Self Discovery

After I decided to no longer continue with Bebarang, I was lost. I was confused about what I cared, who I was, my values, and my passion. I didn't like the fact that I didn't have answers to these fundamental questions. Well, I had all the time in the world, so I decided to go into self-discovery mode. I’m taking some time to tour NYC museums, attend Carnegie Hall orchestras, and meet new people. These things have allowed me to have more self reflection time and think about what I'm doing with my life.

With the help of few of my friends, I started asking questions about myself. I meant to ask questions to myself to understand my values, my passion, and what I want to do in this world. It helped me to begin discovering who I am. Some of them are:

What am I naturally curious about?

I’m always curious about the process of a system. I always seek out for thorough understanding of why things work the way they work. I don’t settle for surface level knowledge and love to ask the question “why.”

I’m always curious about how I can be a better person. I enjoy self-development and seek for personal development. I follow many thought leaders to learn new perspectives on life and how I can avoid the mistakes others have made.

What would I like to change about the world?

I’d like to make the world smarter: smarter for people to have more opportunities to live a fulfilling life. I want to change about the world so that people can easily discover new ways to live a happier life.

As I thought more about myself and my entrepreneurial side kicking in, I decided to make a quick elevator pitch about me - Allen Kim.

Elevator Pitch

I am capable of challenging the status quo and bring up ideas that may be difficult to be brought up. I am capable of speaking my mind respectfully and not let others dictate my vision. I’m energized by tough challenges.

• My greatest strength is my achievement-oriented personality. I am eager to take action and see results. I am highly motivated and optimistic. At best, I ensure that my actions are focused rather than letting momentum take over.
• I’m a hustler. I know how to leverage my resources to get things done. I have great ability to analyze business strategy, customers, and competitors to understand where the business stands and how to move forward.
• I know what I stand for. My actions are rooted in a stable set of values. I am able to walk what I talk and portray sense of authenticity and character. 

Challenges I continue to improve

Keep learning – I encourage myself to push past my comfort zone and enter unfamiliar terrain. I like to challenge myself to seek out opportunities to cross-team, or even lateral moves that will allow me to exercise new skills. I don't want to believe I'm meant to be just an engineer.

Think solutions – Identifying problems is an important part of any job, but looking deep into the heart of a problem and coming up with a great solution is what I think separates the truly nimble from the rest.

Being compassionate – Through Bebarang experience, I’ve been able to understand the value of compassion among team members. This is something I really want to practice and exercise harder. In the end, people are what matters most.

Be accessible – I will make sure to be more accessible to others and make room for off-line discussions and spontaneous meetings.

Treat others, as you’d like to be treated – Couldn’t be more straightforward than this. I will practice to respect others’ privacy, give honest and compassionate feedback, and show flexibility and tolerance around limitation.

Having the opportunity to reflect on my life at this time of my life I think is really great. I helps me understand what I ought to strive for and what I want to do with my life in the future. I hope to continue going through this process to better understand my self to make smarter choices moving forward.