Reader Success Story: Words Do No Justice To How She Feels When She Wakes Up Every Morning
By: Brian Kim - June 1, 2007
A couple of weeks back, a reader named Cindy recently emailed me a brief story of how she came to find my site and I found her story to be intriguing and very reflective of the some of the things I talk about on this site.
So I asked her if she would be willing to share her story with the world and she replied she would be happy to do so. It’s a story that I think a lot of people can relate to and my hopes are that the people who read it and identify with her situation can greatly benefit from it
I sent her some questions via email to help frame her story and below were her responses to those questions. It’s a great read and I want to thank Cindy for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it and I hope that many readers will benefit from it.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m the epitome of the typical, middle-class twenty something California Asian girl. My goals were to get into a good college, get a good job, stay fit, be in a good relationship etc. I have to admit that I was proud as I knocked down each goal. But once I was out of school, I felt an awkward emptiness I couldn’t quite understand. I finally realized that I was officially goal-less. It sucked because I felt that the only goal I had was to become successful but I didn’t know what I should be successful at. I was confused and frustrated with myself, but I couldn’t just sit around waiting for something nice to happen. I got a random but decent job offer and just took it to see where it would lead me next.
How did you happen to come across a copy of Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford University and what did you do after reading it?
The job I took on a whim was far from what I expected it to be. I was so NOT motivated to do my job. I was seriously jaded with this so-called real world. My boss noticed I needed some motivation and he printed Steve Job’s speech for me. Jobs’ whole message of “find what you love to do” hit me hard. To my boss’ dismay, I quit my job almost immediately in search of finding something I was passionate about.
How did you come to find BrianKim.net?
After reading Steve Jobs’ speech, I was motivated and hyped until I realized that I didn’t love to do anything. Well I loved partying, traveling, surfing the internet, but I mean, how was that supposed to help me actually make a living? So my best friend google came to the rescue. I typed in, how to find what you love to do, and Brian’s wonderful article that changed my whole perspective on life popped up.
What did you do upon reading the How to Find What You Love to Do article?
I printed it, read it like crazy, and did the simple step by step exercise. Maybe I was one of the lucky ones, but I found my passion immediately after I finished the exercise. And then I became a BrianKim.net junkie and read all the other articles.
How did you know that what you found was “it”? That it was what you truly loved to do?
To be honest, at that specific moment, I wasn’t completely sure. It felt pretty right, but it didn’t hit me until about 3 months later. As I became more aware of what exactly I liked, the “it” morphed itself into something that became more real, and more ME. That’s when I truly knew. Now, it’s the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep.
You mentioned you found a Mastermind at the same time. Can you expand on that? How did that come about?
This is my longest answer because I truly see the importance of having a mastermind. The forming of a mastermind helped me to turn the general idea of what my passion was, into the “it” I’ve been searching for.
I’m going to start by saying that I was the type of person who preferred to get the job done alone. Not that I’m anti-social or hated people. I guess I didn’t want to be responsible for other people and I didn’t like the fact that other people would affect my results. So even after hearing that great people don’t succeed alone, I was still determined to succeed all by myself. But after reading Brian’s article, Brian’s book, along with Napoleon Hill’s book, I decided that I had to give up my selfish ways if I really, REALLY wanted to reach my goals.
The first thing I did was send Steve Job’s speech to one of my closest friends. Then I waited a few weeks and sent Brian’s article to her as well. I specifically chose to send it to her because she and I would ALWAYS talk about our careers and outlook on life. I don’t know if she actually read the articles or not, but all of a sudden it seemed her mind went from “I’m kind of ok with my job” to “I’m way too creative for my job.”
And then a month or two later, she said the magic words, “if someone wanted to start something right now, I’m in.” So I jumped on the offer. We’ve had a few brainstorming sessions, came up with an idea, and this idea turned my ‘kinda-passion” into my “IT” of all its. We’re a team now, working towards the same goal and it’s amazing how well we work together. Her ideas trigger ideas in me. Things I hated doing, she would do without hesitation. She gives me so much moral support that all the challenges and obstacles don’t seem so huge any more.
For me personally, I think it was really important to “feel” people out. I don’t’ know if it would have worked out so well if I bluntly stated that I want to start my own business and I want you to be in my mastermind group. Even for the 3rd person in our group, I was passive. He’s actually my older brother who is already successful and has his own business. I thought he was too busy for me so I didn’t ask for his help. But his opinions mean a lot to me so I had to see what he thought about my new found passion. Maybe my excitement and desire reached him, or maybe he just liked our idea, I have no clue. But he came back to us a few days later and said he wanted a part in it as well. He was more than welcome into the group. His specialized knowledge seems to know no limits and he is able to handle the complicated technical issues that I am clueless about. The experience of being an entrepreneur himself allows him to see when we get off track and he knows how to pull us back in, provide feedback, and push us back into the proper direction while motivating us at the same time. The people in your life that you respect have so much knowledge, creativity, and strength that it’s such a waste not to tap into that resource. It’s not an exaggeration to say the power of a true harmonious mastermind is unbelievable and irreplaceable.
So there it is. I found a mastermind that helped me mold my “general passion” into a real, solid, definitely attainable goal. The best combo package of my life. And to think I swore to myself that I would never work with family or friends.
How does it feel now knowing what you love to do compared with not knowing that at all?
It’s probably something along the lines of being in the butterfly stages of a great relationship. You get excited when you see him (or her), happy when he calls, just happy as can be. Steve Jobs said something similar, something about being in a good relationship; it just gets better as the years go by.
You WILL be happy when you find what you love to do. But you have to actually find the “it” in order for anyone to feel the way I do now. I want to say I feel wonderful but words do no justice to how I feel when I wake up every morning, although the alarm is still disgustingly annoying. I don’t dread Mondays as I used to. I don’t keep waiting for the weekend anymore. I still have my job in corporate America but the little things here no longer bother me. Time becomes so precious and you don’t want to waste a single second of it. People will doubt this and it’s only because they haven’t found it yet.
What advice would you give to those who are still on the search for their passion in life?
-Read Steve Jobs’ speech again
-Do the little activity in Brian’s article (skills and interests)
-Do the activity over and over until you find something, anything!
-Send both articles to someone you absolutely trust, value, and respect
Is there any other advice in general you would like to give to those who are of younger age that could benefit from your experience?
-Don’t forget to thank people who help directly and indirectly
-Trust no one. Just kidding 
-Find, respect, encourage, and compliment your mastermind. The greater they become, the greater YOU become.
I’m also going to let people know that I’m far away from reaching my goal. I could see the end result, but I know I have a lot of work ahead of me. I get discouraged but I never felt like giving up. Not even once. But when I reach my goal, which I will no doubt, I’ll be sure to inform Brian with a big warm thank you for helping me change my life!
Thank you again, Brian! Gosh, you’re good! And also, thank you to everyone who actually had the patience and interest to finish my very incomplete story.
Thank you again Cindy for sharing your story and experience with all of us! I think I speak for all the readers when we say we really appreciate it.
There are a lot of great points to take away from Cindy’s story. The first one being, DO the exercise! I know there are some people out there who still don’t, so hopefully this will motivate them to do so. Here is the link to the article in case you are brand new to this site. How to Find What You Love to Do.
Second point is that notice how Cindy didn’t find the answer right away. She felt she did in a way, but after some time, it morphed into that “IT” she knew she should pursue. That’s important to realize because few people will find the right answer right away and the majority of people will find it after some time, so if you haven’t found it yet, don’t despair.
Third point, and the one she seemed to emphasize a lot is the importance of the mastermind. This is so important and rather than me going off tangent on that, I would recommend reading that part of her answer again, especially paying attention to what she says toward the end of her answer.
The last thing I want to point out is how happy she is now that she has direction in her life pursuing her passion. She described it as being like the butterfly stages of the relationship (arguably one of the best stages 
), how words don’t do justice to how she feels when she wakes up, how she no longer dreads Mondays and no longer keeps waiting for the weekend.
It’s pretty clear from the tone of her writing and what she says towards the end that she WILL achieve her goal and I have NO doubt that she will. She has all the right ingredients.
And I just want to end this post with her remark about time because it’s so true when you find what you love to do.
“Time becomes so precious and you don’t want to waste a single second of it.”
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One Response to “Reader Success Story: Words Do No Justice To How She Feels When She Wakes Up Every Morning”
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June 2nd, 2007 at
Wonderful! Very good point about sometimes getting discouraged when moving towards your desired goals. Just try to be Patient and Consistent! Great Job!