Timing (时机, 타이밍, タイミング)

It's a unique word, "timing," an -ing word in English that's not a verb derived from time but not exactly meaning time, more about opportunity and chances. Or it can be about a musical piece and being on the beat (not rushing or dragging- I was never very good at it in the orchestra as I would often get too excited or get lazy and not keep the beat). Timing is such an important concept that the Asian languages also have the term, so if you just say "timing" in Korean and Japanese they're sure to know what you mean and the nuance of it. Most philosophers, economists, stock traders, etc., all agree: Timing is everything. 

Timing matters in almost every facet of how we live: just the mere fact I am alive today writing this on an online blog is a matter of timing: no chance I would have this opportunity if I was even born 30 years before. Had I been born in any other time of human civilization my life would be completely different, I might have suffered from so many uncured diseases by now, and who knows how many years mankind has left in the future. Being born in 1987 and living the life I do now might be the best, fortuitous timing I could have asked for. 

But timing can be controlled: you just have to know when the opportunity is the best. You can choose to travel on a trip on Monday morning when all business travelers are traveling from their real homes to their work homes, or you can choose to go against the grain a bit and travel on Tuesday, where Tuesday and Wednesday on normal weeks are the slowest travel days and you can get the best deal. It's kind of an amazing magic trick that the world can turn something into gold at one time (maybe a packed Olympic stadium for the Rio Olympics) where you can't even buy your way in for thousands of dollars, but fast forward one month and it's an empty shell of itself where no one wants to even go. 

Timing is everything in investments: the time value of money. Owning Amazon stock at $3 in 1997 is quite different than owning Amazon stock at $2000 in 2008, or even in the short term, owning ROKU stock at $26 11 months ago versus $150 around this time. (That's a 6x, sextupling of the stock if you're keeping track at home). 

Recently I was having a discussion with my co-workers about what's really important in achieving success, and most agreed it was knowledge. Reading about business trends, knowing the market, knowing what customers want, knowing what the next big thing is going to be. True, for sure, but I would counter knowledge with timing.......being at the right place at the right time to use that knowledge, to be able to act when you are ready......that's something that's priceless.......but often you can't just obtain like knowledge. Timing is a mix of luck, external factors, but also a little of your own doing.....If you can put oneself in position and be ready when the moment is right, timing can work in your favor to lead to success. 

Timing also works with romance and finding the love of your life: finding each other when both people were looking for someone to fall in love with, who were emotionally ready, who needed one another. That can be a beautiful thing, timing, when two people at the right time in their lives (both single, both within proximate location of one another) whereas in other situations they might not find each other attractive or not even notice one another or be seeing other people. The right timing can overcome everything else and catapult the connection into epic heights. That's really how MJ and I found each other: The universe aligned at the right time and placed us into the right place at the right time for both of us, where our paths wouldn't have even crossed. Or we met each other 5 years earlier, when I was certainly not emotionally ready and MJ might not have been attracted to me, or I was still in law school, or this and that. All I know is that at the particular time of when we met, the timing was right and we were able to love each other. 

Fantasize on and Happy Veteran's Day and Chinese Single's Day! (It's weird timing that these 2 special days are forever intertwined with each other now, as both are on 11/11). Always be stuck with each other on the same day.......because you know, timing.