Because without it you would not have learned anything
You cannot learn without failing
The two come hand in hand
Sure, it may be frustrating at times
Annoying
Disappointing
You may have let some people down
You might feel you’ve let yourself down
But you’ve also gathered new information
Which you can use to your advantage
So you can reiterate
And do a better job next time
Thank your failures
Because every time you fail, you learn something
by Jason Lam
I’m happy to say that I’ve come to be the type of person that isn’t too afraid of failure. That is to say, I still feel fear, but it doesn’t paralyze me. Because as I’ve experienced in trying anything new, the worst that can happen is somebody says no and maybe you’re a little bit embarrassed. But to be honest, people really don’t care that much.
I think the major fear of failure and rejection comes from the idea that if you were to say, pursue your passion for singing, business, or cooking, and if you sucked at it (as all beginners do), you’d fall into the depths of hell (of your own creation) and you would never be able to crawl back out.
I’m sure it can often feel that way, but it’s not true.
I find it helpful to think of progress and setbacks as a long staircase.
If you’ve reached a certain point in your life where you feel comfortable. Then where you are is on a really long step in a much larger staircase. You can more or less walk comfortably on this one step because you’ve come up with the skill and confidence necessary to do so.
However, if you were to try to take on an additional skill or pursue a larger passion, that would be an additional step up your staircase, which would require additional effort, and you might fail the first few times.
Now, what happens if you fail?
Here’s the thing, you don’t fall all the way down to the very bottom of the staircase. You just fall back down to the last step you were on. In most cases, you fall back down to where you always were. Where you started.
If we zoom out and look at things this way, it takes the drama and theatrics of failing out of the picture. It makes failure not so half bad. You don’t lose anything. You just fail to gain that extra step. At least, momentarily.
So, long staircases.
Is there something you’ve been wanting to do? Go ahead and do it. If you fail. You end up back where you are right now anyway. So what’s the point in not trying?
by Jason Lam
On the journey to living the life we want, there is always this abyss we must overcome. I call it the bottomless pit of excuses. Nobody escapes. Everybody falls in when they begin their journey.
I actually find it quite peculiar how it shows up in my life. Every time I’m about to go out and shoot a video or reach out for collaborations, I fall into the bottomless pit.
My brain goes on autopilot and takes me on this epic journey through the pit of excuses starring: “Omg, I need to wait for my laundry to finish!” + “It’s too late, the sun will set by the time I start recording and it will be too dark” + “I don’t have enough hard drive space for all the new footage anyways”. All of which have quick and easy solutions, so it’s really quite trivial.
But my body loves it. It craves excuses like how I used to crave soda and candy. I just can’t get enough! Well, I’m about 10 years deep into pursuing my curiosities so I’m a bit more experienced. Now I am aware of the bottomless pit. It doesn’t catch me off guard (as often), and I’ve figured out many more ways around it. But the first step is knowing it’s there, that it’s an epic journey we like to go on, and that as good as the excuses feel, it’s not good for you.
by Jason Lam
Being a consumer in Taipei is very interesting because you get a much fuller experience of all the businesses around your neighborhood.
I live in the Songshan District of Taipei. It’s just north of the main downtown area, so it’s busy but not to the point where you can’t have conversations with the shop owners.
From the delicious Taiwanese breakfast cornerspot that I visit everyday, to the fruit stand where I like to buy my pre-cut cantaloupe, and the barbershop that’s been open since 1987. I get to see all stages of every business around me from the moment they open all the way until they close.
They’re not soulless entities where I go in, give them my money, and get out. I get to talk to the workers. Ask for their advice. Directions. Where there’s good food. What I should do on the weekends. In addition, I also get to see what they’re up to. I see their children running around. I see them packing their bags and hopping on their scooters to go home. I see them taking breaks and eating lunch at the same local noodle spots that I go to. It’s comforting in a way that I’ve never experienced being raised in a big city like San Francisco.
The businesses I visit on the daily basis are not faceless corporations. They are run by people just like me. They need to grab coffee in the mornings. They laugh. Sometimes are in a bad mood, and often need a break to sit back and maybe even smoke a cigarette. I’m not being told that they are human. I’m not being tricked with clever copywriting or a fancy website. In fact, most these places don’t even have a website. And forget about Yelp, they don’t use it out here.
They are human, not because they choose to be, but because that’s just how business is done out here. The city of Taipei is way too cramped to keep the messy bits of life tucked away. Everything’s out in the open. (All the way to the meat and cabbage you see being prepped on the side of the road. Unsanitary? Maybe. Honest? Definitely.)
This is rather humbling and also quite comforting because growing up I’ve always been inspired to run my own business. But I’ve always felt a little bit at odds because I didn’t major in economics or anything of that sort. I majored in film. Storytelling. And I’ve tried to make up for my lack of business education via reading a ton of books, spending thousands of dollars on online workshops on how I can double my income while working remotely. I read clickbait articles about how my copy could be getting in the way of conversions. How the color of my newsletter subscribe button could be the reason my list hasn’t grown in 2 years. How maybe I should switch from using Squarespace to Wordpress, or how my content isn’t fully optimized for SEO.
They’re all great techniques, I’m sure, but living here in Taiwan and actively participating in the commerce here, I can’t help but think that maybe I’m just trying way too damn hard. Because most these shops don’t have fancy storefronts. In fact, I’m quite annoyed of their adamant use of overhead fluorescent lighting (I'm a photographer, it's a very unflattering type of light), and how almost everywhere I eat, there's a TV blasting the news 24/7.
They show their guts.
And something about that makes it trustworthy enough. Something about that makes me want to come back and tell all my friends about it. Something about that makes me feel like all this time spent creating a fancy website, catchphrase, and what not is just a waste of time when really I just need to focus on one thing and one thing only. Solve a real problem that people face every day. If you do that. Nothing else matters. Forget a minimalist logo. Forget a fancy website. Forget SEO optimization and what not. Show me you’re human. Because if you have my trust, then you’ll have my business. And in a world full of fancy packaging, bright colors and false perceptions of perfection. I find comfort in knowing that you’re not that perfect either.
by Jason Lam
The real reason for branding is for ease of identification and communication.
Thus, logos, slogans, and websites.
Because as much as we’d like to refer you to Mr. Johnson right down the road around the corner, by the way, he doesn’t take appointments, you just have to show up, and sometimes they’re closed on Wednesdays. You probably shouldn’t go around 12 pm because he’ll be eating lunch and it’s best not to — We live in a busy world and we really just don’t have time for that.
So businesses come up with logos, color schemes and what not to make it easy for us to:
I think that’s the real reason for branding. And I think that’s why businesses should strive to at least try and make a logo, or a slogan, or a distinctive colorway, to make it easy to identify because then the good you are doing for the world can be easily passed on.
Let me reiterate. Fancy branding isn’t the point. It should never be the point. But it is a great tool to use in your favor. It really doesn’t hurt to spend just a little bit of time and resources on your branding especially if it means it can help grow your business exponentially.
It’s not about you. It’s about your customers. Better yet, it’s about your customer’s customers. Sure, there’s the Internet, but how do most of us decide which businesses to give our hard earned money to? By asking our friends where we should go. It’s still true, to this day, we trust our friends more than we trust Google. And I don’t think that’s ever going to change. (Unless, maybe, when it comes to directions).
by Jason Lam
Have you ever set a goal and failed to achieve it? I have. More times than I’d like to admit. Here’s a little tip that’s been working for me. Set smaller goals and work on perfecting the little things. It doesn’t sound as impressive and it won’t win you any cool points, but it will get you where you want to go.
by Jason Lam
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.”
—Octavia E. Butler
I spent the better part of the weekend looking over my daily schedule and reviewing my progress throughout the year. (2017 is almost coming to an end! Yikes!) Much of it involved building good habits and ditching the ones that don’t serve me. Suffice to say, nowhere in my schedule says, “Do (activity) only when inspired.”
I like inspiration, but I don’t depend on it anymore. Now I see it more like a lucky star I just happen to find (like in Mario Kart ). I’ll use it for as long as it stays with me, but I won’t stop working just because it’s gone.
The thing about building good habits is it can also become a bit robotic. So to counterbalance my obsession with productivity, I’ve also built a habit of not letting myself work on Sundays, aka “cheat days” for literally everything. I get to sleep in, eat a ton of waffles with extra maple syrup, and watch Netflix all day. Can not working be considered a productivity habit? Not sure, but hey, it works for me.
by Jason Lam
We all have them. When I have an off day I always try to pinpoint why. Is it because I slept too late? Did I not eat a proper breakfast? Did I forget to do my morning routine?
One thing I don’t do, or at least, try not to do is to be too hard on myself. Instead, I identify it for what it is, an off DAY. And to remember that despite it all, I still showed up. It works (most of the time).
What do you do when you have an off day?
by Jason Lam
Especially when things get tough and thoughts about quitting start creeping into your head. This was a hard lesson I had to learn from having lost motivation doing many things I thought I was “committed” to. Like my definition for love, the meaning of commitment has evolved a lot throughout the years.
One thing I’ve learned is you must have a strong reason as to WHY you are doing something. Because if your WHY is flimsy, you’ll give up soon as things get difficult. So you need a damn good reason WHY, and when you feel like giving up, you need to remind yourself of that WHY.
Your WHY is the backbone of your journey. Your WHY will also evolve as you continue to grow. Quitting in the early stages and finding out something wasn’t meant for you, is in fact, part of the process of refining your WHY. So, find your WHY, strengthen your WHY, and then use your WHY to your advantage when times get tough. (I just used the word “why” way too many times).
by Jason Lam
