Guess what?

There is not a silver bullet that will make leadership easy. No books, blogs, twitter feeds, conferences or advice will have a magic formula to take away the challenges of leadership. It’s that simple. There is no secret formula. The tools only help alleviate the pain or dare I say, numb the reality.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I do believe there is value in the tools.

However, when the day I comes where I can truly embrace “Leadership is hard. Get over it.”, will be the day a leader is born.

Hopefully, that day will come soon.

What ya’ll think?

Another chapter has begun in my life. I don’t know what to make of it but it’s extremely exciting yet terrifying. It is a great way that I can Love God and Love People.

Therefore, this Story of Yellow turns another corner and becomes a blog, chronicling my next season in my new role at Newsong.

In order to give my all to the new responsibilities, the services offered by Story of Yellow will be on hold. Thank you to all the amazing clients that have partnered with me to breathe life into dreams. It was a pleasure serving you.

And so with that, join me on this next season of my story.

In less than a week, world changers and creatives will convene in Long Beach, California for the Ideation Conference and i2i with Scott Belsky. For me, these two events are critical for people who want to make this world a better place.

This year the theme is “Love People. Invest Good.”

Why I love the two events?

1. Charles Lee: There are only a few people in this world, I would do almost anything for. And he is one of them. Not only is he an ideator, connector, and advocate for the unseen, he is also an amazing and generous teacher. I have learned so much from him and is a key reason why Story of Yellow exists.

2. The People: It’s rare to be in a space with this curated group of people who simply love people and do good. Everyone, speakers and attendees, are all there to help each other. They come to share their stories and best practices of how they are working to make a difference. They are not only dreamers, but doers. And they all work extremely hard to do it well.

3. Friendship: A lot of the people there will be fellow ideacampers and friends made from last year’s event. A lot of my key relationships were birth from these events.

4. Scott Belsky: As a creative, Scott Belsky resources like Action Method, his book “Making Ideas Happen“, the99percent.com and Behance.net has been amazing tools in developing Story of Yellow. Wednesday’s event, i2i with Scott Belsky, is a rare opportunity to spend time with him. I call him the Seth Godin of the creatives.

I hope these reasons convince you to sign up. I’m looking forward to connection with you all there. Email me for a 20% promo code on registration.

I want to bring clarity to the purpose of my core values.

I recently realized that some of you may think that it was created to help me reach a life of structure and stability. A life of balance and comfort. An easier life.

Well, it’s not.

Saying I love God is easy, but doing it with all my heart, soul and mind is not. Loving people, especially the enemies seems almost impossible.

It’s not easy keeping things simple. It’s really hard to pour you life into everything. It’s a struggle to tell the truth. It’s difficult to be generous, and it’s just easier to react to circumstance than to respond to possiblities.

My hope is to strive, even in a life of discomfort, to have love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Too many people are looking towards the answer to make life easier. My hope is to make my life more intentional, purposeful and impactful, even if it means, I will be in discomfort.

When you are comfortable, it’s easier to fall asleep. Is that how I want to live my life? Asleep?

Or do I want to be awaken and kept awake by the discomfort to live out the God-Given significance he has planned for me.

These core values are the pillars of my life of discomfort.

This year, instead of making New Year Resolutions, I wrote out a prayer. However, some close friends said it was too vague and can’t be measured.

So in response to that, here are my metrics for 2011.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

What are your metrics?

Every since I can remember, New Years Eve has been my favorite day of the year. It trumps Valentines, Easter, Thanksgiving and yes, even Christmas.

In my twenties, it was spent with the masses. The pre-party, party, countdown and after-party was where I unleashed my exuberance for life. The nights consistently concluded with the lightness that comes from exorcising of the past and the childllike eagerness fueled from the anticipation of the future.

However, I’m turning 33 this year. I’m no longer 20-something, the-adrenaline-junky, go-all-night, bachelor- for-life. Today, I am a husband, father of Sophia and Christopher (about to be born) who is striving to Love God and Love People.

A popular quote from Albert Einstein on definition of insanity states,

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Are New Year Resolutions insane? It’s common knowledge that majority of these promises, goals, milestones end up becoming disappointments and fuel for our insecurity.

So in this chapter of my life, how do I approach this New Year?  Do I continue to make resolutions? Do I make a vision statement? Do I make a list of Goals and Milestones I want to hit?

No.

But I do have an alternative. What about a prayer? Here’s mine I wrote out earlier today.

Dear God,
Reveal the next chapter of Your Story of me.Bring light (clarity) to the next steps I need to take.
Equip me to be focused and purposeful.
Grant me boldness &  freedom, in knowing you are the author of it all.
May this be a year of Excellence measured in faithfulness.
Sam

Lately, a number of my friends and even strangers lovingly encouraged me to stop apologizing for my story.

So I will stop.

I will not be afraid to reveal my tempered past of addiction and wrong doing.

I will not be insecure that God could use someone like me to do His work.

I will not be timid about the crazy idea that God has been speaking to me through the color yellow.

I will not doubt that it is God working in me.

I will not fear being me.

I will not be sorry to share my story, simply because it’s not my story to own.

The main character of  Story of Yellow is God.

The God who is Love.

I’m simply a side-kick.

It has already been an amazing journey through my previous chapters (seasons) of my life. God has been so good in transforming me into a man I would have never imagined I could be.

However, the more I journey down the fog of life, the more I realize the need for prayer. I don’t mean the prayer as in the ritual of giving thanks before a meal or Hail Marys but the moment to moment conversations with God: asking questions & listening for guidance, petitioning the needs of family, friends, leaders, strangers, enemies, etc… and asking for miracles and dreams.

This season, I sense that an understanding and experiencing of what it means to pray will bring about a bountiful harvest of experiences and stories to share.

Wanna share some great stories of prayer with me?

My daughter and I love going to the beach. And I was really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful day only Orange County can bring in December; a slight winter chill with a generous dash of warm winter sun.

The drive looked promising. The splashes of yellow and brown of the transitioning leaves accented wonderfully the rich blue that canvased the sky. Sophia sat silently looking out the window as our car danced down the 133 toward Laguna Beach.

As we moved closer to the Pacific Ocean, I started to notice a muting of the colors. The hue started desaturating. It was turning gray. It seemed the morning fog was being stubborn today and slept in a little longer. At one point, all I could see was a white, thick layer of an “East Coastian” fog.

Usually I would enjoy this good morning welcome mist, however at high noon, it had worn out it’s welcome. I was frustrated because I had big plans for the “Daddy and Me” date with my daughter. We planned to enjoy the ocean-side scenic view of Las Brisas restaurant for lunch and later, lay out the beach blanket, sand toys and sunblock and create lasting memories.

The hostess led us to our seat and we ordered the Fish and Chips. Then I seized this father’s teaching moment to explain to Sophia, my two year old, how sometimes the destination is not always what we imagined. I went on to explain that the journey and the people you journey with is really what matters.

Then I went on to confidently promise her that Daddy knows that this fog is temporary and that it will burn off soon.

“Daddy has been here many times and know that there is something greater to come, if we are patient. But for now, let’s enjoy this cool mist.”

I’ve been at this same beach hundreds of times before. Usually, I’m here with a newly engaged couple to photograph their engagement photos. I’ve seen this before. The fog comes in and then burns off. The great thing is, is that the fog usually will be a prelude to a beautiful sunset.

And surely enough, during our lunch, the fog began to melt away and the sun peaked out to say hello.

That moment sent my mind flying into a transcendent place. I heard truth.

What truth do you see as you read the details of this divine moment? Take a moment and write it down.

This is what I heard:

1. Remember the foggy moments of the past and the sense of elation that you felt when the fog cleared and you found clarity. However, if this is your first foggy moment, your community can help you navigate with the sharing of their stories.
2. In the fog, keep taking small steps forward. With each step, the shapes of your destination (purpose/destiny) takes form and the colors become more vibrant. The destination becomes more visible.
3. Teach the next generation how to navigate through the fog. Point to the clearer future but also allow them to see that the Fog is a means to an end. Teach them to enjoy the journey and take risks,  rather than be paralyzed by the uncertainty of it. Steps of Faith must be taken.

In the end, we did get to play at the beach enjoying the warm glow of the Yellow sun.

Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras wrote an article for Harvard Business Review in 1996 about “Building Your Company’s Vision”. They state that a Vison consists of two segments: Core ideology & Envisioned Future.

CORE IDEOLOGY:
What is your Core Purpose?
What are your Core Values?

ENVISIONED FUTURE:
What is the [Dream]?
Describe your [Dream].

Core Purpose: “Fundamental reason for being”
Core Values: Principals that do not change. It stays true.
[Dream] Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (BHAG): 10 – 30 year goal

Let’s take this to a more personal level. Ask the same questions for who you are? What is your purpose? What are your Values? What is the Dream and what does it look like?

Here are my statements:

SAM SONG:
Core Purpose: Love God. Love People.
Core Values: Live simply, authentically, personally, generously and responsively.
What is the Dream: To be an amazing father, husband, son and brother. (1 Tim 3:5)
Describe it: My family will be known for joy during times of hardships, unity of husband and wife, will not create a fatherless home, emotional and financial support of our aging parents and siblings.

STORY OF YELLOW:
Core Purpose: Love God. Love People.
Core Values: Simple, Authentic, Personal, Generous and Responsive
What is the Dream: To Breathe Life in to Dreams.
Describe it: A network of creative partnerships to help bring each others ideas to life.

ARTISAN WARRIOR (2011):
Core Purpose: To inspire and empower the lost generation of Artisan Warriors.
Core Values: Simple, Authentic, Personal, Generous and Responsive.
What is the Dream: To bring back from exile, 155 Artisan Warriors and breathe Life into their dry bones.
Describe it: A community of artists, entrepreneurs, advocates and fighters of injustice to inspire and empower one another and express the Good News of God’s Love to the world through action.

As you can notice, the personal “Sam Song” statement naturally flows down to the other priorities of my life. I strongly believe a leader (or anyone for that matter) must become self-aware in order to create a vision that will last.

I share mine not to be boastful with my understanding but to invite you into my journey. For the color Yellow is only one of the infinite colors of the spectrum. Without you, the other color shades, I have an incomplete picture.

My understanding of my purpose is still incomplete. Only God knows “the plans I have for you.” However, He does promise that “when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, I will be found. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” (Jeremiah 29)

You may ask where does my current commitments to Newsong, Harvard Photography, Angels Baseball and Ideacamp fit in all of this. They are simply venues in where I express my priorities.  I am a firm believer that a person cannot be locked down to one but need to be involved in multiple venues to enable to see in broader perspectives. The idea of “Venues” or “Spaces” will be another post to come.

So I ask you to join me in discovering our significance, work together to breathe life into Dreams and bring home the exiled Artisan|Warriors.