I dedicate this poem to all you working on your dreams. Like many of you, I’m going through the process. Despite the tears, anxiety, and stress, keep working at it day by day! By doing so, we will improve ourselves by 1% or more everyday. No matter what, we will gain knowledge, skills, and relationships! Getting our dream is the bonus.
Here’s two strategies I use for my productivity: (1) Grow your hair long and cut it when you finish some of your goals; and/or (2) Have your sibling or siblings or an immediate family member have children because you will watch very closely how fast they grow up, which will make you work harder to get things done.
We can grow our hair long anytime. I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager, even when I was a politician and government attorney. As for our loved ones having children, well, this is a bit more tricky. Have fun with this strategy!
Here are pictures of my 10-month old niece and I with our long bangs on October 20, 2018 in San Mateo, California.
Technology has made it easier for us to produce and consume. When I started an Internet retail store selling Hawaiian themed products back in 2002, customers were increasingly becoming more comfortable on buying products online. Now, it’s a part of our lifestyle. It’s such an exciting time where we don’t need offices and brick and mortar stores. We can bypass the gatekeepers and provide value straight to the consumers. We can research and learn online. We can produce content and services on our computers. We can communicate with one another in many ways. It’s also a great time for artists and entrepreneurs to disrupt markets and be found. I just love this time period and it will keep getting better!
In this picture, I was working on my @apple Macbook Pro in the lounge of a hotel on March 6, 2019 before my lunch meeting with a law client in regards to business contracts and business documents. Isn’t this lounge and all the plants beautiful!
I’m so grateful for technology and all of my technology toys for work! They make the hustle fun!
Today, Wednesday March 6, 2019, I had a nice lunch meeting with Sofia Kim @sofiasoheekim @sofia_sohee at Seoul Tofu House @seoul_tofu_waikiki in Waikiki, Hawaii!!! The tofu soup or soon du bu was delicious! Check this restaurant out! Yummy!
If anyone needs branding and marketing for their business, Sofia Kim @sofiasoheekim is really good! She and I are into marketing and branding restaurants, events, and other business. Sofia also did radio marketing for my business partner and friend since college: DJ, promoter, and engineer G-Spot or Greg Dehnert @gspot808 and I when we produced electronic dance music concerts. Sofia can speak English, Korean, and Japanese. She also blogs on food, restaurants, business, and lifestyle.
Since I was young, I would dream or have visions of what I wanted to achieve or experience. I observed people who were at a level I aspired to be. Then I would relentlessly work on my skills & knowledge everyday for hours. Over many years, usually at least 7 years, I would attain my dreams or at least a portion or variation of them. I would like to note that I had many failures too.
When I was about 9 years old, I was determined to become a better soccer player. I admired a skilled & speedy soccer player, Shane Uemoto who played as a wing forward on the Pearl City High School soccer team & had number 12 on his jersey. I loved the exciting way he played the game & how he was well-liked by his teammates. Shane was also a very good student, eventually becoming an accountant as an adult.
I would often practice soccer by myself for many hours in addition to the practices with my team. I would train by myself at parks or in my yard until dark & run up & down the hill of my street or at parks to build up my speed. I played with the ball in the house & watched soccer videos over & over on ball handling & strategy. I ran several miles from my house to Pearl City High School to get a peek at Shane & his teammates practicing. I remember riding a school bus on a field trip & I had a vision of Shane running alongside of the bus. Funny right! 😅 Anyways, after a number of years, I ended playing as a right forward on the Pearl City High School soccer team. I scored a whole bunch of goals & assisted others in scoring goals. I proudly wore the number 7 on my jersey & was so elated to live my dream!!!
As an adult, I continue to work hard daily on my dreams & observe amazing people in public service, business & the arts, areas I have a passion for. I’m just as relentless & obsessive as I was when I was a kid in love with soccer. I may not be wearing number 7 on a soccer jersey but it’s in my soul everyday.
Technology has made working anywhere possible! I love my @apple Macbook Pro, my R2D2, an extension of me. It’s been with me since November 16, 2013. My buddy has been with me through the ups and downs, but we’ll keep moving forward everyday.
Here’s a shot of my workplace while I stayed with my sister and her family in the Bay Area, California.
I attended the Opening Day of the 2019 Hawaii State Legislature on Wednesday January 16, 2019. This is a photo I took from the third floor of the Hawaii State Capitol. 🏛
My business partners and I are working to build facilities, infrastructure, and services for private jets at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport (“KOA”), which will create jobs and revenue for Hawaii island and the State of Hawaii. Further, our entities are helping the State on improvements they want in their KOA master plan. 🛫
Further, my other business partner and I passed out coupon fliers for our client Minori Craft Japanese Tavern @minorihawaii , a Japanese restaurant located near the Hawaii Convention Center at 1731 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii. 🥢
It was nice to see old friends and colleagues when I served in the Hawaii State House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010. I also got to meet recently elected politicians and new friends. 😊
Even though I’ve been trying to live quietly and alone for about 3.75 years, I still have the passion and love for playing a small role in Hawaii’s future, now entirely through the private and nonprofit sectors. To all my friends I saw hustling to make Hawaii better, thank you! 🤗
Minori Craft Japanese Tavern’s Soft Opening is today, Tuesday January, 8, 2019!!! 🎆😊 Soft Opening business hours for 1/8/19 to 1/31/19 are as follows:
Mondays — Closed.
Tuesdays to Sundays from 5pm-12am.
Happy Hours from 5pm-6pm & 10pm-12am. 🥢
Reservations can be made at (808) 951-4444.
Take-out bento reservation – 1 day advance notice. Bento pick-up time is from 11am to 3pm. 🥢
10% discount when you bring the restaurant’s flyer or ad in the Nikkan Sun.
Minori Craft Japanese Tavern is located at 1731 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, Hawaii, which is on the Westside/Ewa of Kalakaua Ave. & North/Mauka or mountainside of the Hawaii Convention Center & Kapiolani Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii. There’s parking in front of the restaurant. Also, 2-hour parking validation is available at Century Center Condominium at 1750 Kalakaua Ave., East/Diamondhead of Minori Craft Japanese Tavern. 🥢
The restaurant serves various dishes such as nabe/hot cooking pot with chicken, pork, beef, and assorted vegetables; yakiniku or BBQ chicken, beef, & pork; sashimi; tempura; sushi; curry; other popular Japanese cuisine; & dessert.
Minori Craft Japanese Tavern has 2 floors & a bar, a great place for dining for lunch & dinner. They will be able to accommodate business & private events as well.
Minori Craft Japanese Tavern restaurant is on Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, & Pinterest, & its website is at http://www.minorihawaii.com.
Tsukada Nojo was its former brand.
– Jon Riki Karamatsu, Haiku Poem No. 212, 12/31/2018 –
The harder you work at your dreams, the further you go. The further you go, others will hate on you and crush you. All they see of you is dirt. Ignore them. They can crush the dirt for us. It is where we grind and hustle anyways. Focus on creating value for others, the diamonds underneath the dirt. Only those who appreciate the value you give them, will see and feel the diamonds!
Entrepreneur James Altucher @altucher , author of “Choose Yourself” and Podcast show host of the James Altucher Show, encourages us to improve ourselves by at least 1% everyday. Whether we are learning, producing content, and/or building relationships, our improvements will compound over time! Here, I’m at Starbucks @starbucks at Waikele Premium Outlets @waikelepo in Hawaii on this awesome Saturday, December 1, 2018!
– Jon Riki Karamatsu, Haiku Poem #138, 6/27/2018 –
No matter how hard life gets, whether it be financial hardship, a death of a loved one, or a broken heart, we have to do our best to see all the good we have in our life. Day by day as we work at our projects, we get better and a bit closer to our dreams. In person and through social media, we can support one another. We’re in this together.
I took this picture in Waikele, Hawaii on 10/30/2018.
I ran 5 miles in Waikele, Oahu, Hawaii on Monday October 29, 2018 at about 2:00 P.M. I ran up the hill to the upper part of Waikele. At the top, I smiled and waved to a female professional groundskeeper who was working on the front area of a house on the main street with her co-workers, a man and another woman. Their white van was parked on the driveway that stuck out onto the sidewalk. A little surprised, her serious face turned into a smile, and she waved back.
When I reached the house again on my second lap, I had slowed down into a walk, resulting from me being out of shape and the heat from the intense humidity. The same lady went out of the way to meet me on the street. “Did you run around? she asked with a beaming smile.
“Yes,” I answered.
“How many miles is it?”
“It’s about 2 miles.” The neighborhood block contains several planned communities within Waikele and about 40% of the Waikele Premium Outlets, which is about 2.5 miles to go around.
“Have a good one!” she cheered.
“Thank you!” Her happy energy pumped me up to get back into a run.
I stopped by the Waikele Community Park to drink water from a water faucet near the swimming pool. As I walked out into the parking lot, I saw the lady again in the driver seat of a the white van with her colleagues inside. They were parked in a stall near the grass of the park.
Upon eye contact, we enthusiastically waved at each other with laughter.
I put my hand by my mouth like it was half of a megaphone. “I’m following you!” I joked.
She laughed and made a running motion with her arms and upper body. “I want to run like you,” she said.
“Have a good day!” I told her. Happy, I was again motivated to run the last part of the way home.
This was one of only three people I spoke to that day and it made my day!
When I got home, I was even more happier when I found out entrepreneur James Altucher liked one of my haiku pictures I posted about going within ourselves to build, explore, and create. Plus, earlier that day, a business partner of mine from Kona, Hawaii emailed my a nice message, following up on a great meeting we had last Thursday at Starbucks in Waikele. All this positive energy is motivating me to finish my 3rd edits/4th draft of my 2nd novel, a historical, suspense, and romance based in Baghdad, Iraq during the U.S. occupation.
I love this song “Beggars in the House of Plenty” by Generationals. The video has nice footage of a U.S. Senate committee hearing led by the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. Hawaii and the United States isn’t the same without him. I miss my grandparents; the 100th Battalion & 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II that my great uncle Roy Okubo was a member of who fought against fascism overseas and racism in America; the members of the 1954 Democratic Revolution who changed the discriminatory laws in Hawaii; the late Hawaii State Senator, 442 veteran, attorney & my mentor Nadao “Najo” Yoshinaga; and all my friends of this great generation.
Tired of the vindictiveness of policymakers, judges and haters, and to stay away from alcohol since I’m a social drinker, I isolated myself from anything public for 3.5 years whether it be charities, politics, or social gatherings. I’m slowly becoming involved with public service again by supporting some of my positive friends who need to be in government to keep the negative people out of power who will feed into the hate and anger that is being taught to the younger generations. It’s hard to stay away from politics, my second love after soccer. It’s a love that will never die.
Like the song says, isolation is a two-way street. We all need it sometimes to look within ourselves, to find ways to better ourselves and the world. When we make our comeback we’ll crush anything before us with all the might of love, compassion, and empathy.
Here’s a link to a great article by author Ryan Holiday on 23 helpful lessons learned from entrepreneur, author, podcast host, and investor Tim Ferris who has helped me virtually in my life and career.
This links you to a great article by James Altucher on the practices that have brought him success. For the past three years, Altucher and his guests on his podcast show have encouraged me to continue working daily on developing myself spiritually, mentally, and physically, which in turn has helped me push through my tough times, and appreciate the good things.
Getting pulled in different directions at the same time. How do I resolve this? By working day and night at my happy office, Starbucks. In my days as a politician or litigation attorney, I would have difficulty doing this. But working in business development and law, in-between my meetings, much of my work is reading, analyzing, and drafting content and transactions, thus, my mighty MacBook Pro computer can keep me mobile, productive, and connected. Why are coffee shops my happy office? (1) Positive energy from people working, studying, reading, or meeting; (2) I’m fixed to a table to work and just using the restroom takes effort, so I keep working as much as possible with fewer breaks; and (3) Beverages and food are available so I can remain working.
Awesome and inspiring 95,800 square foot maintenance and cargo aircraft hangar by Hawaiian Airlines on its 21-acre site at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii!!! The hangar can accommodate up to five Boeing 717 aircraft at the same time with indoor maintenance and cargo operations. On its lot, Hawaiian Airlines has a two-level office building and 143-stall parking lot. Hawaiian Airlines is one of my favorite airlines because of its friendly service and nice amenities such as its complimentary food and beverages on flights and mileage program with many vendors.
Anything is possible when you have dragons!!! Let’s keep attacking our goals like a dragon on fire!!! Oh, and a nice lover to share the experiences with, would be a bonus. 😍
My friend Mari came to Hawaii from Japan and learned hula. Since then, she has done a terrific job in creating a business franchise in teaching hula, while still performing it professionally and modeling. She is also venturing into other areas of business. Her support means a lot to me. Mari is definitely an inspirational entrepreneur, and more importantly, a great friend to have.
Let’s keep moving forward as hard as we can! I feel your sacrifice, tears, anxiety, and fears, but the value you provide will help us all enjoy a fuller life. We’re in this journey together to better our world. I thought this picture of a lamborghini speeding ahead would energize you with happy energy, and put a smile on your face as you continue your daily practice towards your goals. Let’s get some wins today!!!
What has happened has happened, what will happen, will happen. But what we can control is what we do in the present moment. Mindfulness and Non-Attachment are two extremely powerful practices that help us to keep moving forward. After a busy day of meetings, events, and time with loved ones today, Sunday September 3, 2017, I took a cool shower (sensual therapy) to wake me up, and went to Starbucks (my happy place) so I can get some energy and motivation to continue working on the documents for my business projects. May this post help you to do what you have to do.
Working on my business projects today, Labor Day, September 4, 2017 at Starbucks in Pearl City, Hawaii with my tools for success: MacBook Pro, Galaxy S7 Edge cell phone, Bose headset, Sahara water bottle, and an Iced Caramel Machiatto. Let’s rock!
In the afternoon of Saturday September 2, 2017, I moved my work from my home to Starbucks in Waipio, Hawaii. I gave it a shot to try and finish an analysis on another redline of the contract for our land deal. I spent 4.25 hours, but it looks like I have to continue later. My energy level has been boosted though. I love my Apple MacBook Pro, which allows me to work anywhere and anytime!!! Let’s go some more!!!
Linked below is one of the most inspiring interviews I’ve listened to. Entrepreneur, author, and podcast show host James Altucher interviews Jon Morrow who has been paralyzed from the neck down since birth, but despite his challenges he has done amazing things in his life including creating multi-million dollar businesses.
I cried several times as I listened to this podcast interview late one evening earlier this week while I was laying in my bed in the dark, in my attempt to sleep. Jon Morrow is such an inspiration.
When he was a very little boy, he almost died a number of times because his disease caused him to get pneumonia, and because his lungs were so weak, his mother would push down hard on his chest to get the mucous out of his lungs so he could breathe and survive. However, by doing this, young Jon was in great pain because his ribs got fractured by his mothers’ pressure.
At [26:25] of the interview, Jon stated: “When I got into kindergarten, another kid called me disabled, and I said, ‘What does that mean?’ And, he started laughing.” Jon’s teacher came over and said, “You don’t know what that means?” He didn’t. So he asked his mom. She thought about it and said, “It means you can’t do something as well as someone else. But it also goes the other way.” She said, “Everyone in the world can’t do something as well as someone else…” So everyone in a sense is disabled. Jon took inventory of his skills. Then he mastered them.
Later, Jon almost died from a multi-vehicle accident. He went through a lot of pain and surgeries. In another bad turn of events, Jon had been successfully raising multi-millions of dollars for his father’s development company but the company went down after the 2008 market crash and at that time, to make it worse, his mother lost her job. Despite these challenges, he went to Mexico where he could get better healthcare than the United States and spent long hours day after day in developing his online training and education companies in regards to finance, writing techniques, blogging, online web development, online marketing, etc. With great effort and perseverance, in combination with his prior years of work and blogging, Jon mixed his various skills and experiences to successfully launch his companies.
If I were ever so lucky to get my first novel published and made into a movie, a paranormal romance and suspense based in Hawaii, my top choice for the lead female role would be actress Vanessa Hudgens because the lead female character in my novel is Asian and Caucasian like her. Moreover, she would play the personality of the character nicely who is loosely based off of someone who was once a small part of my life.
To change popular culture in the United States to be more reflective of its diversity, it is very important for writers, producers, and entrepreneurs to develop stories, novels, movies, products, and services that share the unique cultural and ethnic diversity in our country rather than what we mainly see in popular culture in the United States today. It has gotten better, but it still isn’t truly reflective. I’m optimistic that commercialized story-telling will become much broader.
MONACO – MAY 25: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 48 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME. MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTO BY DAVE M. BENETT/GETTY IMAGES REQUIRED) Actress Vanessa Hudgens poses backstage before the Amber Lounge Fashion Show Monaco 2012 at Le Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel on May 25, 2012 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
Actress Vanessa Hudgens arrives at the Neutrogena Fresh Faces of Music Benefiting VH1 Save The Music at Jim Henson Studios on September 26, 2009 in Hollywood, California. Neutrogena Fresh Faces of Music Benefiting VH1 Save The Music – Arrivals Jim Henson Studios Hollywood, CA United States September 26, 2009 Photo by Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com To license this image (58494556), contact WireImage.com
Vanessa Hudgens Photo by Janet Gough 2008 Teen Choice Awards – Arrivals at the Gibson Amphitheater August 3, 2008 – Universal City, California Celebrityphoto.com P.O. Box 1560 Beverly Hills CA 90213 – 1560 – USA Tel # 310-786-7700 Fax # 310-777-5455
James Altucher, an entrepreneur, author, and podcast show host has helped me in my life and career since my friend Ryan Sanada told me to listen to his podcast in April 2015 after my life took a slight downfall. Altucher’s advice: Generate 10 ideas a day if you can; Idea sex or mix various ideas together; Work with others who have skills and ideas that compliment yours; Take care of your health; and most importantly, “Choose Yourself” – pursue all areas of your passions and dreams.
What makes James Altucher so appealing is his openness to not just his success, but his failures. He has mentioned how he made millions of dollars and then lost it all; going through divorce; and feeling depressed to a point where he wanted to die. Yet through it all, he comes back and make millions of dollars again, evolves with new business ideas, and networks with other amazing people.
Also, download his podcast show “The James Altucher Show” and another podcast show that he co-hosts with entrepreneur Stephen J. Dubner called “Question of the Day” where they answer questions and give advice.
Entrepreneur and Author James Altucher wrote a nice article, which is linked below my article. Mr. Altucher wrote, “The world doesn’t need more DO-ers.” He also stated, “Stillness ultimately creates, Doing often destroys.”
Sometimes “doing” does nothing such as having meetings that have no new information or purpose, just rehashed things that were already in motion. There are times when “doing” is destructive such as having a meeting where people are offended or where we cannot commit to an action because we didn’t complete the preceding tasks yet. At times, waiting on action such as actions by the government or investors can be a good thing because new investors and opportunities pop up that could never have happened had things progressed faster. Patience is a key to success when “doing” does nothing.
Death has always loved Life like a boy who knows he can never be with the girl he loves. Rather than being jealous of us for having Life, he wants us to appreciate her.
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs.
I wanna do what has never been done.
I wanna light the spark.
The beats in a million hearts.
I wanna dance with my boys & my girls.
Dance like we’re gonna take over the world.
All in the name of love.
I wanna get me some.
One night is all it takes.
We’ve become wrong to make it right.
One night to save the day.
We’ll show them all.
Since I was young, I’ve been setting goals and then practicing, studying, and doing whatever it takes everyday to achieve the smaller goals in order to reach my larger goals.
As a young soccer player in elementary school, I wasn’t big and strong like some of the other players. I did have quickness and speed, but to better myself, I had to train everyday on my ball handling skills and playmaking skills. I read books, watched videos, and practiced with the soccer ball everyday at parks, in my yard, and even in the house. Eventually, over the years, when I reached high school, I made it to the select teams I wanted and was recognized with awards.
Likewise, to become a politician, I started training to be a politician from my teens by studying political science and then later law, volunteering for politicians at their office and for their campaigns, joined the Young Democrats, business organizations, jaycees, and even got appointed to the Pearl City Neighborhood Board.
When I ran for the Senate and then Vice President of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii at Manao (ASUH), I would post my posters at 1 A.M. to 3 A.M. in the morning, go to sleep, and then wake up at 6 A.M. to pass out my fliers that had my goals for the university to student commuters walking onto campus from the parking lot and students walking onto campus from the dorms. In between classes I would pass out my fliers to students walking through the mall on campus, with some of them avoiding me by walking around me and onto the grass. At lunch breaks or in the evening, I spoke to the various student organizations about my campaign and what I was going to do for them. I went door-to-door at the dorms passing out easter eggs that my mom and I wrote my name and office on, and I posted my posters on dorm doors of my supporters. I did this for months and was successful in winning a Senate seat in ASUH in 1996 and then the following year, the Vice Presidency.
While in college, in 1996, I typed out my campaign plan and gathered all the necessary information to run for a Hawaii State House seat or Hawaii State Senate seat in Pearl City that was so thick that I had to put it into a binder. After campaigning a number of small political races and even mayor and governor races, by 2002, I was ready to launch my own campaign for the Hawaii State House, but all the Pearl City races had an incumbent. However, the Waipahu, Waikele, Village Park, and Royal Kunia district had an open race due to redistricting. I moved to Waikele and re-typed my entire plan to fit this district. Over the years, I had collected contact information from family, friends, and acquaintances and built a database, which I used to raise $16,000. I mailed three mailers and walked the district 3 times, which is over 18,000 homes over a period of 7 months and lost 20 pounds and burned holes into my pants because of the constant rubbing of my bag that held my campaign material. Like my college student government elections, people told me they voted for me because of my ideas and their respect for my hard work. Over my 8-year political career, I walked my district over 10 times, which is over 60,000 households.
In soccer and politics, I consistently worked hard mentally and physically until I was fortunate to reach my goals.
As far as my career in law, consistency in my studies and efforts helped me to make a comeback after I received bad grades and was placed on probation while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I had a 3.2 GPA but it plunged during a time when I broke up with my first girlfriend. My college counselor asked me what I wanted to be, and I told her, “a lawyer.” She looked at my grades and then looked back at me and asked, “Do you like helping people?” I answered, “Yes.” She continued, “How about being a social worker?” I smiled, unable to agree with her. After that I made my comeback by getting 4.0 grades for several semesters and if I did fall short, I had a 3.8 grade point average for that semester.
Now, after leaving the public sector in April 2015, and pursuing a number of projects in the private sector, either on my own or with business partners, I’m facing a lot of hardship. Some projects had to end, while others keep moving forward. Everyday, I make sure I work on tasks that will add up in helping me and my team in achieving a larger goal. A couple of projects are getting close to fruition – just need to get past a few more walls. It’s exciting and depressing at the same time. Sometimes you’re enthusiastic, while other times you want to cry.
I try my best to surround myself with positive and inspiring people like my friend Brandon who is always upbeat and optimistic. Basically, he’s my life coach. My mom is my number one supporter who has encouraged me to try many things since I was a child. My father’s tenacious style of work ethic has rubbed off on me as I relentless push forward despite my failures. A girl I know who’s from Japan came to Hawaii to learn hula, and now has 4 halaus in Japan and performs and teaches in Hawaii. That would be like me going to Japan to learn sword fighting and the Japanese language, mastering it, and creating schools back in Hawaii. She’s an inspiration to me. My business partners for my various projects always find a positive point even when things are going bad, just like how my mom taught me to look at a glass half-filled as half-full rather than half-empty.
Below is a video by Marie Forleo, an entrepreneur who I’m inspired by, and in it she recommends 5 things to do to stay committed on your goals.
Keep your eye on the “why.” Why you want to do what you do?
Pick your battle. Pick one thing and stick with it. Don’t try to do everything at one time.
Schedule it. Schedule your priorities. Build you life around your priorities.
Ignore your feelings. Ignore the voice in your head that cries and says, “I don’t feel like it.” Override that voice because you know the power of consistency.
Catch that wagon. Don’t have an all or nothing mindset. You will fall off the wagon. Just run and catch that wagon.
“Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” – Marie Forleo.
Here is a song called “Try Everything” by Shakira to inspire you as you consistently pursue your goals, whether it’s for your career, health, or personal life. My wish for you is to be happy in this life and the next! I’ll celebrate with you at the finish line, no matter what place we come in!
Of all the sectors to be involved with, people ask me why I’m involved with the music events sector. After soccer, I acted in theatre and a few TV commercials, so the arts has always been in my heart. It’s where creativity floats at a high. That’s why I enjoy writing fiction. Like many of you, music is a part of our soul. It has a way of lifting us up. During college, while I was Vice President of the student government of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a member of the University of Hawaii American Marketing Association, a member of the University of Hawaii Pre-Law Society, a member of Sigma Lambda, a member of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, a member of the Young Democrats of Hawaii, a member of the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce, staff for politicians, volunteer for political candidates, and working in Flightline at Duty Free Shoppers Hawaii, my friend Gregory Dehnert, otherwise known as G or DJ G-Spot was bringing me to his music events and dance parties – now known as EDM, one of the biggest genres in the music industry. In 2014, G brought me into the the industry where I handled the logistics, government affairs, agreements, and media affairs. Now I understand the entire operations. For this, I will always be grateful.
In life, we often come across opportunities or get involved with something that seems good, but it’s out of our comfort zone. We can analyze the pros and cons, get opinions from others, and follow our intuition.
Sometimes our situation will be more obvious when red flags start popping up everywhere and people advise you to stay away or leave. At other times, there may not be any noticeable problems for us or anyone to analyze. In either situation, we will get an intuition, if not at that earlier moment, it will occur along our journey.
Marie Forleo, an entrepreneur, life coach, and author said it best in her Youtube Show Marie TV that is linked below, “Do you feel expansive? Or do you feel contracted?” Does your shoulders open up and do you feel excited? Or does your body pull in, your head start to shake, where you dread about it?
Our body doesn’t lie. When you talk about something you shouldn’t do, you start to look pasty and depressed. But when you’re excited about what you’re working on, you light up like a Christmas tree.
Great advice that we can apply in our lives and career.
I really like this band, The Naked and Famous. I’m feeling the lyrics.
They’ll get through.
They’ll get you.
In the place that you feel it the most.
When you’re cornered.
When it’s forming.
In the place that you wish was a ghost.
For many of us, dreams and goals make life exciting. I enjoy coming up with ideas, expanding my skill-sets, and building relationships. However, sometimes in the midst of our hustle to do well in our lives, we forget the importance of having gratitude for what we have now and accomplished thus far. We get too fixated on what we want and get frustrated when all our efforts are not taking us there. We all love success, but with every dream and goal we pursue, there will be challenges and even failure. Some statistics say 8 out of 10 businesses started will fail. Many have pursued the path to become a U.S. Senator or President of the United States and have fallen short. Others have attempted to reach the highest levels in their field of work but have failed to attain that level. Failure is only failure if we don’t appreciate what we currently have and what we have gained. Shoot to be number one in the world, but number 50 is still pretty darn good. We can make peace with our mind knowing that we did our best, and won’t have the pain of wondering “What if I had given my idea a shot?” Through failure, we gain knowledge in areas we may have not been familiar with; build new relationships; and even come up with more ideas to pursue. With failure, we change and evolve, often leading us to worlds we’ve never experienced. When we embrace failure as part of success, we can keep moving higher to a level where we can keep failing until we succeed, and keep succeeding until we fail.
James Altucher interviews Hawaii’s own Steve Case, billionaire, founder and former CEO and Chairman of AOL, and former CEO and Chairman of Time Warner AOL. Mr. Case now runs Revolution LLC, a venture capital firm based in Washington D.C. that invests in other businesses and Case Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Washington D.C.
Mr. Case wrote a New York Times bestselling book, “The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future.”
In the interview by Altucher, Mr. Case stated the following:
1st Wave: Building the Internet.
2nd Wave: Building on top of the Internet – software, apps, etc.
3rd Wave: Integrating the Internet across our lives – learning, health, food, etc.
From the latter part of the first wave or early part of the 2nd wave in August 2002, I started an Internet retail business selling Hawaii and island-theme products on a Yahoo Store platform. In December 2002, I created this website/journal/blog for my political career and at that time I was one one of the few politicians in the country doing a journal/blog so I was interviewed by Times Magazine for their article on this issue in their December 18, 2006 magazine. I ended my Internet retail company in January 2012 and this website/journal/blog has evolved from a political website to a lifestyle and business focused website in the past year. The 3rd wave in the Internet will be exciting as we all add more creativity to it. For me, I hope to provide content on my website and other websites that inspires you to strive for your dreams and most importantly, be happy.
