Last month, I wrote a post on taking the driver’s seat and grasping control of my career and artistic direction.  Well, sure enough, I did just that in the last thirty days and achieved some groundbreaking results.

Since leaving my previous agency last month, I started a pop trio called Cool Silly with two of my closest friends in Taiwan who I had previously written music with. The idea for this group came about when I saw a poster for an upcoming nationwide songwriting contest which would require live performances in each round of the contest.  I figured the three of us could 1. write a song for this contest without any problems, and 2. put on a pretty decent show.

Well, one month later, the results are in:

1. We are number one in the country (hear our #1 song below).
2. We have performed in front of 100,000 people.
3. We have accrued over 3,000 views on our live performance video on youtube.
4. We have our own concert lined up at the end of December.
5. We are performing on a TV show later this week.
6. We have an official band website (designed by yours truly ) and close to 500 fans on our Facebook page.

This all happened in the span of one month…

What is key to all these milestones is that we achieved them with zero financial or agency backing a.k.a. we did everything ourselves with the help of some amazing friends. I guess desperate times really do call for desperate measures.  Sometimes you just have to get out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself and challenge your limits.  A few of the things that got my drive going:

1. Leaving my previous agency i.e. no more income.
2. Fast-approaching deadline of songwriting contest when I first heard about it (we wrote and recorded the song in literally a few days).
3. The personal satisfaction and inspiration of gaining achievement upon achievement based solely on one’s own hard work and efforts.

To-be-achieved goals for Cool Silly:

1. Break the 1,000 fans mark on our Facebook page.  Add us!
2. Hit the radio airwaves.
3. Release our own album next year.
4. Start (and maintain) a youtube TV show (check).

And finally, here is the song that garnered us all the above achievements:

Bottom line: Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself in an area you believe you have authority in! You won’t regret it!

For the last two or so years, I have been signed to various entertainment agencies here in Asia.  It’s been a very interesting ride and I have learned many things along the way.  I have released an official Mandopop album (now available on iTunes), appeared in a handful of television shows, and done many radio interviews.  Unfortunately, the way it works here in Taiwan is that your agency basically owns you and you wait for them to supply gigs for you.  As you can imagine, it can sometimes be a long waiting period.

After all these experiences, one of the most important lessons I learned is that 1. I need to know what I truly want, and 2. I need to take the driver’s seat and take control of my career. This revelation comes after finally understanding more about myself.  I have realized that the only person that can most accurately execute my artistic vision is myself.  I believe that all the most successful and visionary artists have a good sense and control of their career and artistic direction, case in point: Ryan Leslie.

I have recently moved on from my most recent entertainment agency contract and for the first time in two years, I am starting fresh on my own two feet.  The sky’s the limit!  More to come on my latest project!

Let’s all learn more about ourselves and what we seek to achieve in our lives.  It’s good for the soul!

This is one the last weeks of my undergrad at SJSU. I’ll be graduating at the end of May (17 days and counting) with an Electrical Engineering degree on a full-ride scholarship. It’s 12:59AM as I type this and I just got home from school. I’ve gotten used to this schedule in the last week due to final projects, final exams, and more projects. I know 5-10 years down the road, I’ll remember these days, working on projects with some of my closest classmates late into the night at school.

Some of the skills I’ve honed through college and will stay with me for a while:

• Time managmement. I maxed twelve courses in my last two semesters. If you want decent grades doing engineering and six courses, you better damn well learn to manage your time. I’m still learning.
• Deadlines. Without deadlines => you get lazy => you don’t accomplish things => you suck.
• The art of working hard. In my first year, I had to maintain above a 3.25GPA to keep my scholarship. In my second year, 3.3. In my third year, 3.5. The courses only get harder. Work hard or else.
• Multitasking. My junior year: four classes, 30 hours a week at Cisco, writing a song a week for my album. This week: LawYours on Thursday, senior project (culmination of one year of work) due Friday, final exam tomorrow.
• Networking. Not so much meeting people at school. But meeting people through people at school. It’s helpful and totally beneficial in unpredictable ways.

1:08AM now. That took 9 minutes to write. 9 minutes of reflection on college. =) Good night.

My buddy Eric posted a quote last week on geekwhat that I really dug A LOT:

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a very narrow field.”–Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

Yep, Bohr as in the bohr model. This quote reminds me of my earlier days at Cisco. I worked in the engineering tech support labs and performed customer recreates for Cisco clients like AOL, AT&T, etc. When I first began, it was a really tough road learning all the software, hardware, and protocols. But about six months later, I started getting really good at troubleshooting problems — mostly because I had encountered them before already. Nine months later, I was really sharp and sometimes a go-to guy. A year later, I was traning people.

Just earlier tonight, I finally completed my programming assignment for class, meaning the chip hardware was doing what it’s supposed to do. This was after a total of about 5 hours of troubleshooting. Those 5 hours were frustrating and sucky. But now I feel awesome. I’m one more tiny step closer to expert status…

I think this quote by Bohr is very true. Find your niche passion or skill. Finesse it. Make mistakes. Learn everything. Become the best.

Your task for today (and everyday): Ask a question. Make a mistake. Don’t be afraid to ask that potentially ‘dumb’ question. So you get laughed at, who cares? You gained something. You learned!

I’ve been doing some philosophi-zing recently. Here’s something I’ve been thinking about in reference to my future:

Should a person spend his / her life:

1. Pursuing something they suck at but want to become more proficient? OR
2. Improving at something they’re already pretty good at?

What if Bill Clinton had chosen to become a professional saxophonist?

I think this is uber important. For example: I love playing tennis. But I suck pretty bad. I like web design. But I’m not that good at it. Should I get better in these areas because I dig them? Or should I find my forte and hone it to perfection? Yes I know a combination of the two is the best. But what if that’s not a choice? Then what?

This is especially crucial when picking a major in college…

Why are you doing what you do for a living?