Daily Gratitude for Success

A friend of mine told me that expressing gratitude for each day was a good way to raise my energy vibration, thus affecting my mood throughout the day. What would happen is that each morning I would get up, and before starting my day I wrote down five things that I am grateful for. They can be anything – the weather outside, some circumstance in life, people, places, things, etc.

The experiment would be to try this for 30 days and see how it affects my overall mood, or state of being. The first time I ran the experiment, I was able to do it for the complete thirty days and then some. I teamed up with the friend who told me about it, and we would send our gratitude notes each day through email thus having both of us to be accountable for each other.

I can say that during the time that I did this, in general I was living a more stress-free life. I handled life’s challenges better as they came up, being able to keep my emotions under control and not letting little things get to me. I have stopped doing it for a few months, and it has clearly made a difference in my overall mood.

Since yesterday, I have started back up on my daily gratitude. I intend to do it on an ongoing basis. We will see what happens…

The Current State of Asian Actors in Hollywood

Last week, I saw “The Dark Knight.” It was a great movie and Heath Ledger did a great job with playing the Joker – no complaints. But, I could not help noticing that the “ethnic” people were once again portrayed as a group of bad guys. Italians, African-Americans, and Asians – they were all working together as part of the crime mob in Gotham city.

It surprises me that so many ethnic people are portrayed as bad guys in Hollywood movies. Asians in particular, still do not get casted in heroic roles. We play the kung fu fighter, or the kung fu fighting funny guy, but I have not seen many movies in which we are the actual hero who saves the day and gets the girl at the end.

The current state of Asian actors in Hollywood is that we are placed in secondary roles in movies. Asian actors are usually sidekicks and when we do get main roles, it is because we can do martial arts and provide entertainment by jumping, kicking, and making funny sounds while doing it. The transition IS beginning to occur, but it would be nice to see more Asian actors play the hero role. By that, I mean having an Asian main character that is sexualized and romanticized. The actor SHOULD be able to get through the movie without relying on monkey flips and punches for audience amusement.

Must Reads: Book Recommendations

In addition to what I have referred to in the past, I recommend the following books for business, inspiration, or just all-around self improvement (in no particular order).

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter
"The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss
"Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill
"The Millionaire Mind" by Thomas J. Stanley
"Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" by T. Harv Eker

Summer time is a great time to catch up on reading, especially for students.

So, drop that remote and crack that book open!

Powerful Public Speaking

Eliminate Fear of Public Speaking

An effective tool for reducing the fear of public speaking is to practice improvisation games. I originally learned about these games through Improv Theater.

Improvisation helps with improving mental sharpness – the ability to think on the spot. Improving these skills will in turn lead to greater confidence in the area of public speaking. Less nerves, less shaking, less worries about what to say!

A lot of these games are much more effective when played with a partner or in a team, but modifications can be made to some so that they work with just one person.

What are some of these improvisation games?

1) Questions: The Questions Game is played with two people.

Objective: Have a back and fourth conversation with someone with only questions.

Rule: Only questions are used. Statements are NOT allowed.

Example:

Player 1 “What time is it?”

Player 2 “Do you not have a watch?”

Player 1 “What if my watch broke?”

Player 2 “Want me to buy you a new one?”

2) Alphabet: Usually played between two people, but can be modified for one player.

Objective: Have a back and fourth conversation beginning with the letters of the alphabet. Go down from A to Z.

For one player, have a solo conversation and continue down the letters as fast as you can so there is minimal pause between each statement.

Rule: Letters can only be used once, and in order. If the last thing said began with an A, then the next statement/question must start with a B.

Example:

“All these flowers are making me sneeze!”

“But at least they are pretty!”

“Can’t you see I am suffering?!

“Don’t worry about it! You’ll be fine!”

Some points to keep in mind: It is very important to keep the conversation going at a rate that flows. The whole point is to think on the spot. Also, listening is equally important. What is said previously will be used to build on the story and help keep the conversation going.

Practice these games 3 times per week for 15 minutes for superior public speaking!

Grad School: The Rundown

Upon graduation, I have two choices: to go to grad school or to not go to grad school. My current University has a great graduate communications program, which is what I would be looking into if I were to go.

Reasons to go to grad school:

-better paying job
-opens up more opportunities to meet and network with people
-do not have to face the responsibilities of the “real world”

Reasons to not go to grad school:
-it costs money, will have to take out loans
-have to write papers/thesis
-I want to travel
-I want to start making money

There have been many arguments that I have received for going to grad school now instead of later. First, people tell me that once I start a career it will be harder to get back into “school mode” and go back to school again. Second, going to grad school now ensures that I will still have the financial support of my parents. If I do decide to go later on, they may not be around to support me and I will have more responsibilities – making the time it takes to graduate longer.

My stance on this of course is that I am ready to start something new and be out of the role of being a student. I will keep my mind open to grad school, but for the time being I want to pursue some of my own interests.

The Art of Listening

I call this my 3 C’s of developing active listening skills. Having good listening skills will go a long way in connecting with people from all walks of life – whether it is in business or in your own private life.

The Art of Listening

Care about the speaker – This is a crucial first step to active listening because if you don’t really care about what the speaker has to say, chances are you will not listen very well or for too long. Whoever may be speaking, make a real effort to be interested in what they are saying. I listen to get information, to gain a different perspective on a subject.

Concentrate - When a person is speaking, listen carefully to key words that will allow you to provide feedback and continue the conversation. Concentrating on the speaker means that you will be blocking out all of the outside influence that might be happening at the time within the environment. Focus on maintaining eye contact with the speaker.

Continue feedback – The conversation goes on if you listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and then provide some sort of feedback to the speaker. You can add in your own opinion on a topic, or further ask a question that you may be curious about.

For example, someone says “I went to the beach last night.” The possible keyword that you can pick up on here is “beach.” So as an active listener, you can ask “Oh, great. What beach did you go to?” Or the other option is you can add in a comment about your own experience at the beach.

There are endless opportunities for good conversation with friends and strangers alike. It all begins with good listening skills and being able to carry on a conversation. Surprisingly, a lot of people will like you more if you listen to what they have to say. Being a good listener goes hand in hand with being a good conversationalist. Mastering the art of listening will open up many opportunities for meeting networks of people who can be your friend. This will in turn increase your chances of gaining new friends for your social and/or business life.

Stay tuned...More updates will be coming your way…

Public Speaking

Even though I still get nervous before making a speech, I have been able to control my fears by forcing my body and mind to relax. Right before I have to get up in front of an audience, I will sit and stay as still as I can - completely blocking out any distractions.

I have found that public speaking will only get better with practice. There are no immediate solutions for eliminating the fear of public speaking. Only through repetition have I gotten used to being in front of an audience and not "choking up" or getting overly nervous.

Throughout my school career, I have done many speeches in the classroom. Starting in a smaller classroom where all of the students know each other will be easier because it is a friendlier/less hostile environment. Then, as you improve you can work up to larger audiences. For myself, I had no choice but to improve. Every semester as I advanced in my schooling career, the classes seemed to get larger. Once I started taking upper division university courses, most classes were held in lecture rooms with 80-100 students per class.

Here are 5 tips to improve your public speaking:

1) Be organized – This is a very important aspect of being prepared for public speaking. When you know what you are going to stay and how your speech is structured ahead of time, you will naturally be more confident about your speech. Before you deliver your speech, write down the main points you are going to talk about and go over them. Remember, the three parts to have are the Introduction, Main points, and Conclusion. Always plan out your speech, and it will save you a lot of nerves when it is time to deliver it.

2) Make eye contact with the audience – Continually scan the room to make eye contact with everyone. Move your head in a smooth and controlled manner from one side of the room to the other.

3) Really project your voice and use gestures - Hand gestures are very important to stress what you are speaking. It also keeps the audience’s attention. When you are using hand gestures, you are really stressing the point you are trying to make. This will help with having a loud and powerful speaking voice.

4) Move around the stage – If you are in front of a room, make use of all of your presentation space. It will alleviate nerves and make you more relaxed if you stroll confidently across the presentation floor. Plus, it helps with creating a connection with people from all sides of the room.

5) Consciously make an effort to be relaxed and slow down speaking speed – this prevents those who are nervous from speaking way too fast which is an issue I see with many speakers who get nervous.

More features

For the upcoming new year, we will be re-launching AsianAttitude.com with added content and features. Upcoming plans include the addition of media content, articles on race/ethnic relations, health and fitness information, improving various personal skills for success, and much more.

We appreciate all of the feedback received for this site. Our team is continually expanding and coming up with ways to increase the quality of the blog for our readers.

Stay tuned and tell all of your friends!