J .H. Hyun - Outswimming the Sharks: Overcoming Adversities, Naysayers, and Other Obstacles to Lead a Meaningful Life

OUTSWIMMING
THE SHARKS

OVERCOMING ADVERSITIES, NAYSAYERS, and
OTHER OBSTACLES to LEAD a MEANINGFUL LIFE

J. H. HYUN

Published by Emerald Book Company
Austin, Texas
www.emeraldbookcompany.com

Copyright 2011 Joong H. Hyun

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by Emerald Book Company

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Emerald Book Company at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LLC and Alex Head
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC

LCCN: 2011922766

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-934572-94-8

Ebook Edition

For my beautiful and most precious wife, YoonJeong.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to
mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will
also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

I Corinthians 10:13

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 17: Will Mommy Love Me Half as Much?
Learn to Share

PREFACE

In the summer of 2006, I was promoted to a vice president position for a multibillion-dollar, U.S.-based, global medical device company. It was a week before my thirty-seventh birthday, and I believe I was the youngest person ever to become a senior executive VP within the organization.

Once the official corporate-wide announcement was made, I received dozens of congratulatory e-mails and phone calls. I must admit that I, too, was pretty proud of myself. The good-wish e-mails, phone calls, and handshakes continued for several weeks, but unfortunately, my self-pride didnt last too long.

On my way home late that same night, I felt a sudden surge of emptiness. The fact that there was no one at home to greet me or congratulate me was difficult to accept. The fact that I had no family of my own or any other loved ones immediately available to share the good news with made me question whether I had been climbing the right ladder. In less than twelve hours, what had been the proudest achievement in my professional career had quickly turned into one of the loneliest moments in my life.

I had overcome many naysayers at work, less than ideal family circumstances, prolonged financial struggles, and several other sharks in reaching what many would consider worldly success. In my relentless journey to reach the peak of my chosen profession, however, I had forgotten what is truly important in life. I had been, for the most part, meandering through the maze of my own life without a clear focus and ultimate destination in mind. I had allowed other people and events to dictate my direction. I desperately needed to reevaluate and rebalance my priorities.

For the most part, I consider myself extremely fortunate and blessed in many ways. As a nave child growing up in Seoul, I never imagined I would have the opportunities I have hadthe places I have visited, education I have received, people I have met and worked with, positions I have held, and high-level business decisions I have played a part in, to name a few. I know many people who are far more intelligent and competent than I am who have not had these opportunities. For this, I remain truly grateful.

However, like everyone else, I have confronted, and continue to confront, my fair share of sharks. My past sharks include the untimely death of my father, severe and prolonged financial struggles, the shameful and sudden loss of a home, an emotionally draining breakup, unexpected derailment from a promising career, several horrible bosses (whom I believe are closely related to Satan), backstabbing coworkers, borderline insane clients, and loss of self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth. Over the years I have learned to tolerate and even appreciate the presence of these sharks. I no longer expect or wish for a shark-free life. All great achievements in history came about in the midst of and as a reaction to atrocious shark attacks. To reach your full potential, you need formidable sharks to tame and conquer in your life. This is one of the most important and valuable life lessons I have learned. Even if a shark-free life were possible, it wouldnt be worth living.

There will always be sharks in your life to throw you off course and make reaching your full life potential a bit more challenging. I hope this book will help you set the right goals, stay focused on achieving them, and evaluate your progress to ensure that you remain on the right path. You can and must do this regardless of and in the midst of the sharks in your life. This is what it takes to live a meaningful life.

Most lessons discussed in this book are from actual experiences I had, and others are from stories I read or heard that made a profound, lasting impact in my life. Some are humorous, some are a bit unusual, and others were pretty painful and unpleasant to go throughbut each situation provided a valuable lesson I wish to share with you. In many instances, the lessons were not clear to me until several years later. Nevertheless, there were definite, valuable lessons gained from all these situations, which helped me to develop and grow as a person. I also have many regrets and have made plenty of mistakes worth sharing to prevent you from repeating them.

In addition to my own experiences, I will draw on others successes and failures. I have closely observed dozens of successful people. I cant think of a single successful person who didnt have to face, stand tall against, and overcome his or her own set of naysayers, personal tragedies, major setbacks, and many other shark species. These people used their sharks as opportunities to grow personally and to better the lives of others. My decision to write this book provided an opportunity for me to reflect on and evaluate their character, behavior, leadership styles, and habits. On the flip side, I have seen others who never fully achieved levels deserving of their effort, competency, and potential. Summarizing these lessons into an easily digestible format has been an exceptional experience. I hope you will find them useful in reaching your full potential and enriching your life, both professionally and personally.