"You should lean into the things that create a sense of belonging in the place you are." For Stephen, that meant doing stand-up comedy in Vietnamese — which rooted him to Saigon and changed his life after years of running a global company while feeling unconnected to the city.
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Asked for one sentence of wisdom for the Stephen of five years ago, he says: "you should lean into the things that create a sense of belonging in the place you are." He'd lived in Saigon about six years, but for the first three or four he was running a global company and "wasn't too connected to the city." The change came when he started doing stand-up comedy in Vietnamese, which "made me join a group that is rooted to Vietnam" — he couldn't take that part of his life with him if he moved, and that cost is exactly what created meaning. Younger Stephen was "afraid of those costs" and didn't want to reduce his optionality; older Stephen argues that not investing in things that accumulate over time — relationships, language — leaves you with "a less rich life."