September — Trip to Japan and Getting Motivation
What you do everyday more than what you do once in a while.
本文原本發在我個人的Newsletter上。厭煩了太多太雜的公眾號，也想每周末收到我定製給你的郵件直接閱讀？點擊這裡，即可訂閱：Zake Zhang
Welcome to the No.22 Edition of
THE REVIEW ARMY
This email was originally posted on my newsletter.
September — Trip to Japan and Getting Motivation
September is also a big month for me in 2017.
For the first time, I was invited to SlushUp local event to talk about VR. As our product development is coming to the end, we are getting more and more pressure on keeping the potential business partners, as well as finding new ones.
And luckily we have National Holidays in early October, which gives me a chance to really get away from the work and relax. I went to Japan as I planned, and right now I just finished a super early morning hike in Fushimi Inari Shrine, sitting in a local Starbucks and writing this review…
Work
In general, I』m taking more and more responsibility at work, and the tasks I』m doing includes every aspect of a product. Researching, copywriting, product planning, UI/UX design, testing and updating…
And yes I』m improving on my product skills, but haven』t learned that much on VR development. I know there』s a balance between what you really want to do and reality, especially when you are building a startup, first you need to make money and have a persuasive business model.
Even our founder is such a big figure in industry, we are still making adjustment to the product, and fit business partners』 needs.
However, as we changed the focus from VR to 180/360 degree videos, then normal videos, my passion and motivation are also declining. I』m pretty sure I won』t jump to other firms at this point, but how to get back my motivation and passion is the problem to be solved.
Life
Not much difference, but I went to hospital to take a X-ray photo of my neck.
People like me are always on their cellphone and PC at least 12 hours a day, which means we may have bad habits using them. Always lowering our head is the most crucial one, which leads to serious spine problem when we get old.
To start living a healthier life, simply by changing your daily sitting posture, and get your body moving.
Side Project
I feel like the side project should not just be my weekly/monthly post, but also something interesting to keep my life funny.
The series To Be A Product Manager and monthly review are too goal-oriented, I do that simply because I want to make it easier to move to other country and get a new job.
However, life should be more than just work. This month』s freestyle rap challenge is a good try, and I will keep looking for funny stuff.
What I』m Reading
1. Why More and More Chinese Young People Hate Spending Time with Their Relatives?
This is what I randomly found on Zhihu the other day. The top answers tell the truth of what young people really want to say to their relatives, but due to some pressure they cannot say it directly.
For those who have no idea what Chinese will do during their New Year, we gather with so called 「relatives」 who we are only going to see once or twice a year. This is the moment that we need to spend time with people we don』t like or don』t even know, and pretend to be really close family.
It』s okay to have or keep your old traditional thinking, since we are living in different worlds. But it is way too rude to ask young people to live the way you want to live. If this the best way of living, why aren』t you fight for it instead of talking about it?
Simply go out of places you are familiar with, you will see lives with so many possibilities.
Usually I go home to visit people I care about the most, like my parents, grandparents and some cousins, and it will take you only 3 days at most. Next Chinese New Year will be my third new year of not staying with my family since I turned 21. My family are okay with it, and also encourage me to go out and explore more while I』m young.
And I want to end this part with a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer:
There is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness … because the less man is compelled to come into contact with others, the better off he is.
2. The 90% Agreement Rule
This blog post discusses about the bias we hold when we are communicating with others, and how we should talk wisely. Although we have 90% agreement in general, usually we ignore it and only focus on what we disagree on.
3. Should I wait for 『the dream』 job or take whatever comes my way?
This is Julie Zhuo』s latest blog post, and I really like the 3 questions at the end of the passage, as also a wise way to answer the question in the title.
1. What are the values of the organization and team I will be working with and do they jive with my own values? 2. What can I learn from the people I』ll be working with? 3. Will I get to do what I do best?
4. Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (Full Documentary)
What I』m Learning
1. VR Development
Keep following the online courses and build up my VR development skills. Currently finishing VR intro and 80% Unity』s development tools.
ACFUN | Bilibili
2. Freestyle Rap
The other day I had an idea of freestyle rapping every day for a month, and see what I will come up with at the end. So far I enjoy the process and really have a lot of fun after work. And I plan to share with you the videos I record for every freestyle rap at the end of Oct.
3. The Possibility of Moving to Japan
It turns out this is definitely not something impossible, actually easier to move to Japan than USA, once you get a job offer or start your own business, it』s really convenient to get a work visa.
4. 50 Best Online University Courses
Haven』t started yet, but good to share with you.
What I』m Doing
1. VR Development Video Tutorials
The videos tutorials are taking all my weekend time. In the past month, I also go to office every Saturday and Sunday, recording videos and editing them.
I will reconsider whether I should keep doing that once I finish the rest of the basic part of VR development, because I』m not having a lot of fun doing that.
2. Travelling in Japan
Ongoing… But I』m about to post an article on my WeChat Chinese blog and a travel video very soon.
Thanks for reading and continuous support. Hope you find this email helpful, and I』m looking forward to hearing from yours!
「What you do everyday more than what you do once in a while.」
Warm Regards,
Zake
本文原本發在我個人的Newsletter上。厭煩了太多太雜的公眾號，也想每周末收到我定製給你的郵件直接閱讀？點擊這裡，即可訂閱：Zake Zhang
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