Ken Okazaki

8Dec/110

How to Be Great – According to Ken

Although you can measure greatness in any way you like, and I respect them all, one thing I know from my experience is that leaning beyond your comfort zone toward your dreams is what expands your capabilities, and opens doors to greater possibilities.

The more often you lean beyond your comfort zone the easier it becomes, and the easier it becomes, the greater steps you take and soon you'll be doing things that you didn't think were possible for you or thought you didn't even want to do.

We all have dreams, some buried deep down from the first time we were made fun of as a child, but we all have them.
The people who are doing something about it, actively reaching out toward their dream in some way each day are the ones who have direction, drive, motivation and guts.

It's just a choice, not natural talent or ability that defines who is happy in the end. For those who are completely filled up and satisfied with where their life is now, I applaud you because you have now what most millionaires today thought they could achieve through their many accomplishments.

There are different things that each of us need to achieve in life to feel complete. When you can say to yourself "If I die today I will die happy because I know I have done the absolute maximum with what God has given me in my life." then you have reached the level of greatness that I aspire to.

Filed under: My Journey, My Passion, My Play, My Thinking No Comments

8Dec/110

9-5er’s

If everyone worked at their jobs 9-5, there would be no Thomas Edison, Wright Brothers, Mother Theresa, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, and anybody who's made a difference on the world stage.

People who feel that by quitting their 9-5 jobs they threaten the world financial system should not.

But there are those who want more.

Some want the chance, no, even just a faint possibility of attaining the extra-ordinary.

They will give up their "ordinary" existence in exchange for risk, adventure, danger, living life on their own terms, and ultimately FREEDOM.

The real threat is not that everyone quits their 9-5 jobs, but rather that those who have, the Mark Zuckerburgs, Ingvar Kamprads, Nelson Mandelas, Bill Gates's and Anthony Robbins's return to a 9-5 existence.

But in reality there is no threat either way because those who have tasted the extra-ordinary can never go back, and those who choose to continue to find reasons why they cannot will always find a reason.

As for world financial stability? With the vast majority of the world financial power's citizens working to make someone else rich, and the world economy the way it is now, do you really think there is a risk?

Really?

Filed under: My Life, My Passion, My Thinking No Comments

1Aug/110

iPhone Killer is Finally Here!

iPhone Killer

iPhone Killer is Finally Here!

How many times have you heard that line before? Or how about the iPod killer? Will there ever be an iPhone iPad or iPod killer? Short answer: no.

The question itself demonstrates that it most likely won't happen. iPhone, iPad, and iPod are names of products which have created a new market category, so to ask if there will be an iPhone killer is like trying to out-Apple Apple, or out-Steve Steve Jobs.

When Wal-Mart started their online sales system, they were up against an already well-established online shopping giant, Amazon. Of course Wal-Mart, being the giant company that it was is well established in their own right. But when working on their marketing strategy, they kept getting caught up in matching what Amazon was doing, instead of innovating. Then someone got the brilliant idea to put up a big sign in the office which read "You Can't Out-Amazon Amazon!"

That's not to say that other products are inferior in any way, but creating a product specifically to be a whatever-killer is going to end you up with another me-too product, not innovation.

So just be yourself, remembering that creativity comes from within. And don't start flaming me all you Apple haters!

Filed under: Uncategorized No Comments

15Jul/110

If You Need to Be Told What to Do You’re a Dinosaur!

It used to be okay if you simply showed up for work on time, obeyed instructions, did everything according to the manual, and expected to have a decent career.

Actually, it is still possible, if you want a job flipping burgers or work in a factory assembly line. But even that is not going to last long, at the rate those kind of jobs are being replaced by machines or going to China.

Creativity and innovation is needed in every level of your company right now!

Your boss or supervisor is probably going crazy trying to dream up a great new method of doing things and hoping it will drop right onto his lap.

You can become that dream.

The next time you get an assignment from you boss, instead of blindly following instructions, ask yourself why it needs to be done, and if there is a better way to do it. Bring it up to your boss, respectfully, of course. If he thinks you are a pain in the ass, and decides to fire you, then it was probably not a great place to build your career anyway.

But chances are that over time he will see your creativity and initiative and when times are tough you will have made yourself so valuable that you will be practically immune to downsizing.

Statistics show that the employees considered most valuable are not the ones to follow instructions to a T without any objection (any high school flunky can do that!), but the ones who constructively share their criticisms, and often.

Don't try to become your boss's friend, become his most valuable employee -- or partner!

Tagged as: burgers, creativity, Dinosaur, downsizing, factory, innovation No Comments

23Jun/111

Stop Counting Your Blessings…

… If you want more out of your life.
OK, maybe that's a little extreme, but let me explain:
Counting your blessings is great if you need or want to feel good about yourself, or to just be happy overall. If you're depressed, discouraged, or suicidal, then go ahead and count your blessings, watch some cute kittens on YouTube, grab a beer and chill!

Life is good! Or so you tell yourself as you sit in a threadbare couch and watch TV on a 17" screen.

But some people actually want more. Some people want abundance in their lives. Some people want more options. The choice to have what they actually want on the menu, not what they can afford. The choice to pick the color and full options on their car instead of getting whatever they can afford at the used car lot. The choice to live in the country of their dreams.
Getting these kind of results is not easy, and certainly much harder than counting your blessings and feeling good about yourself.
To get these results you need one of two things:
1. A burning, unquenchable desire, or:
2. Pain.

The desire that I speak of can come from just about anything, like seeing someone else living the dream and knowing that you must have it too, at any cost. Or it can be something you're born with, the urge to be the best at everything you do.

The thing I want to talk about here though, is pain. Pain can be manufactured at will, and is a very powerful tool to obliterate seemingly immovable obstacles.

If you want to drastically improve your life and your situation, then STOP COUNTING YOUR BLESSINGS. It reminds me of the joke about the pharmacist who accidentally prescribed antidepressants to a patient who was supposed to get antidiarrheal medication. Upon realizing his error, he immediately called the man and asked if everything is OK, to which the patient replied: "I feel just fine, but there's shit all over the house."

Allow some fire to build up under the comfort of your seat and welcome the pain because it represents potential progress!

Last of all, have faith that it will happen, that you WILL get the results that you desire.