227: From American Idol to Self-Improvement Visionary with William Hung

Welcome to the Heroic Investing Show. As first responders, we risk our lives every day. Our financial security is under attack, our pensions are in a state of emergency. A single on duty incident can alter or erase our earning potential instantly and forever. We are the heroes of society. We are self reliant and we need to take care of our own financial future. The Heroic Investing show is our toolkit of business and investing tactics on our mission to financial freedom.

Welcome to the Heroic Investing Show, a podcast for first responders, members of the military, veterans and anyone looking to improve their financial future and gain some freedom with their time. We teach America's heroes how to build passive income, build their startup business and safely grow wealth through real estate and other alternative investments. We help current and prior first responders put protections, systems and a team in place to help them build a life where they can focus on their passion, that service or product that they are uniquely gifted to share with others, making the world a better place for all of us. My name is Gary Pinkerton and I co host this show with Jason Hartman. This is episode 227, heroic investing 227. So today my guest is William Hung. He wrote a book called Champion by Choice. Many of you may know him from American Idol. Fifteen years ago he sang Ricky Martin's hit song she Bangs. And I will admit I did not follow American Idol. I was pretty busy 15 years ago traveling around the world in the Navy. So I didn't know what he was talking about, but I went and watched it afterwards. He commented that he was booed off the stage and it didn't last very long. I agree his first appearance there was pretty rough, can see it on YouTube. But the guy bounced back and he ended up having a traveling career with no initial professional experience as a singer or performer. And he was on stage with Ricky Martin over that career. And he also learned a tremendous amount about public speaking, worked for the police department for a while and now helps others grow their business and find their mission and then get their mission out there by excelling as a professional speaker. He's pretty fascinating guy and he certainly is a courageous individual. I hope you enjoy this interview with William Hung. Heroic Investors. Thank you for joining us. Welcome back. Today I have with us William Hung. William, thank you so much for joining the Heroic Investing audience.

You're welcome.

So William, please tell everyone I know that you hail from California if I'm correct there. And.

Tell the audience a little bit about yourself.

Well, I was a former American Idol contestant.

So many years ago I had this dream to Become a hero in real life because I played a video game called Final Fantasy 10. Yes. You know, it might sound crazy, but I feel like after I beat the game, maybe there's more to what I can do in my life rather than just being a normal student at UC Berkeley. So that's why I decided to try out for the talent show in school. But somehow I won singing Ricky Martin Shebangs.

So that's how I got started with auditioning for American Idol.

Okay, wonderful. So how far did that go for you?

I never made it to Hollywood, but somehow that audition got millions of views all over the world.

And how did that change your life?

Everybody knows who I am.

It's crazy if you think about it. Just imagine if you are a normal person and then all of a sudden, everybody is pointing fingers at you. They ask you questions like, oh, my God, I saw you last night. Are you that cheap Angs guy?

So that's incredible. I'm sure it would have changed your life tremendously. And so you also, though, spent some time as a technical crime analyst for LA County Sheriff's Department. What was that like, and what did you do there?

Well, before I get to that, here's what happened. The entertainment career. I was living this dream life for about four years. I got a record contract. I was traveling and performing all over the world, but my entertainment career slowed down. And that's when I decided I had to make a choice. Do I want to keep going with showbiz, or do I want to go for a stable job? I chose the stable job.

Because my parents pushed me to get a stable job. I thought it was okay to get a stable job. So that's why I decided to finish school, got my math degree, and that's when I got my job for the Sheriff's Department. More like a statistical analyst.

Okay, so you did that for how long?

About two years. Originally, I thought I would be excited because I would be doing something like crime scene investigation, like csi. But it turns out day after day, I'm reading reports about rape, murder, burglary. Not what I signed up for.

Okay, got it. So fast forward now. What are you doing now, William?

Well, you know how most people, they struggle to find the right story to connect with their audience because there's so much noise out there. Whether it's connecting people on social media, connecting with people to speak on stages, or just get your next job promotion. I help people find their inspiring personal story that will help them grow their career and the business.

Got it. We were talking before we started the recording that you felt like that you had learned some lessons and that you had some advice for people who are first responders, service providers. Let's talk about that for a few minutes.

Yes. So I haven't been a first responder in my career path, but I could imagine because I have friends that are nurses, I have friends that are doctors or police officers or other first responders. The hardest thing is how you balance between serving others and also taking care of yourself mentally and physically.

Yeah. So why is that such a challenge?

Because sometimes you deal with depressing and angry people. Other times you feel like you're not being appreciated for what you do. Right.

Yeah. It's a huge amount of service. You know, military members, first responders are all asked time and again to be away from their families, to be in dangerous situations. It's somewhat of a thankless job at times, really.

Yes. Yes.

You know, going back for just a moment to.

Your time, you know, trying out for American Idol, you know, you had some challenges, some. Maybe some embarrassing moments there at the end. Can you talk just a little bit about, like, how it all ended?

Oh, of course. Well.

Simon is always going to be the critic. At least back then he always was. So I wasn't surprised when he stopped me in the middle of my chorus and said, you can't sing, you can't dance. So what are you going to say? I just said, I already gave my best. I have no regrets at all. It's how I felt.

Yeah. And that was amazing. So that just. That came out from your kind of. From your soul. It wasn't something you thought of to say no.

Yeah.

And. Well, what did you learn there? What should we learn there? I guess maybe.

Well, it's the same thing in life. When you put in your genuine effort to perform at your best, often things might not work out the way you expect it to.

You're not going to win every hand, you're not going to win every deal. Whatever the situation is, that's normal. But maybe a better way to look at it is to ask yourself in your heart whether you seriously put in the effort.

Great. I wanted to shift slightly. It's really not a lot different, but. So you were on stage, pretty scary thing. And I think you.

Yeah.

And I think you have some. Some advice, some lessons learned. After studying top performers, public speakers, you probably have some lessons that you could share on how, you know, finding your message and being able to sell out a place. Right. And be successful in a public forum.

Talk about that for a few minutes.

Things you've learned, of course. So this is definitely my philosophy. By working over 15 years as a speaker, entertainer, there are three keys to think about the way you deliver.

That personal story that's sitting inside of you. The first step is to avoid comparing yourself with others.

So this does not mean that we don't want to learn from role models or learn from somebody better. We all should learn from somebody better. But the way to find that balance is not to think about your life like, oh my God, this is so miserable. How come I'm not the next Tony Robbins yet? How come I'm not the number one employee yet in my company, whatever that may be?

It's good to strive for something better. But if you always feel unhappy by comparing people that's above you, then that's a problem. And I learned that from my mom.

Nice. Yeah. You will always be unhappy if you're constantly finding someone who's slightly more experienced, more successful further along in the game and comparing yourself to them. A guy that.

Dan Sullivan is a very well known international personal coach and business coach and he talks about a difference between viewing things from the gap and viewing things from gain. And one is looking forward, one's looking backwards, and actually looking forward is the negative side. So when you're looking at that gap to that person that's ahead of you, you're always falling short, you're always coming up short. There's no pre made opportunity to congratulate yourself, to celebrate small victories. Right. It's just always never enough. But if you're looking at the gain, if you're looking at improvement in yourself compared to what you used to be able to do or where you used to be, then it's ready made opportunities for celebrating victories.

Yes, exactly. Right, Right.

So if you, if you go to your high school reunion, you look at everybody who is just super successful, that doesn't help. But if you look at improvements you've made from last year, from 10 years ago, it's easy to see that gain. And as long as that's your frame of reference, it's tremendously better. Have you seen, you know, experience the same?

Yes. Yes. And that's why this is one of the most important factors when it comes to delivering the story from your heart. Because when you come from the right place, like you mentioned about.

Not like always unhappy, not always feeling like you're short, you know, you could come from a place of empowering other people. It's the intention.

Yeah, the intention that matters, that matters most above everything else. So as we think about the audience, as we think about individuals who have a career in service, being a service provider, but perhaps they're looking for maybe starting their own business or transitioning. Maybe they're getting close to retirement. What advice do you have for them on how they're going to stack up in a new field, new career? Hmm.

As I think about your question, I'm also thinking about the other two keys to. To uncovering your personal story that would touch people. I think the other thought I have is taking personal responsibility for your own progress. I think that definitely answers your question as well in terms of how they can continue to grow.

Because let's face it, we always have a choice. We could either blame the circumstances, blame other people, or we could say to ourselves, well, I'm not where I want to be yet, but here is what I accomplish and here's what I can do next.

Right? Yeah, very good points. Again, this is what I have accomplished and this is a bite sized thing that I can do again to get even further down my goal path. But we're not gonna just constantly, you know, this is an important, you know, topic for right now because everyone is goal setting right for 2020, and we're all focused on these goals, which is awesome. It's very inspiring. It's one of the most amazing times of the year. But then you get a couple months down the road and it becomes a very tough time because you realize, oh, my gosh, I've missed this, I've missed that. I'm not on track and this happened last year and you get in this tailspin.

So I think it's understanding that it's a process and it's not an immediate victory, and also recognizing and focusing on your small gains that have occurred by looking at the gain and not the gap that's still out there is what will keep you going to that gym and it will keep you on track for your targets. Like, I changed the word goal setting to targets. I set targets for the future and they're just that, they're just targets. And when I shoot the bow and arrow, I shoot the arrow at the target, right? I'm happy that I got inside the outer circle or that it's stuck to the target. Right. And maybe I got a little closer than I did last time, but I think that when you call it a goal, it's like it's all or nothing. You have to hit that thing. Well, we're teaching ourselves to set goals that are way out there that we have to stretch for. And then when we don't make it, we beat ourselves up. So I've gotten rid of the word goals. Personally, I don't know if that'll help others, but I just have targets.

I think setting goals is still very helpful for me. I still do it. I do it in three month increments, but like you said, I don't beat myself up if I don't get there.

My current three month goal is to get paid to speak three times in 2020 and make at least $15,000. I would say I hit both of those goals, but the way I hit those goals is not the way people expect me to.

And what I mean by that is that.

I started to get a few coaching clients to help them uncover their stories. But the way I actually got there is learning about poker and doing very well with poker.

Interesting. And that's how you establish the relationship with the individuals, Is that what you mean?

No, what I'm saying is that sometimes when you set a goal, be open to the possibility that.

You might not get there the way you expected to.

Very good. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, William, I know you have another call coming up and I appreciate you squeezing us in. You have a busy life. What should we be talking with the audience about that we haven't covered yet in this. In this pretty interesting conversation so far? What should we talk to them about?

Yeah, well, I would. The last takeaway for your audience is always find the best way to help other people.

Nice. And so when you're approaching what might be a future business or just an interaction in general, how can I approach this in a way, how can I deliver this in a way where it's adding the most value possible?

Yeah.

When it comes to this key lesson, I learned this from NETWORKING. So because 90% of the people, when they're networking, they always just talk about themselves.

So instead of starting from that place, start from the place of being genuinely curious to learn about the other person. And then.

When the opportunity comes up, then you can insert your story that you can offer or provide.

And that's the way that I help my clients connect with people as well. So, again, just to do a quick recap, the three keys to offering the inspiring story and really to grow your business or your career are. The first one is to avoid comparing yourself with others. Second key was taking personal responsibility for your own progress. And then the third one is always find the best way to help others.

Nice. That's awesome. So how can the audience find out more about you, William?

People can go to my website, willhung.com w I l l h u n g.com they can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

That's awesome. Well thank you so much for spending some time with the heroic investing listeners.

You're welcome.

Okay bye bye.

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