Long time no see! It's been almost a year...

Every month I'd feel time passes so quickly, and now I'm finally left to find that it's been 9 months since graduation. There's an urge of growing and fear of not growing fast enough. So I'm just glad to have this 3-day break when I can sit back and take a reflection.

Compared to last time I wrote, one major difference is that now I'm a full time PM who owns things and takes responsibility. In the past few months, we've built a lot of features and released a couple versions and I gradually grew able to make a lot of decisions on my own. I was exposed to a rather intense and unsure phase when we had to put so many things together while nobody had experienced it before. But it was also from this period of time that I learned so much which can be applied to the future, and I am proud of that.

If you ask me how I've been doing as a newly graduate, I would genuinely say that I am very lucky and grateful. Many of my college classmates are planning to leave or have already left their first job because they found it's not what they like or the environment wasn't good for their personal growth. But for me, even though I've had tough moments, I was always held up to a high standard and loved what I do.

So for landing the very first job, I've concluded some important rules people should follow:

• Find something that combines your interest and talent.
• Find something that challenges you to your limits, something that constantly requires you take reflection and think outside the box.
• Find a place where people are full of energy, open-minded, and willing to take risks.
• Find a place where they embrace the value of mentorship.

If you're lucky enough to combine all above like I do, then you should really cherish the opportunity and squeeze the shit out of it in each and every day.

Life

Life is a rare thing, most people just exist, that's all.

To live a meaningful and happy life, one needs to have meaningful work and meaningful relationships. For work, it can be your job or your side projects, and the latter actually can be more important because what you do in your spare time truly demonstrates who you are. I have some friends who persist in doing side projects, and some of my favorite ones are photography / filming, learning something new real quick and making into tutorials, and monthly email newsletter of documentation... These things make me feel the pure love of life.

Personally, I'm more of an introvert in life because I prefer staying alone and enjoying the quietness with myself. This past few months I mostly just relaxed at home reading books or watching movies, and sometimes hung out with friends, drinking for fun etc. It could be boring sometimes, so I decided to go out more and try out new adventures. For example, I was thinking about going to different bookshops and talking to people, because I always believe people meet in books. Or...I should even go on some dates. 🤭

The only regret, if any, I had for the past few months is that I didn't make the best use of my time. Sometimes I could be so trapped in work that I forgot to have a life. Now it's time to change a bit: I'll work hard and play even harder.

Meaningful Work

Pursuing meaningful work is important to me, and fortunately enough, my work challenges and improves me in the same way. On the high level, being a PM means I need to have a vision for the product and set according goals. Then down to the operational level, I have to make decisions, execute fast and push things forward. And when product growth and personal growth is aligned, it provides me with enormous sense of joy and achievement.

The ultimate goal of my work is to build a product that solves users' problems and that they love to use. That said, we should find all means to create values to users. And this is a marathon that requires strategy, planning, creativity, and execution. Every phase is an intense loop where I have to use multi talents to address according problems, and I'm addicted to this process.

To me, meaningful work has taught me several things:

• To really accomplish something, like making a popular product is not easy. Put in the labour day in and day out, and play it smart.
• Discovery of personal strengths and weaknesses. Being exposed to all kinds of problems let me know myself better.
• Flow is the most enjoyable experience. Meaningful work generates that frequently.

And of all the things I learned from work, the greatest lesson is that I can always have a say on what I'm doing, and I can and should always step up, take ownership and rock whatever it is. It's this mindset that makes all the difference.

In the end, no one is 100% irreplaceable, so in order to increase your irreplaceability, you have to constantly create values. And the greatest value always comes from the hardest things. I should always be aware of that and get prepared to welcome the new challenges.

Meaningful Relationship

The formula of being happy and productive in a team, no matter how grand the project is, how wonderful the physical environment is, how good the pay is... it's always about people. I feel blessed to realize this in my early career and have people around me who are dedicated to building a wonderful culture.

In work, everyone is unique and can be the spring of creativity. In order to embrace other peoples' intelligence and let it fully steam the way ahead, we have to respect the fact that sometimes others have better ideas than ourselves, and put down our ego. I've learned this so many times from people around me, and every time I was surprised by how people would have different opinions about one thing.

To have meaningful relationships, we all need to remember one thing: Ego is the enemy. This principle applies broadly, no matter if they're colleagues, friends, or family. Only when we recognize others' perspective and value can we maximize the joy of a relationship.

My plan is to practice more in communicating with people, and try to include as many ideas as possible.

What I Read or Watched

• Principleby Ray Dalio. Golden guide to work ethic and outstanding performance.
• Hooked-How to build habit-forming products. Behavior=MotivationAbilityTrigger.
• Culture Code. Building team chemistry is powerful.
• Reply 1988, a Korean TV drama. Touched my heart so many times and taught me the value of living a normal but content life, and the meaning of family.
• GaryVee's show interviewing Ray Dalio. Truly inspiring as in embracing failure, being radically honest and transparent, meditating for peacefulness and creativity... All successful people think and act alike.

What I'm Planning

• Picking up Japanese again
• Moving out
• New camera for photography and filming
• Trip to the US & Japan
• Voice log

Life is good. Live it to the fullest. 🍻

Micro hustle, macro patience. 🏃