Before the last week I was unaware of the racism and discrimination affecting the Asian American and Pacific Islander populations in the United States. Understanding that Asian cultures are more reserved and conservative, I’m realizing that this has probably been an issue for a while that has been very under-reported. 

I still have so much to learn about this, and can’t really teach on the subject yet, but to share some statistics that quantifies this issue - Since the pandemic started 34% of Asian Americans said that they’ve been victim to verbal attacks, 24% have been affected by workplace discrimination, 16% have been coughed on or spat on, 12% have been physically assaulted, and 12% have been refused to use public transportation.

I don’t really have much to say on this other than that this behavior is unacceptable. The fact that racism and intentional discrimination still exists in 2021 is unbelievable to me, and knowing that Asian American discrimination is far from the only form of racial discrimination in the US, I’m recognizing that this is actually a white supremacy problem.

As a white person who this absolutely applies to, I’m going to spend more time educating myself and becoming more self-aware of my biases so that I can play my role and be better. I encourage you to reflect as well, and know that in this life love always wins.

Let's go back to one of the greatest thinkers in history for a quick lesson, Albert Einstein. His influence stretches far beyond physics and science and into this positivity rich quote “Live your life as if nothing is a miracle, or everything is a miracle.” How do we even make sense of this thought? How can something be a miracle and not a miracle at the same time?

Quite simply, it’s because even the most commonplace things require a seemingly infinite amount of other things to have gone a certain way to exist exactly as it does. Another way of putting it, the precise randomness of the world’s history created one specific output from an infinite amount of possibilities. So everything around you is the result of the smallest of probabilities, yet it beat all odds and happened. That’s pretty miraculous if you ask me.

Relating this back to positivity, and understanding this crazy phenomenon built into everything, it’s your choice to see that process as normal. You can see how everything is normal and abides by it, or you can see it for the incredible miracle it is. Choosing to see things as a miracle ties a sense of awe, wonderment, and curiosity into your environment. It makes you pause more often and be mindful of the incredible complexity that exists within everything. With the innate fulfillment and joy that can be drawn from such emotions, you’ll recognize that there is so much good in this world when you start to see it.

It’s kind of out there and transcendental to think about things in this way, but think about your current situation, and think about how different things could be if that one small thing didn’t happen exactly how it did. Multiply that by thousands or millions of other things that could have gone differently, and you’ll start to see what I mean. “Live your life as if everything is a miracle.”

In life we all come from our own backgrounds that carry with it our own set of challenges, but it also carries its own set of privileges. I think too often we reject the things that we have access to, which could truly transform our lives, for no good reason.

Let’s say you have a large inheritance from your family but you don’t want to touch the money because you “didn’t earn it”. Or you are a naturally gifted writer but you choose to pursue being a speaker because you think it’s more valuable. Or your Uncle has some connections that could really advance your career, or a project you’re working on, yet you don’t want to ask him for the favor. It sounds silly but it’s true, people are afraid to use what they’ve got.

And I think that fear is generated by the ego. It comes from our need to validate our own worth, so we dismiss opportunities or advantages that we didn’t create for ourselves. But you’re actually doing yourself a disservice, because how would you treat someone else who had family money, or had a gift for writing, or a well-connected Uncle? You’d encourage them to leverage that and squeeze as much value as they can from it! 

It’s not selfish, in fact it’s the opposite because when you use what you’ve got you create more value it can then positively affect others. If those opportunities never come to fruition then that value is lost forever, and the world will not be better off because of it. So use what you’ve got! You have access to it for a reason, make sure you make the most of it.

Sometimes I have to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Good things aren’t going to happen on their own, you need to put in the work. You need to practice.

If you have a presentation you can’t expect it to go perfectly well without rehearsing. If you play a sport you can’t expect to be as good as you were without having played in a while. Or even if you don’t meditate often, you can’t expect that it’s going to be perfectly enlightening because you chose to do it once. These things take practice.

When it comes to performing in any capacity we see it narrowly within that moment. The speech itself, the game you’re playing, while you're meditating, but we don’t give credit to the preparation required because all of that work is removed from that moment. Logically we know different - We put in the work to practice and hone our skills so that we are capable of doing our best when the moment comes. But we don’t always have the patience to practice.

Practice, practice, practice. Think about what standard you want to meet when you perform, and then track back to what you need to do in advance to be capable of that level of competition. Then create a plan that holds you accountable to consistently putting in the work so that you can deliver to the fullest when the time is right.

As far as I know, there’s no replacement for good old-fashioned hard work. So don’t skip it. Invest in your craft and practice.

We can probably agree that perfectionism isn’t known to be a good thing. It has a stigma attached to it, and necessarily so because it holds so many people back from taking action in important ways. That’s where I want to go a step further and argue that the idea of perfectionism is actually a form of procrastination.

To quickly touch on procrastination, procrastination is a defense mechanism that protects you from discomfort. The discomfort of doing something you don’t want to do, and the energy required to do it, or something you don’t know how to do, and the doubt you feel about your capabilities.

Perfectionism does exactly that - It keeps you from taking action until you feel completely prepared to do so. But the thing is, when you’re completely prepared you have confidence in yourself and don’t need to overcome the same amount of discomfort. So perfectionism is a rationalization strategy that  keeps you from taking action while you're experiencing discomfort. 

Of course, what needs to be mentioned is there is a certain level of quality that needs to coincide with your taking action in order to do it right. But I firmly believe that being 80% there and taking action today is way more effective than being 100% there 2 months from now, because it allows you to optimize through feedback, and there’s no guarantee you’re ever going to reach 100%.

To finish, I think perfectionism is a form of procrastination, and if you think so too you can be better about rejecting the idea that things need to be perfect.

Sometimes there’s just something about people that is contagious, it’s an enthusiasm and passion that you can feel and want to be a part of. But when it comes to understanding what passion is it can be difficult to articulate. Fortunately the founder of The Passion Centre Kira Day has a formula for us.

Passion = Meaning x Investment, and meaning can be broken down into 3 types of needs - Personal, universal, and functional. In designing your environment to be conducive in those different areas you can have your needs met and thrive like you’re meant to as the beautiful human you are.

You probably hear this expression every so often, but today I wanted to give it a new perspective. It’s the thought, “It must be nice…”

It’s the “Oh they have a maid… that must be nice….” or “Oh they got to fly first class… It must be nice…”

It’s said off-handedly and in kind of a sarcastic tone, but what it actually means is there is some hint of jealousy or envy about not having what other people have. Comparison is the root of many evils, and the ego is constantly trying to position itself and us relative to others. 

We know better than that. We have more control than that, and let’s change the perspective on this often derogatory thought. This is where positivity and particularly gratitude comes in. The things that you take for granted are the things other people in the world are jealous and envious about. “Oh they have a house to clean? It must be nice…” and “Oh they can afford to travel? It must be nice.” 

Instead of throwing this term at the aspirational version of yourself, reflect it into the present and give credit to the incredible things around you. Everything that happens can be spun however you want it to. Will you default to the comparative ego that is never satisfied, or will you revert to gratitude as the leading interpretation. Wherever you position yourself, no matter how big you become or important you’re perceived to be, there will always be people above you and people below you. So there will always be relativity and comparison. Choose to see the positive side of that fact, and choose to say “you know what it really is nice”.

Earlier this week was Daylight Savings Time, and I want to make a habit of leveraging it for the rest of my life. Whether we’re springing forward like we just did or falling back, we can use it as an opportunity to think about our morning and evening routines and how they’re serving this. I already have strong routines but there is always room for improvement, so I am challenging myself to incorporate a stronger routine that minimizes technology usage at night.

Why is this even important? Well, it’s because your evening sets you up for your next day even more than you think. One of the most important elements of a productive day is your energy, and if you don’t put yourself in a good position to get a lot of rest then you start your day playing catchup.

The founder of Optimize and former interview guest Brian Johnson calls this having a PM bookend. Basically, what is your nightly routine and how is it designed to set you up for an impactful tomorrow? I’ve taken this to heart and this weekend I strengthened my evening routine to ensure that I’m more set up for my next day, both from an energy standpoint but also in preparation and in my priorities. 

I made a video where I take you around my room and show you the specific decisions I made to not only choose how I want to spend my time, but make it easier for me to do so on a consistent basis.  Find out how to check out that video by visiting www.selfimprovementdailytipos.com/resources/pm-bookend.

Tell me this hasn’t been you... You want something really bad, like a promotion or launching a new project or an opportunity to meet somebody you’ve always wanted to meet. It’s on the schedule, you prepare really hard for it, and all of a sudden for some reason it falls through. Either the event cancels or you don’t get the promotion or the introduction is delayed. It’s pretty disappointing, especially after having put in so much effort to make it happen, but that’s not the end of the story.

Life will go on and the opportunity will return, will you be prepared to make the most of it when it does?

With that in mind, I want to highlight this perspective shift between setbacks and setups. You can choose to see things as holding you back, making it more difficult for you to get what you want, or you can see it as a new opportunity to differentiate yourself even further and make the absolute most of the opportunity. The same circumstance can be spun in two different ways.

The setback mentality is more of a victim mentality. It’s the “Why me?” response where you feel like things are unfair and conspiring against you. The set up mentality is an ambitious, opportunistic approach that places you in control of your destiny, and it's more of a hero mentality.

Before you can be anyone else’s hero you need to be your own, and it starts with the way you view the circumstances in your life. Do you perceive a roadblock, obstacle, or challenge in your path? Great! That’s setting you up for something great, it’s not setting you back.