Michael Pay

In the beginning we have to get to know each other. You have to trust that I am a sane person with no major mental issues, and you have to believe that I have no alternative motives to betray your trust. So these blogs up until January or February will be reserved for a trust building exercise. To get to know each other.

Studies after studies have suggested that speaking multiple languages contributes to certain aspects of the human intellect. You’re less likely to get Alzheimer’s and some other jazz about being better off. Starting off with human psychology, because we’re all human and that’s what we’re all interested in. The idea of confirmation bias: we like what we already like. And many other selfish biases that makes us remember things that suggests we’re better people than we are. I speak multiple languages: English, Mandarin, and a hint of Spanish. And I remembered the previous fact about Alzheimer’s because I speak multiple languages. If you speak multiple languages, you probably remembered that fact more than people that didn’t, and now you feel better about yourself.

If you know me in real life, some part of your unconscious may label me as not the confident type. It’s not because I’m not, most people know somewhere deep down that confidence is built. I’m not a fan of confidence. It’s overhyped. The confident person is not necessarily the person that’s the most capable, but the one that speaks with the most volume and the most upright. Lesson 1: We’re all biased for ourselves, constantly giving us reasons to be confident. However, confidence makes us blind to deficiencies and opportunities to grow and improve. It robs us of our unlimited potential.

Be humble about things. The truth is, we’re in a global economy. Trust me, buddy, you’re not the sharpest razor.

You want to know the secret to becoming a trillionaire? Be open-minded. See your deficiencies. Be around people who are better than you. Whatever area you are from tech to medical, there are those that are better than you. Learn from those people, learn things that you know would help you be better. Most importantly, be persistent. Get joy out of bettering yourself, if not for you, do it for the world.

Listen to me. Listen to me closely. Every word I say I mean from the bottom of my heart and now I’m willing to write it down and make it stick. People say 0’s and 1’s make things eternal. A word published on the internet is to stay forever. That’s good. Let these truths come through and prove themselves in the years to come, on to the future and for as long as the human race lives. Let these words begin today.

I’m not a genius, contrary to popular belief. As I’m writing this I am currently serving in the United States Marine Corps. In fact I’m actually deployed right now and typing this document on a Microsoft Word document hoping to upload this onto the internet when I get connectivity again in my next Liberty Port, which will be in the majestic Emirate of Dubai. I never quite understood why people stuck me with the label “Smart,” which I actually liked at first. Being smart gives you a lot of perks, people come to you for help on things and that makes you feel important. Your name gets passed around and everyone comes to know you as the guy with the answers. That’s all great to a certain extent, such as when you think it’s best to have a policy letter to say certain things and almost without questioning, your suggestions gets incorporated into the final draft. Or when you create a flow chart of the reporting process for the 600 million dollars-worth of equipment and you suggest that certain steps should be taken out to make the whole thing run more smoothly. Being labeled smart can move mountains.

I guess the reason for this whole rant is to get us started on the right foot. That personally, I do not believe myself to be more “gifted,” “smarter,” “born genius,” or “talented” than any one of you right now. There are people who knows less, no doubt, and we all suck at certain things more than others, but that’s the wrong way of looking at it. It’s about potential, and to what extent we’re willing to push ourselves towards. And we all have potential.