My Journey & 7 Pillars of Purpose-driven Entrepreneurship

I was born in China during the Cultural Revolution. China was strict and poor then. And choices were limited. To have a better life, there seemed to be just one narrow road. For millions of young people, that meant going to college, getting a decent job, making a good living and starting a family. But even at a young age, in a land and culture that valued conformity, I felt compelled to seek a different path, a path of inspiration, a path that would somehow lead me to a more purposeful life - my purpose in life.

Despite extreme parental, social and cultural pressures, I rebelled, holding steadfast to my ideal, and refused to live a life that was below it. It was painful and often lonely. And I was fighting a battle that seemed impossible at the time. But for me, the choice was a matter of life or death: I either give up my truths or I leave my country in hopes of finding a way to keep them alive.

I chose the latter.

Without knowing a single soul, I set sail to begin a series of exciting adventures in brand new and completely foreign lands. There were challenges, obstacles and struggles, for sure. But my desire to realize my highest potential was so strong that it gave me the fire and stamina necessary to accomplish my goals. I worked hard and was soon doing well, professionally. Yet I found myself pursuing another "conventional path," just in a different country. It was then my heart again spoke to me, its voice loud and growing louder, telling me, "This is only a stepping stone. There is a purpose waiting for you. Keep searching..."

Several painful relationships also injected the needed fuel for me to begin a new journey, this time from within. I searched and explored, really explored. Yoga, meditation, introspection, dancing, painting, traveling, Burning Man, sweat lodge... Whatever my heart wished to feel, I followed it. Then something interesting was revealed to me - my life's purpose. It almost caught me off guard. And I was surprised to discover that the "apple" was not far from the "tree."

What I am passionate about is the integration of our inner truths with what we do in business. I discovered my niche - a place that blends my deepest passion, greatest gifts and heart-felt values. It is my passion and purpose to share what I have learned and lived in my own journey with others - to help others uncover their life purpose and create a viable business living it.

I call it "The Seven Pillars of Purpose-driven Entrepreneurship."

1. Follow your inspiration: When we are inspired, we innovate, push beyond status quos, and find creative solutions. Our inspiration leads us to uncover our greatest gifts and make our greatest contributions. In turn we enjoy our greatest fulfillment and success. It makes us come alive and brings life to our projects and those around us. Follow your inspiration, it will not steer you wrong.

2. Believe in your ideals: It is by the real that I exist; it is by the ideal that we live. Great countries, institutions and companies are created by a set of beliefs and ideals by their founding members. Believe in your ideals, live by them and inspire others to co-create value-based organizations. Our business is an extension of who we are. Let it reflect that, and make the world a better place than when you found it.

3. Think with your heart: In Chinese character, the word “think” is illustrated as a brain on top of a heart. In the West, we are trained to think with our brain using logics. In the East we believe the key to life and business mastery lies with our heart. It contains all the answers we need to know in order to navigate through seemingly complex life and business landscapes. Think and lead with your heart.

4. Find your niche: Each one of us can do something in a certain way that is better than anyone else in the world. So is the business we create. Finding out or even creating a niche that we can be best in the world at is one of the keys to business success. It takes experimentation and refinement, and sometimes failures. See it as an evolving process to define and refine your core signature on earth.

5. Create value and impact: According to the Law of Compensation, each person is compensation in like matter for that which he or she has contributed. To build a successful business, we need to be a value creator, constantly thinking of ways to increase the value of our contribution to the markets and communities we serve, and create a culture that is based on love and service.

6. Become a hub: Relationships are everything in life and business. The ability to cultivate and build long lasting and mutually beneficial relationships is invaluable. It takes time, energy and conscious efforts. Become a hub or at least an invaluable link in the web of relationships that make up your industries and communities.

7. Pay your dues: There is an incubation period for a seed to grow into a healthy tree bearing fruits. It takes patience, consistent and persistent efforts to build a successful business. We need to put in our hours, energies and resources to create it, build it and grow it. This is given. If we are doing what we love, then why in such a hurry!

A hero's journey begins from within, and extends out to those around us. Our business is an extension of who we are. It is a vehicle for us to fulfill our purpose and live our ideal. We are all heroes, writing our own journeys on earth. How would you like your journey to be written?

Five Elements to Financial Freedom AND Fulfillment

For each of us, our current financial situation is a reflection of our past beliefs and actions. So if you are not happy with where you are, financially, it is an indication that you may need to make some changes in your life. And as integral beings living in an integral universe, when we make positive changes in one area of our life, such as finance, we create positive changes in other areas of our life as well.

The contracting economy in many ways takes away the fatty layers that have kept us in our comfort zone. It can be scary, stressful and uncomfortable. But it also presents a wonderful opportunity for us to look inside, reexamine our lives, and set a new direction for the life we truly deserve and desire.

In ancient times, five elements were used to symbolize the harmonious workings of the universe. Using a similar approach, I have identified five elements that, when properly deployed, will help us build a solid financial structure and reach high for our dreams - elements that will lead us to our ultimate joy and fulfillment in life. The five elements are:

Beliefs (AIR) - Our financial situation reflects to a large degree our beliefs about money: our money memories, and our positive and negative associations about money. What are some of the limiting beliefs you have about money? By examining those beliefs and gaining a deeper understanding of the laws of money, we are able to adopt healthier views and habits - and change our financial condition DRAmatically.

Goals (FIRE) - Successful people set clear goals and have well thought-out plans to achieve them. What is your dream? Does it have a deadline? What is your plan to make it happen? Clear, compelling and concrete goals in alignment with our passion, purpose and values will ignite a powerful force within us and propel us to move forward.

Discipline (EARTH) - Without discipline, a dream does not have wings. It is like a ship that stays in the shipyard. Discipline is one of the most important muscles to help us turn our dream into reality. It is essential that we cultivate and exercise the muscle of discipline so that it becomes a natural part of us and our life.

Alignment (WATER) - Money is a means, NEVER the end by itself. If we don't know what is truly important to us, and align our finances with our passion, mission and values, we will never be fulfilled and satisfied - even when we obtain financial success. It is crucial that we structure our finances in ways that support us and allow us to live our passion, purpose and values.

Relationships (SPACE) - As interconnected beings, we cannot achieve our dreams all by ourselves. Without loving relationships, success is an empty and lonely place to be - even if we get there. It is very important for us to cultivate and develop meaningful and fulfilling relationships that are based on generosity, love and support.

Transformation begins with awareness, and happens in action. Reevaluating our beliefs is the beginning of things. Our beliefs about money often reflects our beliefs about ourselves, relationships, among other things. When we gain clarity on who are are and what we want in life, and make a decision to change those limiting beliefs that have prevented us from moving forward in the past, we will begin to notice the world around us also changes.

To get what we want in life, we need to set worthy goals, and practice discipline, patience and persistence to achieve them. On the other hand, this needs to be aligned with our passion, mission and values in order to fulfill us. We also need to consciously create a harmonious environment that support us to walk confidently towards the directions of our dreams.

There is only one corner of the universe we can be certain of changing, and that's our own self. If we can create more harmony in our own life, we are also bringing more harmony to the world around us.

The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore. ~ Cyril Connolly

Say Goodbye to Financial Stress

Financial stress is one of the greatest anxieties in human life. Why? Because the threat of not having sufficient funds to support life threatens one of our most fundamental needs: the need for safety or security. In a tribal society, people may deal with hunger, but never financial stress. But in our modern society, money is the medium required to fulfill our most basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and comfort.

The thought of not having enough money to support our life is like a virus. Leaving untamed, it can eat up our creativity, focus, and joy in life. It can carry such a heavy weight on our shoulders that we can’t breathe freely, and live freely. It can even affect our health.

I find the following strategies useful in getting through financial stress, and coming out victorious on the other side.

Practice gratitude – I personally find gratitude the most effective strategy to overcome fear. When we appreciate and focus on what we already have, we feel nourished and strengthened by the invisible force of the universe. We are ready to receive more of what we already have. As long as we are alive and conscious, we can always find something we can be grateful for.

Understand the cycle – In nature, there is spring, summer, fall and winter. Animals are intelligent enough to gather extra food in order to prepare for the tough winter ahead. It is not so much different in human life. There are ups and downs. Change is inevitable. In good times, shouldn’t we strengthen our base to prepare for the unexpected? Good planning and savings seem to be good policies. In bad times, we must also remember, it too, will pass. Understanding the season we are in can help us look ahead and keep a balanced mind when the times gets tough.

Get organized – Fear is like a paper tiger. When you see it as it is, it loses its power over us. Financial stress is no exception. When we get a clear grasp of our current financial situation, we are better prepared to come up with an effective plan to deal with it. If it is debt, knowing the exact amount and its hefty interest rate are much more likely to motivate us to come up with a solution. Bring it to light!

Set worthy goals – It is not mountain that we conquer, it is ourselves. Whatever we encounter, it is an opportunity for us to rise up, higher and higher, every time! Setting goals worthy of achieving can give us energy and power to conquer seemingly difficult situations and reach far into the stars.

Take action – Somehow fear subsides when we take action. Action is like fire. It boils us out of the stagnant water of financial stress. By taking action, we utilize our creative energy to find solutions and move in the direction of our dreams.

I hope you find this piece useful. Many of us are experiencing a great deal of financial stress lately. It would be wonderful to share your strategies with others.

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” ~ Mark Victor Hanson

Fear, My Dear Friend

“Death is not the biggest fear we have;

our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive

-- the risk to be alive and express what we

really are.” -- Don Miguel Ruiz

Fear, my dear friend

You are in my body

I can feel you

Every time I step out of my comfort zone

Fear, my dear friend

You are there with me

When I aim to be bigger than

What I already am

Fear, my dear friend

Once I was intimated by your honesty

Once I was overwhelmed by your power

Once I was deterred from fully living

As time goes by

I am getting to know you better

You are my friend, dear fear

You are not there to stop me

You are here to remind me

All is all right

Just keep moving

No longer, I stay in the comfort

No longer, I stop living

Idealism AND Pragmatism

“The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It’s by the real that we exist. It is by the ideal that we live.

-- Victor Hugo

From my work with people, and from my observations, I’ve seen the two opposite spectrums of idealism and pragmatism. Some have high ideals, but lack of pragmatic approaches to realize their ideals; yet others sacrifice their ideals for what is practical and “real.”

Idealism without pragmatism is like a beautiful house on paper. It is nice to look at and dream of, but it does not manifest itself into physical reality. Pragmatism without idealism is like putting a house together without a design, it serves some purpose in the short run, but does not create lasting values.

As Victor Hugo put it, it is by the real that we exist, and it is by the ideal that we live. As human beings, we obviously need both: to exist and to live. To create a meaningful and fulfilling life, we need both ideals AND practicality.

The ideal: James Allen said it beautifully, “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” Many of us stopped dreaming long time ago when we were told, “It is impossible,” “Get real,” “Be practical.” Deep down, we all have our dreams and ideals, no matter how deeply they are buried inside. To create a life that brings us joy and fulfillment, we need to rediscover our dreams and ideals, believe in them, live in them, and embody them.

The real: There are real demands in life that require us to understand the intricate relationships with people, money, business and the society we live in. These demands call for a practical and realistic approach to strike a healthy balance between results AND relationships, values AND profits, short term AND long term.

Live your ideals AND be real: Often people take an “either/or” approach. If I choose one value, I have to reject or give up the other. For example, if I go for my values, I have to give up profit; if I value relationships, I have to compromise results; if I take a long-term view, I have to sacrifice short-term outcomes. If we can hold two seemingly opposing ideas at the same time and allow ourselves to dance between them, like the yin and yang symbol, we may be able to strike that delicate balance between the two. Striking a balance does not mean arriving at the golden mean being perfect, it means that we hold into our ideals and allow room for flexibility, adaptability, change, and negotiations.

Let Time Bear Dividends for You

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

-- Steve Jobs

In my last workshop on September 13, 2009, I shared with the audience the importance of finding our passion, and the key steps to turning our passion into profit. One of the elements I spoke about was the need to manage our resources efficiently and effectively, especially our time. This point seemed to resonate with many of the workshop participants. Many came up to me and told me that one of the decisions they made as a result of the workshop was to change how they currently spend their time.

I have heard so often from people that “I don’t have time” or “There is so much to do, I just can’t catch up.” The truth is that we all have the same amount of time: 24 hours x 7 days. This is the only resource that we are given equally. The only difference is where and how we spend it. In my opinion, where and how we spend our time has the greatest effect on the results in our life.

Just look around you and pick an individual. Can you tell where and how they spend their time? Often it can be quite obvious. The question is why we spend our time the way we do? How can we become the master of our own time? I think several distinctions will make a big difference.

Time is value: How we “see” time has a lot to do with how we “use” it. If we see time is something to be killed, then we will kill time. We will find things to do to fill up the space so that we don’t have to face this empty feeling inside. If we feel time is not in our control, but dictated by people or events outside of us, then we will let others determine how we spend our time. We’ll always be in a reactive mode. However, if we see that time is the most valuable resource we have, as precious as gold, we will spend our time wisely. In fact, we’ll invest our time wisely because just like other valuable assets, it will bear dividends over time.

Time is a measurement of energy: Where we spend our time reflects where we put our energy. Like water, when properly channeled, it can generate electricity that lights up a city; when not constructively channeled, it can flood millions; when not channeled at all, it may just go wasted, leaving no trace. When we channel our energy and focus on something worthwhile, it can create great things for us, and because of us. This presupposes that we know what to focus our time on, which leads to the next point.

Know thyself: I believe there are three fundamental building blocks that when properly understood and applied, will lead to our greatest potential and fulfillment in life: They are our passion, gifts and values. When we have a compelling passion, we direct our energy to express, develop and master our unique gifts. When we know what are the most important values for us in life, especially in the long run, we can make a conscious decision to choose high value activities and relationships and reduce or eliminate activities and relationships of lower value.

Schedule it: Sometimes there are multiple things we value. For example, we value both business success and quality time with our family. At times there may seem an apparent conflict between the two, given the limited time we have in any given day. If both are important values to us, we need to schedule time for both. It takes judgment, balance and efforts.

Invest your time wisely and let it bear greatest dividends for you. Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.

Find Your Passion Because You are Worth It!

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” -- T. Alan Armstrong

What is passion, really? Have you ever had an experience where you were ignited by someone’s passion just in his or her presence? Why do some people live with passion and some people don’t? Is passion something either you have it or you don’t? Or is it something that can be discovered and cultivated?

Recently I watched a movie Julie and Julia by Nora Ephron, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. The movie portraits parallel stories of two women finding their passion and becoming who they are meant to be. 

Julie Child was wife to a US diplomat. She had a man she loved, friends, the ability to travel and explore, and wanted for nothing, materially, but she was utterly bored. She desperately wanted some meaning in her life. Yet the only thing she was really passionate about was food. She realized this almost jokingly, but it stayed with her. One day Julia decided she must FIND SOMETHING TO DO. She explored many different things—chess, hat making, etc. They bored her head off.

Then she thought, “I love food, why don’t I learn cooking!” She enrolled herself in this basic cooking class. Again, it bored her. She went to talk to the head of the school, requesting to be in a more advanced class. And there she was, cooking with professional chefs—in Paris. She was the slowest, clumsiest and most inexperienced in the class, and was looked down upon by her fellow students. But somehow, somewhere, this ignited her competitive spirit, and suddenly she became alive, really alive. She was obsessed! Chopping onions, flipping eggs, she began to practice rigorously at home. Then she got really good at it and proudly found herself ahead of everyone in her class. She was gaining confidence in her own abilities.

This led her to an important opportunity. Her friends were writing a book on French cooking. They were told by their American publisher that they needed to find a way to translate it into English for an American audience. And they came to Julia for help. Julia said YES! And she found her greatest passion and her ultimate work: “Mastering the Art French Cooking (for Americans).”

What does this story tell us about passion? What can we learn from Julia’s experience to uncover our passion and follow the path laid out for us to our greatest potential and ultimate fulfillment?

Passion and gifts are the two sides of the same coin: Each one of us has something we can do in a certain way that is better than anyone else on earth. Our unique gift is the place wherein lies our greatest accomplishment and fulfillment. Passion is an outward manifestation of this gift, seeking to be expressed, developed, and mastered. In Julia’s story, she is passionate about food. The enjoyment made her feel alive, and it was her way of connecting with the highest form of her existence. Yet she never cooked before. The love of food was giving her a clue that ultimately led to her true passion.

Passion needs to be compelling: We can have many gifts. They show up as interests we have. Some are strong enough that they turn into hobbies. We enjoy them in our spare time. But when the passion is compelling and powerful enough, it turns into our mission: who we MUST be and what we MUST do. It becomes a divine obsession: we become it, it becomes us, and we live in a zone of unmistaken aliveness and flow. This passion propels us to master our greatest gifts, make our greatest contributions, and give us the ultimate fulfillment. In Julia’s story, she discovered her ultimate passion and gifts: as a writer and chef to bring French Cooking to American kitchens.

Passion is action: We can be passionate about things and about people. For example, Julia was passionate about food. But only when we take an active role in the creative process and challenge ourselves will our passion come alive. Only when Julia began to learn cooking, teach cooking, and write about cooking, did she discover her true passion.

Passion leads to mastery: When we are truly passionate about something, we are propelled to move forward, to try and fail, to learn from our mistakes, and to overcome many obstacles on our way to mastery. If we don’t have compelling passion, we will stop somewhere along the way. We will play it safe and not play it to the very edge. We will at best become good, but not great. For our gifts to be expressed fully, we need a powerful engine fueled by compelling passion!

Passion leaves clues: If you are living in your passion, congratulations to you! You have the pre-requisite for a meaningful and fulfilling life. If you are yet to find it, I encourage you to take the time, as long as you need, to discover it and follow it. It is your life, and you are worth it! Passion leaves clues. Follow its signs, experiment and listen to your heart. They will lead you there. They always do, because it is who you are, and the universe wants you to find your passion and master your gifts. It is wonderful for everyone!

“Making a decision is only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he made the decision.”  -- The Alchemist

Let Money Work for You: 7 Steps to Financial Freedom

Aren’t you tired of letting money dictate what you do, and how you live your life? Many of us get caught up in the rat race, where just keeping up with the grinding treadmill of life’s financial demands seems a never-ending battle. Out of fear or for lack of knowledge, few of us ever stop and question if there is another way. But there is another way, and it does not require an advanced degree or specialized financial knowledge. It simply requires us to RE-EXAMINE our current and desired financial conditions, RE-ORGANIZE what we already have, and CREATE a solid financial structure that supports us to live the life of our dreams.

Through my years of experience as financial consultant, and interviews with numerous successful people who have achieved financial freedom in their lives, I have developed a simple and practical method to help you create financial freedom – and abundance in your life as well. Financial freedom means different things to different people. The steps I am sharing with you will guide you to develop your own roadmap toward the ultimate freedom in your life.

Step 1. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE: assessing your current financial situation. Where attention goes, energy flows. Do you know how much money comes in every month, and from which sources? How much do you spend on necessary versus discretionary expenses? What are your assets, liabilities, and net worth? Well-run companies use certain financial information to measure their level of performance and financial health. So should you!

Step 2. KNOW WHERE YOU WANT TO BE: setting financial goals to live the life of your dream. If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. What does your dream life look like in the areas of health and wellness, productive work, relationships, personal development, contribution, leisure and free time? What are the ten things or experiences you must have before you die? How do these goals translate in dollar terms: income, expenses, assets, liabilities and net worth?

Step 3. CREATE A GAME PLAN: translating your financial goals into useful products and services. Know thyself. What are you deeply passionate about? What can you do better than anyone else on the planet? How can you make a life doing what you love and what you are best at? In this step, you will exercise understanding, creativity and discipline to create your platform – generating your first source of income through providing useful products and services that serve an important market need and that are totally fulfilling to you.

Step 4. DESIGN YOUR FINANCIAL STRUCTURE: creating multiple sources of income. Nurture the goose that laid the golden eggs. What are your core assets, both tangible, such as cash, stocks, bonds and real estate, and intangible, such as patents, trademarks, relationships, skills, knowledge and talents? How can you leverage your core assets to generate multiple sources of income? Evaluate your ideas based on income potential, time commitment, resource requirement and satisfaction factors, and start cultivating one income stream at a time.

Step 5. PAY YOURSELF FIRST: developing financial discipline. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. You are your biggest asset. How much money do you invest on a monthly basis to grow your asset base, both tangible and intangible? You may consider setting up an automatic savings plan and debit a percent of your income to a Financial Freedom Account solely for investment purposes. Before you pay your bills, pay yourself first.

Step 6. MONITOR YOUR PERFORMANCE: tracking your finances regularly. Athletes use certain parameters to track their performance and achieve greater results over time. The same applies to your finances. It is important to keep track of your key financial indicators on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Such indicators may include income, expenses, savings, net worth, and performance matrices such as profit per customer, etc. Financial management tools such as Quicken and QuickBooks can certainly make your life easier in this area.

Step 7. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER: linking it up to your life purpose. He who has a “why” to live can bear with almost any “how.” True freedom comes from within, the freedom to choose our responses regardless of our external circumstances. Knowing who we are and why we are here on earth gives us deep roots on the ground so that we can reach high into the sky. The financial structure we discuss in this article is one of the bricks we lay down for the foundation of our dream house – our life.

I have shared with you seven simple and practical steps to create financial freedom in your life: do what you love, when you want it, and where you want it. The steps are simple enough. Nevertheless it requires honesty, thoughtfulness, and discipline to design and implement them. I have developed a workbook to guide you through the process, step by step. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the workbook, please email me at jing@in-sight-one.com or visit my website at www.in-sight-one.com.