These last few weeks i’ve been tweeting random, sometimes cheesy “Mick-isms.” I really liked this one about planning. Here’s one about dreaming (continued). Another about confidence, and one about work-ethic. And to acknowledge my own cheesyness, I tweeted this.

It made me wonder if I could somehow summarize how I see the world, in just one post. So i’ll attempt to do that here. Bring on the cheese. :) Hopefully it sheds some light on my values, my personality, and my vision. I’m sure I missed a lot… but this is a good start.

Family

Taking care of my family and making sure they are happy is the most important thing to me. Everything else will always be secondary. I’m constantly reminding myself of this as it’s easy to slip into the grind of insane startup hours and forget what actually matters most in life. “No success in the world can compensate for failure in the home.” I’m lucky. Super lucky.

Dreaming

I dream big. There’s no other way to dream. Life is too short to constantly be playing it safe and bunting to get on first. I live life to hit home runs. I’m convinced God wants us all to be swinging for the fences. “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

Victory

I wanna win. I demand it. And I expect it. This confidence is probably my biggest weakness. It’s also my biggest strength. I hate losing more than I love winning. I’m a killer competitor. I’m relentless. I will always find a way to win.

Defeat

I’m not afraid to fail. It happens sometimes. I lose. I fail. As hard as it is to accept, i’ve come to appreciate it. It gets me one step closer to victory. It’s hard to savor the sweet taste of success unless you’ve felt the bitter, sour taste of defeat. But don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I hate more than not coming in 1st.

Learning

I love to learn. If we’re not learning, we’re not progressing. And that is deadly. It’s one of the purposes of life. I really enjoy reading and understanding new trends, technologies and skills. And I love to surround myself with people who are interesting and smart, so I can constantly be learning. :)

Underdog

I don’t mind when people doubt me or my ideas. Haters gonna hate. I use it as fuel to work harder. Proving people wrong has been the story of my life. I operate best as an underdog. I’ll sneak up and surprise when no one expects it. I’m a silent assassin.

Integrity

One’s honor and integrity is the essence of one’s soul. These are characteristics I hold in highest regard, and can only be earned over time. I do my best to be honest, moral, and ethical in everything I do. Hopefully anyone who has worked with me would agree.

Personality

I come across as a layed-back guy. If you were to peak inside my brain, you’d see a different story. I’m always thinking. Always processing. Always working. Always calculating my next move. Life is a chess game, and I try to stay 10 moves ahead. My mind often overheats. The intensity and passion keeps me awake at night.

Vision

I’m a builder, a creator. I hope to continue to build startups for a very long time. Startups are my passion. But eventually and perhaps in parallel, my ultimate vision is to be in a position that I can serve and share with others. My parents have been great examples of being charitable and generous with their resources. They weren’t rich, but they were always willing to give and share what they had. And I see people like Bill and Melinda Gates and what they’re doing to make the world a better place — I can’t help but be inspired. I wanna do that someday, in my own small world. Having an abundance of resources or knowledge is a heavy burden to bear, we’re expected to do good with it.

Happiness

I like to have fun. It’s easy to obsess over reaching the end goal, and not enjoy the journey. I do my best to enjoy every step of the way. Life is too short to not smile every single day and be happy. I believe that we are on this earth to grow, learn, and find happiness. I try to surround myself with people who are happy, and who make me happy. And when storms come — they always do — we adapt and roll with the punches together.

The Conclusion

Whether you see the world the way I see it or not is irrelevant. The beauty of life is that we’re constantly meeting and intersecting with new and interesting people, celebrating their uniqueness, learning from their experiences, and sharing moments that might change our life. Life would be too boring any other way.

If you feel a desire to connect with me, ping me. I always enjoy meeting new people.