Right now I’m listening to songs on Youtube while writing this, letting you guys know I’m not writing this like a college essay. I’m not collecting my thoughts into one coherent essay, I’m just letting my thoughts flow, and hopefully it will be somewhat cohesive. Hopefully my communications professor doesn’t see this.
I recently finished the book I brought with me to my trip to Cozumel: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. If you guys don’t know, he is the CEO of Zappos (the online shoe retailer) that was bought out by Amazon. I was interested in this book for a couple of reasons:
1. How did Tony start his relationship with Zappos and how did he make it so successful?
2. Personal interest in entrepreneurship
3. His experience through this process as an Asian American (though he didn’t touch on this, I thought it’d be an interesting viewpoint)
What I learned from him was his personal experiences in not only business development but personal development as well. I have taken some excerpts from his book that I wish to discuss in this post (no spoilers..do they even exist in non-fiction?):
1. The Experiential vs. The Materialistic
“There was something alluring about being involved in something where the sole purpose was to create an experience and emotional journey for people, and then to have nothing but memories left afterward to hold on to.”
I had the opportunity and privilege to take a class J-term 2010 at the Darden School with Professor Gilmore, author of the “Experience Economy.” Our world economy has shifted from commodities –> goods –> service –> experiential. This also got me thinking on a personal level. Why are some people more “social” than others? Why do some people always pop up first in your mind when you’re hosting a party or figuring out who to chill with? This is just an elementary assumption but I think it’s because when you’re with him or her, the experience is a memorable one. And maybe that’s what all those chick flicks (limited to the sparse amount I’ve seen, ;P) Hollywood creates tells us subliminally. Why the girl never goes for the rich dude. Why in high school (the time of your life where you’re thrown into a pit of hormonal others and told to learn something while drama explodes all around you, yeah, remember?) the “coolest” kid is the one that creates all the memorable experiences.
“I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.”
I would also like to draw from Timothy Ferris (one of my inspirations) who recommends mini-retirements instead of a retirement at the end. Why spend your youth working and relaxing at an age when you’re no longer at your physical prime? All the money in the world can’t buy back your youth and vitality (who knows? maybe in 2060 it can) to relive experiences.
“Turning point in my life: stopped chasing the money, and start chasing passion”
This statement I feel is somewhat biased. When Tony said this he had already sold off a previous company to Microsoft for a couple hundred million. Yes he was selling off a lot of his assets to sustain Zappos in the early stages but cmon, when you’ve been successful and your name means something in the tech world, money does seem expendable. However, I think he also means that no money in the world is worth doing something you hate. Which makes sense.
“Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.”
Confidence. Believability. Something very interesting happens when these two are combined. If you’re interested I suggest you look under my “Reading List” for Personal development books. Social dynamics is extremely interesting.
“Told ghost stories w/ friends last night. Now wondering whether ghosts sit around campfires and tell each other people stories?”
2. All About Character
“Even in school, it sometimes pays to take risks and think outside the box”
What are you doing at your University that other’s are not? How are you differentiating yourself?
I’m not a big poker fan, and I’m not very good at bluffing (usually I play randomly to throw my opponents off. note: not a good strategy), but I enjoyed Tony’s comparison of life to Poker (Texas Hold’em):
Table selection is most important
As with life and in business, the environment in which you chose to play can shape your success.
Your “brand” is important
How do other’s view you? Personally, I am a twin, so this is an extremely sensitive subject to me. I’ll have another post on it later but note to non-twins, easiest way to piss off pair is to treat them like the same person.
Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see others making money from them
Learn. Learn. Learn. One of my biggest mistakes with my personal portfolio was playing with call options, I’m back to about break-even now but it has been one freaking scary ride
Hope is not a good plan
I used to play chess. Yes, I was on the chess team. I love Chess, the tactics, the strategy, the critical thinking involved in order to outwit your opponent. I’ve played in tournaments, state and national level, and have traveled all over the United States. One of the best advices I’ve received from my teachers was this: “there is no such thing as hope chess”
Learn by doing; theory is nice but nothing replaces experience
So goes with exams. I’m a horrible test taker. But if you ask my teammates how I perform in a group setting, and my employers how I execute at work, you’ll get a different viewpoint. My thought is something like this, now this isn’t meant as a justification, more of another perspective. If exams are ‘theory’, it’s nice to see the grades, but it won’t replace real-world experience. Exams are not dynamic.
“For individuals, character is destiny.”
3. Traditional Networking is…dead?
Stop trying to ‘network’ in business sense, try to build up number and depth of friendships, where friendship is its own reward
This is a hard one. Remember all those networking events with recruiters, where prospectives ask the same questions over and over. What is the chance that you’ll differentiate yourself there?
This is going to be my own dare, but in this upcoming NYC finance trip I will not network in the traditional sense, but just getting to know people as just people. Focus on building relationships with them regardless of their position.
Here’s an internship company for those in college that aren’t juniors: InRoads. They landed me the connection with VW, so I thank them for that. I think they’re a really great company bringing opportunity to students. However, the one thing that turned me off was during one of the training sessions, one participant looked at me and asked for my email. I was like sure. He then goes “so you can send me recruiter’s emails when they come right? they don’t come to my school”
What a turn off. I told him to find someone else.
4. Public Speaking
#1 Fear Americans have. Surprising? Death is #2.
I realized that nobody knew what I had written down beforehand. Nobody would ever know if I skipped a sentence, a paragraph, or even an entire section
Precisely. Don’t memorize your speech. If you have stories to draw from, you’re more than set. Tony also talked about flow.
Flow is a type of happiness, in which someone loses sense of time, self-consciousness, and even self. Athletes call it “in the zone”
In your speech:
- Be passionate
- Tell personal stories
- Be real
Delivering Happiness
All in all, this book was very worthwhile. I plan on trying to email Tony Hsieh and seeing if I can get a response. Please comment with any questions or comments!
For anyone who have been recently disappointed, here’s a great quote from the book:
“No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future” – author unknown
Song of the Day:
Her World Goes On – Justin Michael and Kemal
Cheers,
tc
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