By CAL Founding President Samuel Kim
In conjunction with the first five of the ’10 Things to Do Before You’re 30’ shared last week, the next set of five are the following:
- Develop 5 Most Compelling Stories that Represent You Best. When I was a child, I looked forward to hearing stories with life lessons from my parents and grandparents. These lessons had a significant impact on me molding who I am today. The lessons enabled me to sell my values to others and to develop a story that got me into Harvard. We can always revisit our stories to reflect and improve them further. Storytelling can be developed into a strong communication device to convey our aspirations in life to create change in the world. This encouraged me to do more in order to live a meaningful life and leave a positive imprint on the world.
- Do 3 Good Things Daily to Make a Difference in our Community. Doing good certainly brings greater genuine happiness in life. The most that makes me proud or memorable in life is when I have done something out of my own will to do the good, irrespective of whether I am counted on or not. Some ideas? In fact, there are a lot that we can do like picking up a garbage, dropping a bill/coin to a needy on the street, dropping a note thanking others, or treating others a meal.
- Make Your Own List of Must-read Books. Books give you knowledge, and knowledge is power. Books have always been a powerful source of inspiration for me. One professor during my university years shared his list of 400 must-read books with me. I too have done the same coming up with my own list of 400 and sharing it with people I have come to know. Reading, introspecting and thought-sharing are the best and most productive ways to occupy our time in preparation for achieving greater things in life.
- Make Many Life-time Friends from around the World. We are living in a highly interconnected world. Relationship-building, trust-nurturing as well as global cultural literacy are vital skills to have in this century. Openness to learning and sharing builds our cross-cultural competencies that will help to create a better peaceful world for all.
- Learn to Give and Forgive. Growing up, my father has always reminded me that if you wish to live your life to the fullest, you have to take up generously giving to and forgiving others as a habit or lifestyle. He told me over and over to ‘engrave the good things others have done on a stone while marking the unpleasant ones on a water.’ This is how we can live a happy and meaningful life.
Over the past five years, I have been privileged to engage with people from all walks of life across Asia, nurturing them to become effective and ethical leaders in the region, while also learning from them. Looking back, I realize that where I am today is the result of my commitment to conduct all the items on the list over the 10 years throughout my 20s. I sincerely wish that readers who find this article helpful live their lives, regardless of their ages and generations, fully that brings heightened hope for our mankind.
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