We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mykim Tran a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mykim, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I found my life purpose through a learn-as-you-go process. Starting in my early 20s, I trusted myself to make the right decisions, no matter how difficult the situation might be. I do not allow my fear of failure to hold me back from making the right choices to succeed in life. Whenever I discover a new idea, I take immediate action to test it out. If it does not work out, I will try something else. My previous actions have shown me where to make my next decision. As I go through this process throughout my life, my self-understanding increases, which helps me discover my life purpose.
I believe I developed that mindset by learning from people I admire, such as motivational speakers and trainers. As a young adult, I always wanted to become a speaker because I saw how motivational speakers were making an impact on society, and I want the same for myself. Learning from them has instilled in me the belief that if I follow my heart and passion, I can overcome anything. Most importantly, they have taught me that following my passion is the best way to discover my life purpose. I put my trust and faith in them to trust myself to make the right decisions. I attend seminars, read books, watch videos, and listen to podcasts from them to stay focused on my development and block out negative influences, allowing me to listen to my intuition.
I also learn to take responsibility for my life, meaning I am the primary person who will make my life successful, rather than relying on other things or people. I learn from my experiences to identify areas needing improvement to move forward successfully.
I do not regret any decision I made. Even though I have had negative experiences, those experiences also increase my self-understanding, helping me get closer to discovering my life purpose. Even today, I continue to learn and develop to come closer to my life purpose. I believe that I will never truly reach my core life purpose. If I know what my core life purpose is, then I will be perfect, but I am not. The only thing I can do is learn, develop, and get as close as I can to my core life purpose.
Currently, I believe my life purpose is to help individuals create meaningful and purposeful lives. My life purpose will adjust according to my learning and development, whatever that may be in the future.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a humanistic psychologist. To fulfill my life purpose of helping individuals create meaningful and purposeful lives, my goal is to help them become humanistic individuals – using their passion and positive qualities, such as kindness and compassion, to build a better society for everyone and everything. In the process, they will develop meaningful and purposeful lives.
The main reason why I focus on this area is that by learning about human potential and motivation, I discovered that we are born with the intention to become the best version of ourselves, do great work, and thrive. I believe that becoming humanistic individuals can help us fulfill those human needs.
There are two main ways in which I share my work with others. First, as a researcher, I share my discoveries on how to help individuals develop meaningful and purposeful lives through published works such as articles, journals, and conferences. I also share my work through my non-profit, the Wake-Up Foundation, which helps teenagers and young adults get a head start in learning how to develop meaningful and purposeful lives. I have created my signature program called “Reaching Self-Actualization: A Journey of Meaning, Purpose, and Fulfillment” to assist individuals in developing meaningful and purposeful lives. It is a self-learning program that consists of videos, presentation slides, worksheets, and a Q&A form. Individuals receive unlimited access to the program content.
The exciting aspect of learning about humanistic psychology and helping others is that it contributes to my development as a better human being along the way.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most important qualities or skills that assist me in discovering my life purpose are personal development, passion, and determination.
I believe personal development is the best investment you can ever make. The better you understand yourself, the better decisions you will make in all areas of life. When you learn new things daily, you gain new ways to create and innovate to succeed. When individuals develop the habit of enjoying learning and improving, I believe that they have acquired one of the best life skills.
Second, never stop until you discover your passion. The journey to discovering your passion is very similar to finding your life purpose because it is also about making the right decisions in the moment and learning as you go. If you are lucky, you can uncover your passion at a young age, but for many of us, it requires continuous learning and application to get closer to understanding what your passion is. The nearer you are to your passion, the more motivation you will have to overcome obstacles and achieve anything. I believe it is my passion that has enabled me to face challenges. We need something to push us to conquer challenges because we cannot escape them. No one is immune to challenges. If we do not learn how to tackle challenges, it will be difficult for us to move forward. Passion is the strongest motivation to overcome challenges.
The third quality is determination. You must be determined to make your life successful because no one and nothing will come to your rescue except for you. The more determined you are and do not quit, the more your brain will have no choice but to find ideas and solutions to help you succeed. Your brain does what you tell it to do, based on your level of determination.
One piece of advice I would give to others is to realize that you would rather take action and fail than have the “what if” thought inside your head. Even if you fail, you can still learn from it and move forward. In contrast, no action combined with the “what if” thought paralyzes you because you do not know what you should do to move forward. I believe that success is about moving forward. If I can move forward daily, then that is success. Life never stops moving forward, and you shouldn’t either.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Yes. I am seeking individuals to partner and collaborate with in order to conduct studies that discover the best ways to help people do great work and lead meaningful, purposeful lives.
Within my mission, one of my goals is to research and create a personal development course that will be incorporated into the educational system and made mandatory for high school students before they graduate. I believe this required course will prepare students to succeed after graduation and beyond because graduates today are often not equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in life. I am seeking individuals who are passionate about the educational system, personal development, and educational policy to help me advance my research goals and mission.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mykimtran.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mykimtranphd/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.