1. I need accountability – I am very lazy by nature. It’s a weakness. I don’t deny it any more.
2. Do more due diligence when going into business or partnering with someone – I once heard that if you want to know what someone is like, figure out their three people who are around them most of the time and ask them what they are like and watch what the person does.
3. It’s a total bummer, but don’t trust people out right. – This one kind of goes along the one above, but I put my faith/trust in too many people who didn’t deserve it.
4. I am not in control and that’s okay. 2010 has been a hard time for me financially and emotionally. I’ve applied to over 120 jobs in 2010, received 10 phone calls back, and 5 job offers.
5. God is in control. Since returning to Korea. I’ve burned through my savings of $30,000. God has given me side jobs and projects here and there to survive till now. Even with some of the poor decisions I’ve made this year. Buying a car out of my price range, living in the most expensive apartment in Irvine. (Speaking of which if you’re interested in moving to the Park at the Spectrum and want to split the referral fee 50/50 let me know)
6. I need to work on my selling skills or partner with someone who is good at sales. I realized I am very bad at talking to people about buying my services and products. I don’t know where this insecurity comes from.
7. Surround yourself with people you want to be like. I consistently went to the gym for 16 weeks and hung out with people who go to the gym. Wife, came back and everything went out the window.
8. If you don’t initiate nothing is going to happen. I’ve tried to build a couple of relationships at church and around the apartment, but they don’t come “naturally.” You have to make an effort or nothings going to happen.
9. I know it sounds cheesy, but I have a passion for helping people find their passions. I love watching people’s eyes light up when I help them dream and search out what they love.
10. Progress is gradual. Babies don’t come out in one day. I can’t have a super-rich person mindset over night. You can’t lose 50 lbs in one night and live.
11. Bonus. Learn from other peoples’ mistakes rather than make your own. I’m still learning how to learn from others.

I hope  I don’t forget what I learned in 2010, but I’m afraid some of these lessons I will.

Interactive Part: What are some lessons you learned in 2010?  Extra Credit: What is one lesson you want to learn in 2011?

There’s a lot of great insights in this video:

• What is practical wisdom?
• We need practical wisdom?
• What are the real reasons for rules?
• And the different types of people
• Why you shouldn’t use incentives and punishments

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

I was lucky to be chosen to receive an advanced copy of Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.  I heard about the book from Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose on their Random Show.

Simply put this is a mini autobiography of Tony Hsieh’s adventure with business, more specifically, Zappos. Tony goes through a lot of ups and downs and provides honest insights and gold nuggets throughout the book. It was nice to read about another immigrant Asian entrepreneur, because there were a lot of similarities on how we were raised in America.

The biggest thing I got out of the book is how important people are and how to treat them. I appreciate the out-of-the-box thinking that he provided and how to create a culture. Any company can be cloned in a matter of months and the ultimate competitive advantage is the people, both customers and employees.

Another major point that I appreciated was in the last couple of chapters where he discusses the “science” behind happiness. I think that’s all that life is all about.

After reading the book I ordered a copy of the well-known culture book and look forward to reading that as well. I only hope that I will be able to create companies that have such passionate and loyal people.

I highly recommend the book. It was a very quick read and was difficult to put down after I started reading. You can buy the book on Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. If you know me and are close to me in Irvine, CA. I can give you my copy to read.

We need more amazing companies that truly make a positive difference in peoples lives and bring the overall happiness level up around the world. When I get the chance I plan on attending one of the free tours at Zappos’ Head Quarters in Las Vegas.

Disclaimer: Per FTC guidelines. I received an advanced review copy of the book and promise to provide an honest review.

Successful business leader passionate about raising kids to be entrepreneurs. For over 20 years, Cameron Herold has been coaching, speaking to, or helping entrepreneurs build companies on five continents. He launched BackPocket COO to coach & mentor young, fun, entrepreneurial, growth companies and help make their dreams happen. He is one of the countrys most innovative business leaders and was a leading force behind one of the most successful businesses of the decade, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. For more information about this TEDxTalk or TEDxEdmonton, visit http://www.tedxedmonton.com.

You can find Seth’s post on what he learned from lousy teachers here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/03/what-you-can-learn-from-a-lousy-teacher.html

I just hope, I wasn’t a lousy teacher and hope I will never be one either. However, its good to know you can even learn from lousy teachers.

In honor of his posts, I’m going to start a series of posts on stuff I learn from other places as well.

You can find the insightful post here on Neil’s business blog: http://www.quicksprout.com/2010/03/25/what-an-airline-stewardess-taught-me-about-business/

Without further ado:

10. Public Transportation – For 1,000 won (approximately 1 US dollar) you can travel anywhere in Seoul. The Seoul Public Transit system is amazing, both the subways and bus system. I enjoyed using’s Seouls BMW (Bus, Metro, and Walking.)
9. High Speed Internet / High Speed WiBro – The whole country is on a fiber optic LAN. I got 100MBPS to my house, both up and down with servers within Korea. They’ve already started planning to get the whole country on a Gigabit system. It only costs 30,000 ($30 bucks) a month for it too. I used to download large files in a few seconds.
8. Customer Service in General – Overall customer service at Family Restaurants, Hotels, Toll Gates, and Korean Government offices tend to be very friendly and do their best to serve you quickly and respectfully.
7. Fast Delivery – I would imagine if I lived in New York it would be similar.  Whenever I ordered anything, food would show up 10-15minutes, stuff I bought online would show up the next day and sometimes even the same day.
6. Ice Cream – I don’t know what it is, but the packaged ice cream tastes better. My favorite is the “Sun-lai-im” by Lotte, it’s in the blue packages with a plastic cap, I felt stupid having them, but they tasted so good.
5. Schwarma / Kebabs (Itaewon Area) -  I enjoy the Itaewon area for its diversity, you can share and mingle with people from all over the world. I thoroughly enjoyed the authentic food from each nation, however my favorite was Petra in Itaewon. Their schwarmas are mouth watering.
4. No tips - You don’t have to tip anywhere and people won’t give you attitude if you don’t. I thoroughly enjoyed paying a flat price for food being delivered and eating at dine-in restaurants.
3. Always something to do - Because the city is huge there is always something going on and you can participate in.
2. Security – Seoul is a huge city, but there is very little violent crime. You never hear gunshots and you can walk around the city at 3 AM and you’ll feel safe.
1. The People – I’ll miss the “jung”, it’s like loyalty/love mushed together. When Koreans make friends with you as long as you keep in touch you’ll be friends for life. Sure there are flaws in the culture and nobody is perfect, but overall I enjoyed my four and a half years living in Seoul.

If you ever get a chance I highly encourage you to check out the land of the morning calm.