Pacquiao, Janet, and Yinbo

I watched Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao knock out David Diaz, with my coworkers Kathleen and Weihan. It was pretty cute, Kathleen is Filipino so whenever Pacquiao got hit she would go "oh no".

There's been a lot of commentary about Pacquiao being a historic figure, for the first time giving Asian boxers legitimacy. And he does it in a big way. 1) he's now considered the pound for pound champion. 2) he doesn't fight the way a stereotypical "Asian" would. Instead of fighting smart and careful, he fights like Tyson, aggressive and powerful. I think it's great to see a guy like this breaking stereotypes, knocking out the legendary Mexican boxers left and right.

It'd be great if he really did set the stage for more Asian boxers to fight. He's a great guy, and a very good role model.

There's a lot of stupid stereotypes out there about Asians, but I think Ichiro in baseball, Yao Ming in basketball, Liu Xiang in track and field, and Manny Pacquiao in boxing will go a long way in terms of fighting ignorance and erasing stereotypes.


Recently, I think my dream for my life has become more clear than ever, that I want to bring something really special to human civilization and become a motivational speaker. My old old and best friend Janet from back home has all the potential, intelligence, and ability in the world. For the longest time, I've been highly critical of her allowing others to dictate her life, studying for teachers, or letting things get in the way of her dreams. The one thing I did not want, was for her to succumb to the pressure and become a doctor or something. Yeah, it looks good, it makes a lot of money, but I think you have only one life, and you gotta go for your dream. Last week, I got a really great letter from Janet, thanking me for my support and advice on life. Janet now has an awesome internship at Disney, and is in position to achieve her dreams, which has always been to work for Disney.

Janet wrote me, "You've taught me a lot about dreaming big and not being afraid to follow them through, so thanks for that. Without you, I'd probably be premed and lost in life. Please don't ever lose your optimism and self-confidence that's unshakeable - that's what defines Michael Zhuang"

It really makes me feel great to see this. I love Janet and she really is one of the best friends I have on this planet.

I also talked to great lengths with another really close friend, Yinbo. Yinbo has an amazing mind, incredibly gifted at math and physics. He's doing his PHD in physics at UCSB next semester. He can be a little backward minded though.

The one point I wanted to get through to Yinbo is the following. Of the people who openly proclaim today, "I'm going to achieve my big dream and be great", only 1% of those people will eventually achieve their dream.

However, of people who have achieved their big dream, 100% of them openly claimed "I'm going to achieve my big dream and be great."

So many people are afraid to go for their dreams because they are afraid to be one of those 99% who fail. There is no shame in not achieving your dream if you give it your all. But running from your dream from fear of the embarrassment of failing is just fooling oneself. You're not helping yourself in the end if you think that way.

It's like a psychological defense, aim low, so in case you fail, you won't feel bad. But you're just fooling yourself in the end. So dare to dream, think big, and go for it. Nobody will laugh at you for trying, and if they do, they're just idiots and it doesn't matter. I love Yinbo so I want to see him achieve his dreams and be happy. I hope I can help him to do that. He said that my words provoked deep thought in him, so I hope he'll come around and cast away his fears.

Anyway, thanks a lot to Janet and Yinbo for making my dream ever so clear. I'm going to reach my dream, of having the world's most innovative company that brings great things that human civilization would otherwise never see. Then, I'm gonna be a motivational speaker, and hope I can help the younger generation achieve their dreams. That's my dream.


I told my Japanese friend, Shoko, "If you're 40 and i'm 40 and we're both not married yet, lets get married". She said "Ok! Good idea!". So I guess that's pretty cool and funny.