Take the Leap with Jason Shen

Are you the kind of person who fears failure? How do we acquire the determination to take risks to succeed?

When you take risks, you discover that success and failure have equal significance. There will be moments when you succeed and times when you fail. Sometimes our anxieties might become so overwhelming that they impede our actions and agitate our confidence to succeed. We often get paralyzed by our thoughts, in the fear of failure, the apprehension of being imperfect, and the dread of having to try again and then fail the second time.

However, we must remain steadfast in the pursuit of the goal we aim to achieve; while remembering that high-risk actions nurture great rewards. Even if there is a high potential to encounter hardship due to these opportunities, our generation must consider seizing every chance we have to flourish. Indeed, we may fail, but we must remember that nothing wrong lasts forever. Even when we fall, there are good reasons to get back up. We can always apply learnings from our past mistakes to our judgments now and in the future. As our guest speaker believes, "giving up old dreams in favor of new ones didn't mean I was a failure. Life is full of surprises, but we can always find a way through."

Jason Shen is a gymnast, writer, speaker, product leader, serial entrepreneur, and resilience expert. He is an entrepreneur with a strong marketing background who founded three disruptive companies: Ridejoy, Headlight, and Midgame. Jason helps people navigate disruptive change so they can bring new things into the world with greater clarity, vitality, and purpose. He believes life is better when we dare to play by our rules. Today, his mission is to bring the power of resilience to the world.

In this special episode with Jason Shen, we'll learn about the journey of a first-generation Chinese immigrant who passionately paved his career in business and athletics. He will share his struggles and accomplishments with us, which made him resilient and brave enough to take any possible risk of taking a step toward his goals. 

"There's something bigger inside you than what you might have experienced so far. Without taking that leap, you can't find out what big things are inside you. And taking that leap sometimes means falling on your face." – Jason Shen

Topics Covered:

(00:00:00) Introduction + Episode Snippet

(00:00:14) Introducing our special guest, Jason Shen

(00:00:33) Advertisement: Zero Gravity Skin: a leader in the aesthetic device market.

Visit www.zerogravityskin.com and use my code: DRDERRICK30 to receive 30% off your purchase.

(00:02:18) The early life of being a gymnast: Who is Jason Shen?

(00:04:28) How does Jason's young physique handle gymnastics?

(00:05:29) The most demanding athletes to treat

(00:07:05) Gymnastics: Key to having a scholarship at Stanford

(00:09:29) How did Jason adjust in the Palo Alto area?

(00:10:57) Learning masculine-coded behavior

(00:11:31) The pressure of being a first-generation Chinese immigrant

(00:13:14) Inherent interest and technology: Jason's source of entrepreneurial enthusiasm

(00:15:15) Serial startup: Seeing an opportunity for something big

(00:17:37) High-risk, high reward

(00:18:43) Advertisement: Sabre Bats, the training bat that will take you to your next swing. Go to https://www.sabrebats.net to know more.

(00:20:07) Business mindset: The ability to accept total failure

(00:21:11) Being ambitious enough is tough.

(00:21:50) Jason's injury at Stanford

(00:25:27) Lessons learned from an injury: The hero makes the comeback 

(00:27:16) The bittersweet moment of a Hollywood ending career

(00:28:57) Resilience coach: How do you use setbacks to help others?

(00:29:10) Nothing lasts forever; good and bad things will pass

(00:29:45) Take away learnings from your setbacks

(00:31:05) Helping people to find the courage to take the leap

(00:33:12) Final TimeOut with Jason Shen: Why is leaping essential to fulfilling a person's full potential?

(00:34:46) Living a rich and meaningful life: Face your fears

(00:36:01) Not to be perfect, but to take imperfect actions

(00:37:14) Connect with Jason Shen.

Key Takeaways: 

"I do feel like I had a lot riding on my shoulders. I wanted to show my parents that they had done a good job, and it likes to set me up." – Jason Shen

"I wish I was at that point where I can already tell my parents not to worry and go on vacation that your son's got this. And so, it is painful not to be able to say that." – Jason Shen

"I think that my ADHD drives me to want to do something new and be in control of my destiny. I don't feel like I could have a 25-year career in one place the way my dad did." – Jason Shen

"All venture-back companies that make crazy amounts of money and the people who invested in those companies early on made a ton." – Jason Shen

"The goal is just to balance out and beat the stock market and be another source of capital returns." – Jason Shen

"It's challenging for someone who is a first-generation immigrant to think as big as you kind of need to because you have to be okay with total failure." – Jason Shen

"Thinking big is so hard because if you don't have that safety net, you always kind of hold back a little bit, and that's tough." – Jason Shen

"When you're facing a moment of adversity, you have to remember that this will pass. Nothing bad lasts forever, Nothing good lasts forever." – Jason Shen

"Given where you are now, better and worse ways to respond to setbacks. There are ways you can take something from this that will help you in the future." – Jason Shen

"Even when you miss your leap, it's okay. It's not the end of the world. You can try again." – Jason Shen

"The fall looks scarier than it is 99% of the time. What we are afraid of is often our source of greatest growth." – Jason Shen

"Every time you can practice stepping, taking a step towards your fear instead of taking a step away from it, that's how you live a life that is rich and meaningful." – Jason Shen

"I'm learning not to be perfect but to take imperfect action. I have to work with not to let the fear of failure paralyze me." – Dr. Derrick Burgess

"You got to get through some of the bad to get to the good." – Jason Shen

Connect with Jason Shen: 

Website: https://www.jasonshen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasonshen

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC214EHZ3qD2JbpHRJvXSQDQ

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasonshen

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonShen

Connect with Dr. Derrick Burgess:

Website: https://www.drderrickthesportsdr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drderrickthesportsdr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeOut.SportsDr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-burgess-72047b246/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGDu1zT4K_X6PnYELu8weg

Email: thesportsdoctr@gmail.com

This episode of TimeOut with the SportsDr. is produced by Podcast VAs Philippines - the team that helps podcasters effectively launch and manage their podcasts, so we don't have to. Record, share, and repeat! Podcast VAs PH gives me back my time so that I can focus on the core functions of my business. Need expert help with your podcast? Go to www.podcastvasph.com.