brian.cui.blog

I see the opportunity

2010-11-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

I briefly watched a video of an awards assembly for a 21 year old guy who immigrated from Cuba. He reached a certain rank with a company he joined up with. One thing that said that was the deciding factor in his "success" was that he "saw the opportunity" and went with it.

What does it mean when you "see the opportunity"? What is it that you really see?

I saw what I could do when I finally had my first business meeting. I saw people's reactions immediately once I started feeding the attendees the information, and even actually knew if they did or did not want to sign up through their body language. I've been doing my business online via social media and blogs for the past year and a half, and never thought the to have a meeting a few steps from my bedroom.

When you see the opportunity, you envision yourself what you can really do to excel in an area of interest and actually see yourself enjoying it in the process.

I've been an adjunct instructor for a local technical college for the past 4 years and enjoy seeing my students reactions to my lectures and during discussion. But it never dawned on me that I could apply what I do in the classroom with my business.

After that first business meeting in my living room, I saw myself doing more meetings. I enjoyed putting on a presentation about an opportunity that others would want to join. And because I will be doing these meetings, I can teach others to offer the same presentations too.

With this system in place - I can definitely see the opportunity to be successful.

Teaching - the Ultimate Goal

2010-03-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

I took formal piano lessons for 8 years, and played trumpet for 6 years. I sure do miss playing the piano and having a good time.

My dream job is to play piano at a hotel lounge and chatting with people who come by and listen. But in order for that to happen, I need to work on my current muse that will fund my dream. I'd like to play piano without worries of ANYTHING.

My 2nd dream job is to teach others to play piano. I think it is very important to share what you have learned in life. It would seem very selfish to succeed in life and not share with others your experience in reaching your current status.

The first recipient of my music knowledge will by my kids in expectation that in their future they will share it with their kids [that's if they accept it in the first place]. My second recipients will be WILLING children wanting to understand the fundamentals of piano in order for them to understand the aesthetics of music.

Hear it, see it, do it, and then share it with as many people who want to receive it.

She Says It All

2010-02-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sans Rival

2010-02-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

Sans Rival (Almond Torte) is a Filipino desert that people have related to happiness once they take their first bite. The three basic ingredients include: eggs, butter, and sugar. The preparation time is one hour while cooking time is only 30-40 minutes. You can tell that this is a pain to make.

My first encounter was for a nursing home administrator's birthday in 2001 and it made it to my top desert list.

When my wife went home to the Philippines, the only thing I asked her was for Sans Rival.

So recently I decided to take on this venture of creating my own desire and it was not pretty. The recipe book I had was translated Filipino to English and made it very difficult to figure out what goes where and when.

The recipe is broke into two parts: the layers and the butter frosting. As you can see in the above picture layers are structured and and held together by the creamy frosting. That was not the case for me. I was very impatient, tasting the cake before it can even reach my mouth. I rushed through the butter frosting. It came out like pancake batter. I took the time to whip the egg whites, but then forgot to add in the almonds.

My cake came out like a layered crepe filled with a butter cream and almond sauce. Not what I was looking for, but the taste was there. The recipe was supposed to feed 10-12 people. Mine fed 4-5.

I've researched after that disaster and found some more details that will finally put the pieces to the puzzle. Cream of Tartar wil help with stiffening the eggs whites to create the fluffy layer. And this time I won't forget to fold in the almonds.

I will probably invest in a hand mixer to reduce the time I had to sit on the recliner beating egg whites while waiting for the SuperBowl to start.

Lastly I will need to be patient. I'm creating this cake out of the need to overcome a challenge I have placed upon myself. I'm hoping this will turn into a lucrative business!

But first Valentine's day is coming up. I must please the family's palate before moving to the public.

Wash, Rinse, and Repeat

2010-02-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Feburary 1st - 24 days till my 30th birthday. A couple months back I had a sense of urgency to accomplish as much as I can before my birthday. Now that I have about a month left, I don't think there's anything else that can be done.

It's not like I have to do everything I can because reaching 30 seems to me more like another beginning. Look, I finished college, got a job, started a family, and got a house. In my opinion these are things that need to be done by the time you reached 30.

The way I look at it, every year should be a chapter of your life where you take what you've learned and accomplished before and use them to forge your life's path for the next couple of years (wash, rinse, and repeat).

Healthcare is a Business

2010-01-29T06:21:00.000-08:00

I've been teaching for a few years now. And I love it when I actually learn something as I teach my students. That "Ah Ha!" moment where everything you have learned finally gets connected into a fluid stream of knowledge.

Here is my thought process:

Patient's come in the hospital for care.
Healthcare professionals document the care.
That document is stored in the medical record.
That medical record is abstracted for data collecting and stored into a computer.
That data is then processed as information and shown as a report..
That report ultimately goes to an organization that is requesting that report.
If that report does not go to the organizaton the hospital will either not get paid or will lose money.
Ultimate patient care equates to a dollar amount
So healthcare is a business.
The purpose of healthcare is to report patient care to organizations who wants to give money or take money away.

That Smokey White Material

2010-01-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

I really don't have a theme for this blog. Whatever comes to my mind needs to be captured. A good visual would be the Harry Potter Movie where the Headmaster (forgot his name and I'm not going to Google it) takes his wand and pulls out this smokey white material and dumps it in a little pool of water.

As my kids grow up, I try to capture all the moments on my digital devices. I like to go back and watch them and feel like I'm going back in time and reliving those short 30 second moments in time.

I like to go on Twitter and look over my tweets and see my different thoughts and rants over time.

I think if you just let your thoughts wander and pass you by, you will loose potential opportunities to capitalize on those thoughts.

Going back in time with my tweets, videos, pictures and blogs helps me connect my past with my present and encourage me to go on strong with my future.

So I'll have my mind continue to spew out smokey white material and put it in a jar for you all to see.

You Don't Quality

2010-01-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

I teach a group of students in the field of Health Information Technology. Recently a few of them gave me their resume to review. I reviewed the resumes and told them even though they don't have the experience in their field, that should not stop them from applying to an opportunity.

Basically it comes down to your personality. We recently interviewed a couple candidates for a position here at my job. All candidates were all experiened and skilled, which really makes a hard decision. But it all came down to how well that candidate can fit in with our group. [I know it's sad - but true]

When I started to look for opportunities, I applied to as many positions I could - even if I knew I did not qualify. This gave me a chance to understand and remember different interview questions [my favorite questions include, "What are your weakness" and "Why should we hire you"]. But after all those interviews, I learned that if you can make the interview a casual conversation as opposed to a question and answer session, then you're pretty much in.

Afraid of Success?

2010-01-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

I would really think people would be afraid of failure. But I never really thought about being afraid to succeed! Can this really hold back a person to reach their full potential?

I don't think it's success that should be feared; rather the consequence and responsibilities of being successful. My first thought of success would be more money, nice car, and a bigger house. But some may look at the other side of spectrum and see long hours, more projects, and more stress. I would rather be getting on a cruise ship instead of a burning building.

So what do you think of success?

Billboard in Your Face!

2010-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

I get alot of these opportunities offered to me.

"Hi so-n-so, I have an opportunity that will make you money up the ying-yang. You don't have to talk to anyone, sell anything, or even get on a computer. It's a PROVEN system that works while you sleep. Set it and forget it. Join now because I have alot of people signing up and I can only handle so much!"

I feel this person walked up to me and smashed a billboard up to my face expecting me to read and join his opportunity

My response: "Who are you?"...then take billboard and smash over person's head. The End