Ducks look so calm, composed, and elegant above the water…

But what goes on below the water?

This:

Yep, legs kicking madly like there ain’t no tomorrow

The most successful people are like ducks.

Have you noticed that the most successful people make what they do look effortless? Those who work their arse off but make it look so seamless from all the endless hours of repetitive practice. Someone once told me that if you study the best pitchers in baseball, you’ll notice that although they exert all their might into the baseball, the pitch action as a whole is actually a very soft delivery (you wouldn’t be able to pitch in a focused direction with just brute force). Bruce Lee is another great example. Very soft, agile, and flexible but phenomenally strong hits. Apple too.

Bottom line: Balance is key. Ducks kick just hard enough to keep themselves moving along without splashing water onto themselves and making a mess. Work your tail off like crazy but don’t flaunt it, your progress alone will document itself.

Want to be successful? Time to slap on your duck feet

Your thoughts

Images courtesy of thefabweb and Incredible Things.

If you are following the NBA season this year, then you know how strong and deep the San Antonio Spurs team is this year.  They’re currently on a 20-0 run (that’s 20 wins in a row) and on their way to the NBA Finals – not to mention that head coach Gregg Popovich just picked up NBA Coach of the Year 2012.  As I read the NBA news this morning over coffee, a revelation struck me:

The Spurs are the Google of the NBA.

Hear me out… Check out this (dumbed down) infographic on comparisons between the two entities (more after the graphic):

San Antonio Spurs vs. Google

You simply can’t argue that the Spurs are a boring and unexciting team to watch.  Yes they drain their baskets and play brilliant basketball, but no flash and no sexiness.  None.   But you know what?  They get the job done. They win.  I personally use all five Google products listed above on a daily basis (literally) but I don’t find them sexy or attractive at all.  But hey it doesn’t matter, they work damn well and are super reliable.

Bottom line: In business, the priority should always be creating a product that just works.  Nevermind the sex appeal, does it work and is it reliable?  Yes?  OK, then the next step is to beef up the sex appeal.  Not the other way around.

Your thoughts?

As most of you may know, my life revolves around a constant search for novelty in life and business. On that note, exactly one year ago my girlfriend and I moved to New York City. Before NYC: born in Texas, raised in Texas and California, and post-college pursued a music career in Asia.

Soho district in New York City

Right fit?

In the past, I had taken a few of those ‘Which city do you belong in’ quizzes online, and somehow they always ended up in NYC. So were those quizzes accurate? Funny enough, spot on

New York City is like that university I never attended that’s filled with like-minded individuals. People who are not afraid to try out bizarre new ideas, tackle four business at a time, or brew beer at home. People who actually (genuinely) believe they can change the world. It’s an inspiring city to say the least and one of a kind, no doubt.

For those who are inherently passionate, New York City takes this passion and amplifies it tenfold. Keep in mind this goes both ways, negative and positive

What I’ve been up to?

Business

After moving to NYC, I set up shop for my company Geekwhat Design in a comfy co-working office on the edge of Soho (where I’m sitting as I type this entry). Business has been on the rise and design now holds a very large stake in my daily life. It’s amazing how much attention to design has carried over to my daily life. A little background on the company: our core services include WordPress custom design/development, UX design and consulting, and web hosting. If you or a colleague of yours is interested in our services, feel free to send me an email.

My company, Geekwhat Design

Modeling

In addition to the company, I’m now modeling as well. How did this happen you ask? Haha I wish I had a good story, but it’s about as cliche as it gets. I was at a cafe with my gf in East Village on Saint Marks Place, and my current agent Dave scouted me. One thing led to the next, and before I knew it, I had shot Vogue, Bloomingdales, Lord and Taylor, Stoli, and Johnnie Walker. No ginormous campaigns yet, but definitely a good start as my agent tells me. I’ve been modeling for about 8-9 months as of this entry. You can follow my latest gigs at my modeling Facebook page or at Tony Chung Model.

Lord & Taylor Nationwide Campaign 2012

NYC is a city of empowerment. New York to people with inborn passion in their blood is like Professor Xavier’s school to mutants with supernatural abilities. It will make you better and stronger as a business or person.

Do you eat your vitamins on a daily basis?
Or do you skip out every few days because you forget?

Not gonna lie, I’m the latter.  And you probably are too.  You see… I realized that vitamins are what separate the successful people from the mediocre-ly successful ones.  Michael Jordan probably practiced on time every single morning 99.9% of the time, Jamie Foxx practices the entire movie script before the first rehearsal – so much that he even remembers the lines of his co-actors, etc. etc.

It’s the super small (deceivingly small) things like remembering to eat your vitamins every single day that shape you into a consistent, reliable, and consequently successful person versus a person that just eats them when they remember.

Do you want to be mediocre?  Or do you want to win?

Eat your vitamins for the win.  I’m starting today. How about you?

Image courtesy of ABC News

Interested in saving some money on phone bills and transforming your iPad into a phone with free calling and texting?

Well, if you fall into the following 3 categories:

1. iPad 2 owner
2. Reside in the States
3. Pay for a landline telephone or sick of paying crazy cell phone bills

Then follow the below steps to replace your home landline telephone with your iPad 2 — free of charge.  And even better: you can even text message free from your iPad.  Note: If you have a 3G plan for your iPad, you could go mobile too, but not 100% sure about the stability of the phone reception when you’re on the go.

As you may know, Google released its Google Voice platform earlier this year.  This service allows Google account owners inside the USA to acquire a free telephone number and have all your phone numbers forwarded to this number (or act as a standalone number).  Well, with a little hack sense, you can download an app called ‘Talkatone‘ on your iPad and get your number set up for free on your iPad.  Just follow these two simple steps:

1. Register for a free Google Voice number by logging into your Google account.
2. Download Talkatone on your iPad 2 and input your Google Voice phone number and other info (yes, it’s an iPhone app but works fine on iPad).

Now close your iPad and try calling your new number from a new number that’s not linked up to your Google Voice phone number.

Wala!  You just replaced your landline!

If you are interested in a more aesthetic iPad-esque interface, you can check out this article to download GV Connect and sync it with Talkatone –although I think it’s not necessary.

Photo courtesy of SexyGadgets

I’ve recently been reading books about success, efficiency, and productivity and discovered a very interesting topic with varying opinions:

How much information should you digest on a daily basis?

While some believe absorbing excess information is unhealthy and unnecessary, others vouch that reading the news everyday and staying on top of current events is crucial to one’s ability to succeed.  Tim Ferriss, for instance, writes about information diet and how he hasn’t read the newspaper in years and only reads Inc. magazine to stay on top of his game (purposefully exaggerated IMO).  Others like actor James Franco are knowledge whores and keep their minds exercising and moving at all times with new information, from Wikipedia:

“Having received permission to take as many as 62 course credits per quarter compared to the normal limit of 19 while continuing to act, he received his undergraduate degree in June 2008 with a GPA over 3.5.  He moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University‘s MFA writing program, New York University‘s Tisch School of the Arts for filmmaking (NYU), and Brooklyn College for fiction writing, while occasionally commuting to North Carolina‘s Warren Wilson College for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010. Franco is a Ph.D. student in English at Yale University and will also attend the Rhode Island School of Design.”

OK James Franco is an extreme case lol.  Of course it also depends on one’s definition of ‘too much’ information.  I personally have made it a habit to read the news everyday (almost every hour actually) and find that it helps keep a social conversation flowing (though that’s not the reason why I follow the news).

What are your thoughts?  Minimalist or Know it all?

Free up your time and focus on what you love to do and the more important things by hiring a virtual assistant to take care of the other stuff.

I took a look at my daily tasks recently and realized that I was spending wasting some time everyday on trivial tasks that my imaginary kid brother could accomplish under intoxication.  Something needed to change.

After recently reading books like Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Workweek and other motivational reads,  I decided recently to hire a virtual assistant to help me take care of errands and research that I’d rather not waste time on.  It’s been a week now and I’m quite satisfied with the results.  Here are some tasks that my assistant has taken care of in only the last week:

• Posting craigslist ads
• Researching whether the ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ musical is worth watching (and best prices)
• Finding the top 3 sites (traffic-wise) to post used books
• Contacting a few websites with miscellaneous inquiries
• Hiring and communicating with other contractors to work on coding jobs

My assistant works in India, has perfect English capability, and has exceeded my expectations and performed on time and with quality results so far. He works from 9PM to 9AM PST and basically takes care of my work while I am asleep.  He has saved me at least 10 hours of time (and hassles) in the last week at the cost of only $5 an hour.  In my opinion, money well spent.

Depending on your workload, you could be saving yourself much more than 10 hours a week.  I found my current virtual assistant through Elance but there are many other options like Brickwork (not recommended, the quote they gave me was totally overpriced).  I may hire more assistants in different disciplines overtime as workload increases.

Do you have a virtual assistant?  Please share your thoughts.

Yum…. Pho. The popular Vietnamese bowl of transparent noodles with a satisfying soup base and the perfect combination of peripheral sauces and vegetables. The beauty of Pho is that it makes the very thought of Vietnamese food so clear and focused in a foreigner’s mind. When you walk by a pho place, chances are the restaurant name has ‘Pho’ in it. You know exactly what you’re going to get if you go in and sit down. It’s the perfect business lesson — focused, clear, and give the customer what they are expecting.

In comparison, the food served at Korean or Chinese restaurants (for example) is generally more vague. You aren’t clear right off the bat what you’ll be eating should you enter. If you place a Korean restaurant next to a Pho restaurant, a hungry passing foreigner would at least know right off the bat what they’ll be served if they enter the Pho restaurant. Whether he chooses it or not is another story, but just the clarity of the business is a win right away IMHO.

I think you’ve become successful when an average Joe can name what you do within 3 seconds after hearing your brand. Try the following:

Apple = iPhone. GOOD.
Samsung = … tv … tablet … phones… BAD.

Eminem = angry white guy. GOOD.
Kid Rock = … had that one rock-ish/rap hit…. BAD.

IKEA = home stuff. GOOD.
Sears = … appliances … clothes… BAD.

Caltech = engineering. GOOD.
UCLA = …. bruins … white racist chick … poly sci? BAD.

Simpler = win. Complicated = mediocre. Your thoughts?