Dreams and Aspirations
Savvy Saturdays - 9/5/20
Hello friends,
Greetings from Austin! 👋
I grew up with a lot of different dreams:
Becoming a violinist and music performer like Lindsey Stirling or Piano Guys. 🎶
Becoming a video game creator of the next big Minecraft or Call of Duty.
Becoming a famous YouTuber over some type of content (video game, music covers, or comedy skits).
Becoming a missionary in a foreign country like some of my home church pastors.
Each of these dreams was inspired based on the season I was going through:
Music was my passion growing up (played violin, piano, and guitar). I loved the expression of it, whether through worship or through moving my body in strategic positions at specific times to denote a jam.
Video games were one of my favorite hobbies, and most of my evenings during middle & high school was spent on these things. I hoped I could create a game that others would find themselves entertained for as many hours as I had (as well as rage).
YouTube is where I spent most of my life (besides music, video games, & church), and I was inspired by many different content creators. I believed that if people like NigaHiga and KevJumba (OG YouTube) could do it, maybe I could too.
Faith is pretty core and I grew up in the church. With a mindset of “all or nothing”, as well as many people I respected going off to serve and care for those in need, I felt that I had to take up that calling and responsibility in some form/fashion.
As time went on though, dreams faded, and none of them listed above were achieved. The cool thing is that each of the dreams persisted in different aspects.
I did social dance during college (waltz, swing, salsa, etc…), enjoy worshipping to Christian music (my reflection playlist), and love dancing to tunes by myself like this person.
I still play video games on and off with friends (currently play Among Us).
I create blog posts and newsletters instead of videos.
I serve in my church and am always questioning where my future mission field is. ⛪
As new dreams pop up, my hope is that whether they are achieved or die off within a week, they will inspire and continue to change me for who I am.
Thanks for checking in on the update! 🙂
What dreams did y’all have growing up? How have they changed since then? Would love to hear from y’all! 😄
That aside, we started our first week of Life Group, which is our church’s small group gathering. Being online instead of meeting up in person is not the best environment, but it has been good to connect with peeps, vision cast, and set an identity.
Though I’m uncertain with the future in leading, (and honestly slightly anxious) I know God will use it to continue to stretch and grow me, and I’m praying that He’ll continue to reveal His truth, wisdom, and grace through it all. 🙏
I’ve also upgraded my website a lot. 💪
I used CSS Grids to create a grid-like structure (shown below), and been iterating based on feedback from my designer friend, Jacob:
If you want to check out the live site, it’s linked here (ericjmlee.com)!
I’m always looking for constructive feedback, so if you have any to offer, let me know! 😬
Finally, I am planning to transition this newsletter (ericlee.substack.com) to a be private platform for personal connections only.
So if you’re not subscribed, make sure to SMASH that subscribe button. (haha what a meme, but seriously if you’re not subscribed, you won’t be seeing me no more. 😳)
Initially, my vision for this newsletter was to share the best resources I found in my specific field (faith, entrepreneurship & productivity), just as many other newsletters do (5-Bullet Friday by Tim Ferris, Hackernewsletter, The Hustle, etc…).
As time went on though, I started to deviate from that vision, began to share more personal updates, and found it difficult to separate my private and professional life.
And that’s why this newsletter will be privatized, so readers not subscribed won’t be able to see it on the website, and I’ll be posting resources on a separate platform!
To be honest, nothing changes for y’all. 😅
I’ll continue to share personal insights, updates, & resources, but I’m sure you’ll see another form of my newsletter elsewhere, so don’t be confused if you see it! 👀
Anyways, here are several photos from this past week 📷:
(Japanese steak dinner made by one of my friends - 10/10 would eat again 🤤)
(buying indoor sandals was the best move I’ve made.. can’t believe it took me 23 years to do this 👴)
(playing the game, Among Us - everyone wore the cheese head prop)
Anyways, thanks for reading y’all! Please stay safe, keep it savvy, and I’ll see y’all in the next update 😊
Weekly Collections
Faith
“Tears can be telling (I’m speaking here of real tears, not fake ones). Tears can tell you what you love, what you regret, what you desire, what you miss. Tears tell you what you consider glorious or hideous. And, of course, tears tell you what breaks your heart.
A lack of (real) tears is also telling. Dry eyes can indicate a deficit of love, or regret, or desire. They can indicate a lack of appreciation for what is glorious and a lack of abhorrence for what is hideous. And they can indicate a heart unwilling to break in the face of heartbreaking realities.”
—Lord, Heal Our Dry Eyes | DesiringGod
Entrepreneurship
A paradoxically humble reminder of how success is not from ourselves. Though hard work is involved, there is also a component of luck as well as the support from others.
How beautiful tiny advantages can make all the difference with success.
—Is Success Luck or Hard Work? | Veritasium
Productivity
“We invite distractions into our lives. There's a part of us that wants to get distracted.
Why do we do that, when we're aware that getting distracted can interfere with some of our most important goals in life?
Because we seek stimulation.
This constant lookout for more stimulation can have disastrous effects on our levels of focus, as our work tends to live below the desired levels of stimulation most of the time.
Work often is not immediately as stimulating as distractions. It can't compete with all the social fun of the Internet or the high-fidelity high-speed interactivity of video games.
Don't make it compete. Don't try to go immediately from high stimulation of fun to low stimulation of work. Take a break before you switch.
Overstimulation is not a good default mode to be in.
Systematically reduce your normal stimulation levels.
Or in other words, get bored more often.”
—How to use boredom to procrastinate less | deprocrastination
Weekly Reflections
Horseshoe Theory
Extreme opposites tend to look the same. For example, a far-right movement and a far-left movement can be equally violent or desire a similar outcome. People on both sides are more similar to each other than they are to people in the center.
—(50 Ideas That Changed My Life | David Perell)
Verse of the Week
“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you mus be your slave, even as the the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
—Matthew 20:26-28
Challenging Quote
“One must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty, until you try.”
—Sophocles
If you guys have found the newsletter to be helpful, I would love to hear from you on what’s been good, any suggestions for improvement, and anything else you’d like to see!
Please don’t be shy to let me know and thanks in advance!