Day 35

Something learned:

The strongest motivation has to come from within. 

People used to ask me whether MIT was a competitive environment, and I believed that it wasn't. Everyone there was extremely driven but as far as I could tell, the competition was really against themselves. I was just working to do my best, not to out-do others.

You had to be self-motivated to thrive in that environment. There were tons of opportunities, but you had to ask, not be given. That have been the most difficult adjustment for me, coming from a meritocratic society like Singapore, where if you performed your responsibilities well, things were just handed to you.

These days, it's much clearer in my head what I want, and what I'm willing to do to get it. My motivation is internal, and I get to make conscious decisions about the tradeoffs, and let go of regrets, knowing that I can't do it all, or make everyone else happy, but I'll do what I can and be at peace with it.

Today I was thankful for:

1. Seeing my kid get thrown into the water and having her bob up like a cork
2. Getting my stuff done so that I can go on vacation without worrying
3. Catching up with +Jason Rarick 
4. Running into +Yun-Yi Goh and family
5. Lovely evening with +Victor Huang and his family

A hope:

To have more puzzling time in 2014 and beyond.