Future Shaper's Blog

The Sound in Your Mind

futureshaper — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:34:41 +0000

The ear problem of Beethoven started before he composed 2nd symphony. He was famous as a pianist and composer. But he was not at the top. He was only 26. From that time, until he died at 57, he continued to struggle with the problem. As known, he was completely deaf when he composed his 9th symphony. When the symphony was premiered, “he had to be turned around to see the tumultuous applause of the audience; hearing nothing, he wept.”

Whenever I listen his 9th symphony, I wonder how it sounded to him. He couldn’t hear. It was not from outside. It must be inside of his mind. Vibration of violins. Thundering of timpani. Echoing of horns. What about all the voices? What was the sound he heard?

Recently I watched a performance of 9th symphony by Bernstein and combined orchestra from 6 countries to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Bernstein was 71. But still he was great. So much energy. He showed the music with his body. He “literally” jumped with joy several times. He died 10 months after this performance. I believe this concert is very close to what Beethoven heard in his mind.

With this beautiful song, I always think two old men. The one who was difficult to hear and the one who was difficult to breathe. But the body problem couldn’t pull away them from their music, their passion.

When you have something that you really love to do, it makes you happy. Nothing can stop you. What you hear in your mind decides what you do with your body.

It is clear that Beethoven and Bernstein, both heard the sound. I envy them. They are really lucky men.

Letter of the Day – Jul. 30, 2010

futureshaper — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:43:16 +0000

Hi,

It’s been a while since the last e-mail. I was busy AND I was lazy. I should put writing to you in front of anything else. But I didn’t. I am sorry about that.

Last time, I wrote why I believe God. There were two reasons – one is from philosophy and one is from experience. The big part is His Love. He always loves us.

However, I have learned that you need to understand the Love carefully. Of course, His Love is unconditional. It is not like ‘I will love you when you get all A’s’ He loves us even though we fail. He loves you even though you were kicked out of camp. He shows His Love no matter what we did. It is really unconditional love.

Still, don’t confuse ‘unconditional’ love with ‘purposeless’ love. He has a specific purpose with His Love. Everything has purpose with Him. Do you know what the purpose is? He wants us to be right. He wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to be holy. That is the purpose of His Love. He wants us to be changed. He wants us to turn back from the sins and to move in the direction to Him.

So, even though He will always love you, you need to ask to yourself “What will I do with the Love?” “Am I living a better life?”

It means you dropping bad habits. It means that you cut something that gives you a bad influence. It means that you bring your friends who are still in sin or you leave them. You can not say that “I love God” and still don’t want to be changed. His Love changes people. If you are not changed, you are not accepting His Love. It is just using Him.

A little bit scary, right? Don’t worry. Even though we don’t change, He still loves us. He will not turn His face from us. But, here is one scary point. If someone doesn’t change, even though she goes to Church, she may have ‘fake’ belief. James said “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

So, we need to watch ourselves carefully. At least once a day, before you go to sleep, look back and ask if you lived the life that your God wants from you.

Trust me. There is real happiness when you live the life that God planned for you. I really wants all of our family live the life.

With love,
Dad

Letter of the Day – Jul. 24, 2010

futureshaper — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:40:23 +0000

Hi guys.

I couldn’t write a letter because I spent too much time on driving. So I am writing this one early in the morning. Well… 8:41 is not really early, but it’s early for me on Saturday morning.

Timmy said about the Grace of God. Mercy. His continuous Love to us That’s true. I have same reason to believe Him.

When I get this kind of question, I say two things.

The first one is philosophical one. I had thought about this world. How it was made. How it maintains. What the meaning of life is. Many of them are scientific observations. From many facts, I can’t think of the world without God. God is … so graceful. Without God, you can’t explain the world. With God, this world became so beautiful. Without Him, there is no ‘true righteousness.’ When there is no true north, the world will be real mess. Because He gave consciousness, the world could maintain.

He is true Righteousness and true Love. He wants us to be Holy as Him. He wants us to live to grow to his Righteousness. But He also knows that we can’t. That’s why He sent Jesus. Because He loves us so much, He provided a way to us to be saved.

As I think more and more about Him, the whole story amazes me. So perfect and so graceful.

But belief is not all about theory or story. Once you lived it, you don’t need theory God showed me so many wonderful things. I saw my family (meaning your grandparents and aunts). He changed your mom’s family too. He saved your mom and Timmy. Without his mercy, all of you wouldn’t exist.

Belief is ‘rich gets richer, poor gets poorer.’ When you believe Him and depend on Him, He will give more mercy. When I depend on Him, He shows me a way. He changed the situation or me and guide me through His way. As you pray more, you get more Grace and you believe more. Really you have to try it and live on it.

That’s why I believe in him. I know He exists and I experienced Him through my life. I pray you have same belief.

Love,
Dad

Letter of the Day – Jul. 22, 2010

futureshaper — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:38:24 +0000

Here is today’s e-mail.

I have been busy today. So I didn’t have enough time to clear my heads. So I want to ask you one question.

“Why do you believe in God?”

I know that you started to to church because your parents go. You didn’t have a viable choice.

But, what if you had? Would you go to church and seek God?

What about when you leave home and live by yourself? When you go to college? Would you go to service every Sunday?

Think about it. Think why you believe in God and let me know. I mean, “PLEASE REPLY.”

Tomorrow, I will share why I believe in God.

See you.

Dad.

Letter of the Day – Jul. 21, 2010

futureshaper — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:06:40 +0000

Timmy, Janey,

As you know, I have so many things to tell you But in many cases, it becomes a preach and it is usually boring. So instead of talking to you directly, I decided to write a letter. I hope I can do it every day. But please forgive me if I miss a day or two.

Before I go to today’s topic, do you know why I write a letter? What is difference between letter and conversation? Letter is one-way communication. Unless the receiver stops to read, the sender has a chance to tell what he wants. He can build up story, counter argue for any possible attack, and make conclusion as he wants. So if you use it wisely, letter has power that conversation doesn’t.

Hmm…. I am not saying it because I wanted to use the power to you. It just hit my mind, because I teach the difference to my mentees all the time. Right. I want to be your mentor

This morning, when I gave ride to Janey and Grace to Brooks Academy, I thought about my situation. Specially I concerned about my financial security. As you know, we survive financially, but we are not at comfortable level. Many times, your mom and I worry about money. I am not happy about that.

I fantasize time to time about what I will do if I have a million. You know, some people get a million from their parent as a ‘gift.’ Or you can get the money from lottery. This is a secret. I bought lottery for $2 last week. And I got $0 back

But I know that the thinking is not helpful at all. Because that kinds of luck will not happen . I don’t have parents who can give a million. God doesn’t allow to get free money through lottery. I have to work hard to make money.

I know that what I am is result of my decisions. Everyone makes decisions. Probably thousands a day including one or two life changing decisions. I made many decisions. And here I am.

I am not in bad situation. There are many people who needs more help than me. But I could be better. And I can’t blame anyone for that. I made what I am.

So I want to ask you to make wise decisions. It requires hard work to becoming better. You need to look for all the time what the best available option is. Don’t just look at today. You need to foresee months, years, and decades later. Hehe… too much for your age. Even I can’t do that all the time. But lesson is lesson, right? It is one of important lesson that I want you to know.

Don’t worry. When you make decision, you have a guideline. It is not from me or your mom. It is not from your teachers. It is from God. God is true righteousness. Think what God wants you to do. If you think it whenever you make a decision, you won’t fail.

OK. This is for today. Have fun and Enjoy !!

Dad

Personal Mission Statement

futureshaper — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:12:31 +0000

I believe God has a plan for me. Knowing and living the plan will make best of me.

I will be a person with integrity, diligence, and a great vision. I will be a role-model to my family. My body, my money, my talent, my time, and my family are what God asks me to take care of. I am a steward.

I take my responsibility as spouse and father, satisfying my family’s needs to live, to love, to learn, and to leave the legacy. I create healthy and loving relationship in my family. I will be always sincere to my family. I raise my kids based on God’s Words. I support them to have integrity, to find own mission, and to contribute to the world.

I help others with my talent, time, and money all the time. I set my standard of living. If I have surplus income, all of it will be used to help someone who needs help.

I do not excuse myself for being at wrong side, even though everyone else does. I will be against the tides, if necessary.

Time Management Quiz

futureshaper — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:06:08 +0000

This writing is not my work. It was created by Barbara Reinhold. I forgot where to get this article, found it when I organize the folders in my laptop. As I read again, I remembered that it is quite useful.

The questions target a normal employee. But many of them can be applied in general. Score yourself to see how efficiently you are managing your time !!

Let me know if there is any intellectual property issue with sharing this. And one more favor… don’t ask what my score is

The Pareto Principle is a famous performance rule that most successful people follow — it says that you get 80 percent of your results from only 20 percent of your activities. The trick, of course, is figuring out which 20 percent will get you the results you want. Take this quiz to see how well you’re using the Pareto Principle.

I have a clear idea of what is important to my boss and make sure to include those items in what I focus on at work.
I keep my to-do list on a chart that indicates high, medium and low degrees of importance. I take care of the H’s and M’s first.
I frequently check in with others on my team or in my department to be certain my assumptions about what’s important agree with other’s assumptions.
I set aside particular times periodically each day for email and voice-mail checks, and don’t interrupt other tasks to respond to them during the day.
I schedule an appointment with myself for some thinking time each day, at a time when I’m usually the most alert and creative. I protect this time as if it were as critical as an appointment with my boss or an important client or customer.
I have a set of performance goals in place to which my supervisor and I have both agreed; when in doubt about where to put my energy and time, I consult those goals for guidance.
My work-space is organized so I know how to get to materials and information I need easily.
I have a schedule for each week and month, as well as each day, to plan sufficient advance time for important deadlines or projects.
I prepare a PERT chart (i.e. figuring backwards from a deadline to estimate how much time each step in the process will take) for each important assignment.
For example:
* Prepare final draft of marketing plan (three hours)
* Get edits and input on draft (six hours)
* Prepare first draft (five hours)
* Research/data gathering from relevant co-workers, supervisors, customers, etc. (25 hours)
* Preliminary thinking/reading about the marketing challenges (10 hours)
* Total= 50 hours.
Now count back from your deadline date and figure out how much time you can put in each day until your deadline. If you are already in trouble, now is the time to either extend your deadline or decide what other tasks you’ll be delegating.
I have learned how to delegate tasks in ways that get the job done and make people feel happy to be included in the process.
When a task my supervisors want done seems inconsistent with more pressing goals, I am able to bring the discrepancy to their attention for discussion without alienating them.
I seem to be able to prioritize multiple tasks by asking a few questions about how they relate to the overall goals of the unit at any point in time. Using the H/M/L list over time helps with developing this ability.
I maintain strong relationships with other people and work groups to help me know what the competition and others are doing, in order to have better information for prioritizing my many tasks.
When I’ve decided to deep six a project or relegate it to the back burner, I don’t worry or feel guilty about it. I simply know I’ll be able to defend the action if I’m ever asked about it. Chances are, if your performance is generally excellent, you never will be asked.
I make judgments about what to do first based on what’s most important to my overarching goals, not on who’s complaining the loudest.
I have a calendar that I follow every day, with contingency time built in for the day’s emergencies and glitches.
I stay alert and can think clearly by maintaining a regular cognitive fitness routine, preferably with time built into each day for at least 30 minutes of exercise, 30 minutes of meditative time and 30 minutes of being real with another person.
I maintain a stringent practice of just say maybe — never agreeing to take on an optional task or commitment without first seeing how it fits into the rest of my immediate and long-term schedule.
I get enough sleep each night.
I control how people have access to me in my work space, using such strategies as standing up when people enter, screening calls, keeping my door closed except for designated hours, telling people at the beginning of a call or visit how much time we have and scheduling time for regular communication with others, discouraging random visits and ensuring people are fully prepared to discuss what’s on their mind with me.

The Biggest IF

futureshaper — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:38:47 +0000

This morning I drove into a big puddle. I was giving a ride to my daughter to her school. The car stopped in the middle, got towed to a garage.

As I reflect the incidents, there are so many ‘if’s. If I knew that I should drive very slowly in puddle… if my wife brought her cell phone so that I could ask alternative way… if my son did not ask to send his missing homework file that gave me a mental rush… if I had bought hair spray last night so that my wife did not go to a store this morning and gave ride to my daughter as usual…

But the biggest ‘IF’ is ‘if I didn’t make the stupid decision to drive through the puddle.’

I had to push the car out of puddle. I had to ask an unknown lady who wisely turning around to take my daughter to her school. I had to call AAA to tow my car to a garage. I had to pay extra miles for towing because the membership is basic. I will have to pay repair cost. I had to hear complaint and probably more to come from my wife which I deserve. My family will have inconvenience because there is only one car.

For all the issues, I have many excuses. There are so many ‘if’s. But I know that I don’t have any viable excuse, because I made the biggest ‘IF.’ I accept that it was me who caused this mess.

Microblogging

futureshaper — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:05:09 +0000

Installed wordpress app on my BlackBerry. The intention is for more blogging. But it takes too much time to write long posting on mobile.

So I will change my posting to microblogging. It doesn’t have to be long to capture my idea.

Will see how it works.

One Percent Inspiration

futureshaper — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:46:32 +0000

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas A. Edison

…. Two thoughts out of this quote.

Even though I put 99% of perspiration, I may not succeed if I don’t have 1% of inspiration. Not everyone has the inspiration.
Yet, I can’t complain about inspiration if I don’t have 99% perspiration. I don’t know whether I have the inspiration or not until I get there.