every few weeks, I would notice that I could create a slightly stronger impact while hitting the bag, or kick a little higher than before. It’s still a big part of my life now, and I believe MMA will stay with me for many more years.

 

I don’t remember where our original destination was set for. We had planned to go camping, but the road was very poorly paved and we did not want to risk popping the tires on my friend’s car. We rerouted to go elsewhere and stayed the night. On our way back home, we stopped in Idyllwood, and wandered around the streets in the early hours of the morning.

Anthony taught me a lot about the value of honesty. During the school year, I spent most of my time with him. From spending so much time with him, I got to see that he never knowingly took advantage of anyone, and was always honest with others and himself. I judged him as being honest to a fault, but I now strongly believe that his mindset will set him up for an abundance of success in the long-term.

5 years led up to this very moment. I regretted not walking with my friends who graduated last year, but then I realized that I had created a new group of friends who were no lesser. I’m eternally thankful for the experiences I had during my short stay at UCI.

I spent the next month studying for interviews, and trying to figure out the “next move.” I never doubted that my success would come, I just did not know what it might look like. My friends Derek and Gary told me they were planning a trip to Europe, and asked if I wanted to come. Surely I would accept, and thus began an incredible journey.

We landed in Paris, and within a few hours took a train to Northern France. I was so stoked to be on the other side of the world. There were so many times during this trip where I questioned how in the hell I had wound up here.

This was the day my entire world flipped. For all my years on this world, I believed myself to be a “cheese fan.” My friends and I walked into this restaurant, and asked the owner to give us whatever he recommends. We had heard of this Maroilles cheese before. It was apparently banned from importing to the US because it was too stinky, but I could not find any news that neither confirmed this or denied it. I believe it to be true. It was the most potent and pungent food I had ever eaten. Looking at these pictures now makes me slightly uncomfortable in remembrance of that dark day.

Paris was probably the most underwhelming city during my trip. It was congested with tourists and poverty. Granted, I was only there for a day, so a future visit is in order.

Derek, Gary and I wandered through the streets of Tuchlauben, stopping for all kinds of foods. A philosophy that I developed through conversations with my close friend Shaun was that food is an experience that should not be taken lightly. It would most likely be years before I am ever back in these streets, so it makes sense for me to splurge on all the delicacies I could get my eyes on.

Vienna, Austria The view from our Airbnb during sunrise. 7/26/17

We only decided to take this trip because Derek had won a package to play at a poker tournament here in Velden. Gary and I killed time at the pool, we played ping-pong along the lake, and explored the rest of this gem of a city. On Derek’s downtime, we rented electric bikes and trespassed into private lakes, and caught some great MPHs while going down hills.

Andreas and Rikard were journalists from Sweden who came to cover Derek’s poker tournament. We dined at a lakeside restaurant to which we arrived by speedboat. It was an incredible energy that these two brought that could light up any conversation. We spent our last days lakeside, shown above.

Onto Germany! I used couchsurfing to see if I could stay somewhere for free. After a few denials, I got to speaking with Kathi, who agreed to let me stay with her. I arrived at our designated meeting spot, alone and somewhat nervous about being kidnapped. My friends jokingly(I think) told me that I was walking into a trap.

Thankfully, she arrived and walked me to her beautiful apartment building. We shared beers together, and she told me of her solo-trips to Asia- where she got around mostly by hitchhiking. She had an amazingly powerful and optimistic way of thinking. She told me of a time when she was in Japan, and staying at a stranger’s house on the floor. Cockroaches were buzzing around her, as she was trying to get some rest. Instead of panicking, she told me that she knew she could only make 2 decisions. She could either get up and leave to go elsewhere, or suck it up and sleep. She chose the latter option, and left with a funny story she could share with others like me! She left me a bottle of water every morning, and kept in touch whenever I was out. She deeply inspired and moved me with her spirit of paying-it-forward.

Munich was my favorite city of the trip. It was mostly due to the interactions I had with the people there, and very little to do with the amazing sights I saw here.

I woke up early morning to make sure that I would catch my flight. I went out to buy souvenirs and came back in time to pack up and catch my flight to Barcelona. I take out the key from my pocket and try to open the keyhole. I hear a crack. I take out the key, and find that the key had slightly cracked when I had tried to open the door. I didn’t have my phone with me, and Kathi had already left for work. I try not to panic and take a seat in the nearby park, trying to assess my options. It wasn’t anything I needed to involve the police in, and at worst, I would just have to catch the next flight. I tried to give the key another try, but it would not unlock.

Eureka! I figure I might as well try to use my brain to get this door open. I picked up a leaf from the ground and rip into a small piece that just might fit into the cracked part of the key. I fit the leaf-key into the lock and try to turn it over. It worked! I got into the gated part of the community, but I needed to get into the house using the same key. I stuffed more of the leaf into the key and tried it again. Surely enough, the door opened, and I had only lost 10 minutes of my time. What a lucky guy I am!

In Barcelona, I went on a bar crawl with a French model! I also went to both a gay and nude beach with my buddy Jack, who became my closest friend while I was in Barcelona. I can’t believe these things happened as I sit here writing this. How in the world am I going to beat these experiences in 2018?

The project I’ve been working on for months was finally launched! I promised myself I would get a working version out on the Play Store before I started work. I’m proud I was able to achieve this, as it was a testament to the progress I’ve been making. All of life I had difficulty seeing things through, and I was glad to achieve this goal. It would set a strong precedent for the future.

Now I’m employed! I’m happy that my co-workers are all easy to work it, and I know I can learn a lot during my time at Boeing. I’m grateful for this opportunity, and will actively take action to make sure I am an important asset to the Boeing family.

It’s been difficult to find the strength to be proactive after work, but I’m slowly getting there. My work is only one part of my many-layered life, and I will continue pursuing those other parts in the new year.

This was our first big reunion between our group of friends. We’ve been together through the ups and downs, and I’m glad we can find the time to hang out as old friends.

Every year gets better than the last. Higher highs, and higher lows. I don’t expect this to always hold true, but I’ll accept the blessings as they come to me! Cheers to a new year! I look forward to another year filled with wealth in the form of friendships, travel, good food, health, and career goals!

It seems I draw a lot of inspiration to write after watching MMA fights. UFC 217 was yesterday, and it was the most action-packed fight card I’ve seen since I started following combat sports 3 years ago. Three championship belts were on the line, and three new champions were crowned. These new champions were all betting underdogs.

At it’s core, MMA is an art that establishes an emphasis on honor and respect. Rose Namajunas(New Champion) mentioned that yesterday. She was a heavy underdog, and came out with a first round KO against a long-time champion in Joanna Jedrzejczyk. TJ Dillashaw(New Champion) and Cody Garbrandt exchanged so many insults with each other, and have a bad personal history. Still, after Dillashaw KO’d his opponent in the 2nd round, he set his personal differences aside and had nice words to say to a person he genuinely does not like. There are very few exceptions, but most fighters show respect to his/her opponent once that finishing bell rings, no matter how they might personally feel about them. At the end of the day, there is no fight without the opponent, and for that reason alone, you should be compelled to respect him/her.

To be successful, whatever that may mean to you, you must honor both yourself and your opponent. Your opponent might come in the form of a midterm, a job, and so on. It’s imperative to respect the challenges of your situation. I feel I get a better understanding of this as I train, and study MMA.

A fight takes two willing contenders to step into a ring or octagon. These fighters are utterly exposed to show what the accumulation of their past lives has brought into the ring. Georges St. Pierre(New Champion) says a fighter needs to consider three things: their physical well-being, emotional well-being, and mental well-being. If one of these things are not up to par relative to your opponent, you may come in with a serious disadvantage.

GSP and Joanna Jedrzejczyk speak of the challenges of being a champion. The difficulty is in keeping the mindset of a challenger. The challenger often has a more insatiable hunger than the champion who overlooks his/her challengers. GSP stopped fighting 4 years ago, telling his fans that the pressure was too much for him to take. He was constantly on edge, realizing that after every challenger he beat, there was another obsessed challenger with different skillsets in line waiting for his turn at the belt.

The end result is a winner and a loser. On rare occasion there is a draw, but these are usually settled with a rematch sometime in the future. In our world filled with participation trophies in so many shapes and forms, it’s a relief to many to see the near-binary decision-making in sports like cage fighting. These men and women put their lives on the line for entertainment, and so much more. For so many, it’s the only thing they have world-class talent in, and the only way they can make a living.

MMA is a sport that showcases the triumphs and the struggles of our human existence. It reminds us of what life was once like, when the distance between life and death wasn’t so falsely separated as it is now in our culture. It reminds us that there are no such things as immortals. No fighter is invincible, no matter how much the media may try to portray a person. It reminds us that sometimes our best is not enough, but the only way to know is to try anyway to be the best versions of ourselves. There is no alternative. We are all equalized in death, and this should remind us to live our lives honestly and virtuously.

 

I woke up this morning and immediately dreaded the day ahead of me. I had logged a mere 4 hours of work in the last couple of weeks. I was scared to show my face at work. Granted, I was on break, but today is Thursday, and I still hadn’t stepped foot in work. My boss is Judith Olson, a mentor to Larry Page, co-founder at Google- so I want to make a good impression. He praises her by saying her class was the one that had the most impact on him as a student. I had boarded the train of procrastination, that would cause me unnecessary stress for an extended period of time. I told myself that perhaps I would come in next week, or log my hours over the weekend. Then I remembered I had signed up for a hackathon, which is a 3-day long event over the weekend, so this was not possible.

To my credit, I am glad that I was able to muster up the willpower to get through my morning meditation. After, I lay in bed for half an hour, worrying about all that could go wrong today. It seemed like today had all the signs of a bad day, but I knew that as soon as I acknowledged this, it would most likely be one. In an attempt to stop the negative chatter, I hastened my way into my bathroom. I turned on a nice tune, and immersed myself in the form of a cold shower. New mind chatter: “Fuck fuck fuck. Cold cold cold. LET’S GO! Today is going to be great fucking day!” I present to you the magic of an icy cold shower that has the potential to jolt you with positivity.

I thought about how much that cold shower lifted my spirits. I raced out the shower and spent time cooking a hearty meal that would  help kickstart my day in addition to the cold shower.

I made my way to work after class. I should have been unemployed a month and a half ago, but I was successful in asking for an employment extension, so that I could finish up the work I set out to do. In hindsight, I can give thanks to my effort to ask for an extension, otherwise I would have had no income for quite some time. Well done, Paul. After a good 3 hours of work, I asked to speak with Judy. In my head, I came up with an elaborate speech that would explain my few hours of work. “I was sick, on vacation, blah blah blah.” When I saw her I came to my senses and decided I wouldn’t give her any excuses. No one likes to hear excuses. People also tend to emphasize problems without providing any solutions. This is not ideal.

My employment contract was set to end next week(problem), so I told her I would do everything in my power to finish what I had set out to do. If not, I was going to tell her I would work for free until my job was done (my solution).

She cut me off, laughed and told me not to worry about it. Judy told me I should try and finish my work, but that I could take a couple more weeks if I had to(Judy’s solution). She was so nonchalant about the whole thing and suggested I take extra time. This was something I’ve been worrying about often, for many weeks. I was afraid something bad would happen, and this was due to poor planning. It was a silly fear that dissipated in less than a minute of conversation. It was a moment of weakness that caused my procrastination to create a month of unwanted stress(problem). It wasn’t too much stress, but it definitely occupied an unnecessary amount of headspace.

We often suffer more in imagination, than in reality 

-Seneca

I had been working with her and her husband for over a year, and I had already got much work done. In the past, I spent time with them at their home, they took me out for champagne on a boat, and treated me to fine-dining. It was foolish for me to have the fears I had. This was a mistake that cost me a bit of stress, but something I can learn from. I could have relinquished these fears with an earlier e-mail, or simply put in more work hours.

Procrastination tends to have these sorts of snowball effects. What may initially start as a small issue, might grow exponentially over time. It is in our best interest to handle these things as they come to the best of our ability. To do otherwise would be masochistic.

To fix my issue of procrastination, I’ve turned to using multiple scheduling tools. Recently, a friend of mine recommended Wunderlist, which allows for you to set due dates and reminders with an extremely minimalistic and simplified interface. I have down all the due dates of my projects, midterm and final dates, among other things on Wunderlist. I also use Momentum to list the one big task I wish to accomplish every day, on top of writing it down in my physical notebook. It also offers  a breathtaking view every time I open up a new tab.

It’s the first week of school, and it is good to be reminded again on the importance of timing and preparedness. Let us learn from our mistakes of the past and move forward methodologically. Let us set clear well-defined goals, so that we are not misguided. Let us switch angles in a timely manner, when change is necessary. Let us understand the things we can change, and understand the things outside of our control. Let us not stress about those things outside of our control.

“What gets measured gets managed”

–Peter Drucker