KM Hanoi Team 3 [FINAL]Knowmads Magazine

DUONG LE

I haven’t realized it before but now I see it. I used to
plan everything ahead and once I’m done, I go straight
to execution step. However, because what I focus is
thinking about what I would do but not the core or the
“why” question thus I limit myself into the action itself
instead of discovering the whole picture, the different
ways to do it. Planing is good but sometime what you
need for the plan probably just the vision, the final
goal, and the “WHY” question. Your plan is subjected
to change and the more you plan, the more likely you
limit yourself in one thing instead of your whole big vi-
sion. Don’t rush yourself. Let your mind go wild and
surpass the limitation. 

Once I let the pressure go, I can think of something
small to act on right now. So my ultimate goal is to
somehow increase the initiation, efficiency, and motiva-
tion of young Vietnamese because I think if we have
that motivation, we can change and contribute much
more to our country and generate real added-values,
which count. I have jumped into many things and all it
does is to confuse me even more. So now I will think

simple, and act on one by one. It doesn’t have to be
the best thing you ever produced because you can de-
velop it later. It is something to encourage you to keep
working on it and for you to see the result. Once you
place the goal and the “WHY” question ahead of every
movement, you can transfer that sincerity to your audi-
ence one or another way. And that is what we as hu-
man beings not only appreciate but need deeply in this
life.

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PHUONG LE

I suspected my ability and capacity for a long period of tim
normal person, small and weak, living in the changing an
Knowmads did very well is not delivering knowledge but c
out who they are and what they really want to do. My projec
out.
Stop thinking and hesitating, just DO IT. It is also the most
will learn something. Stoping making excuses with “but”, sta

1. Sometimes, you might not like the process, but the resu
ess.

2. And passion is something that could make every pitch, p
that is something from your heart, not just from your head

3. There is no such thing as a bad idea. Every idea can, exp
4. Having a personal branding is not being shallow, it gives
5. Find your fish sauce, find things that you can and want to
6. Learning by doing. Everything can be learned by doing. B

me. I did think that I couldn’t do anything big because I am a
nd competitive world full of evils and struggles. I did. What
creating a platform and conditions for participants to figure
ct is big. Yes, it is obviously. It seems like that I cannot work

significant lesson I learned from the journey. By doing, you
and up, face your fear and bunch at its face!

NGOC HUONG (CHIM)

ult will always pay off all your hard work. So, trust the proc-

persuasion, negotiation, everything go smoothly.. Because
d..
perience can teach you something.
others a curiosity to find out more about yourself.
o offer.
Be curious and try to figure things out.

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LINH PHAM

How to overcome procrastination:

• Make a small first move:  When doing something, we
may think the task is so big or we don’t like it or it can
wait. However, if we don’t take any action, when should it
be finished? Let’s see the micro movements change our
consciousness. We should find the key factor in each
task to kick off the action. For example, if we need to
read a book – yet you are tired, first open the book. Then
you can do other tasks. Then the opened book can be
noticed by you. Or if you want to learn a new language,
just put the headphone on and play it. It doesn’t matter if
you want to study it on purpose or not.

• Don’t just plan the work, plan relaxing time as
well:  Having a to – do list is an effective tool to keep
track of the task. However, we should add more relaxing
activities as well to distress.

• Do the task you love most: Make your inner child awake
and motivated by starting what you love to do. When
something is done, we may see the result of the first
step. This could build some motivations in you as well.

• Minimize goals: It is a fact that when the goal is too high,
we may find it hard to do it and finish right away. When
actually doing something, it takes hours to do it. Then,
we should break down the goals, put them into different
levels. Are you ready for the level 01?

• Do small tasks which have the result within 10 – 15
mins: that help me to see the outcome easily and see ac-
tually we can do something.

• Before the sleep, prepare things for the next
morning:  Then it takes less time to do work in the next
morning.

• In general, I face a lot of procrastination when working.
All of the tools awake my activeness in work. I am kind of
lazy when I think the task requires a lot of steps to do.
Then, I skip it right away. After the café coaching and the
personal coaching, I did apply some of these tips into my
daily life and they help me a lot to fulfill my task

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VAN NGUYEN

Having a creative idea is great but taking actions to real-
ize your idea is even greater. I learnt the ways how to put
idea into practice in a comfortable way without so much
pressure and stress through Knowmads. In fact, it’s the in-
spirations & being fearless of judgments that really count
and I could strongly felt it from the community of trainers
and fellows during seven amazing workshops. And I be-
lieve that now I could follow an interesting long journey
through my Culture-Exchange meal project. The journey
to do something what I like! The journey to explore new
cultures! The journey to connect hearts! The journey to
bring Vietnamese food around the world! It must be end-
less…

It’s similar to when I have an idea of choreography, think ab
life. When you have an idea, write it down and make a plan
as you make sure that your project still “ON AIR”. It’s okay
abandoned. Take it easy, it’s not because you are loser. M
die and post note is the most powerful tool for you to take a

MAC VY

bout it and imagine the shape of it, turn it into motion in real
n, implement the plan. It’s okay if you miss deadline as long
y if you abandon it, at least you've learned a lesson after it
Maybe it need time to be authenticated. Passion will never
action, to make a clear look of what you are going to do.

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When I worked for an INGO, my colleagues and I often d
achieve it in our projects, but it seemed to be a long discus
Knowmads Hanoi Team 3 made me feel like we were in th
growth curve from 20,000 years ago till now, then he aske
pressing it through words, characters, place and image. Diff
ability is, and I was amazed by the way my teammate unde
in this field, and even one team gave the accurate answer
gave us the comprehensive understanding of Sustainabilit
3P (profit, planet, and people). That was even more surpris
sustainability in any actions or circumstances or projects, a
jects better and towards sustainable goals.

VO TUAN SON

Learning by doing is easy with small steps and when you ac
lots of things during the process. For example, I learned to d
tantly, I learned most from a saying from Guus: "Everything i
tell what you need, to meet with people. And during making
ence people with soft skills, about "discrimination" and claim

QUY NGUYEN

discussed   what the sustainability means and how we can
ssion without conclusion. At first, Matt, one of our trainers in
he history class as he went through the human population
ed us to come up with our own ideas of sustainability by ex-
ferent teams had the own ways to describe how the sustain-
erstood how the globalization is. They seemed to be experts
r similarly to what Matt was going to say on his note. Matt
ty through the 3E (Economics, environment, and equity) or
sing as the first time I knew that we could see and analyze
and by our own care of sustainability we could make our pro-

ctually do it. Keep moving forward. And maybe you will learn
design a fanpage, made surveys and stuffs. But most impor-
is always about stories." To tell stories with my parents, to
my project, I learned that I love to do things that can influ-
ming equality, equity for people. 

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LILY HOANG

Taking actions and learn by doing: this is one of the
useful and effective way of succeeding. I planned a lot for
my project and I did not execute because I thought it was
not ready. However, I finally take actions and really start
doing it, I was really motivated with the process and I
wanted to do it more and more. I made mistakes that
even though I planned carefully I could not think of. I also
got a lot of feedback from others as they could visualise
easily from my work. Therefore, don't think too much, just
do as you are already ready.

Procrastination: this is the poisonous thing that I often
have. I delay things until later, and then later I don't any
energy to complete it. Afterwards, things are added to
each other into a mountain that I don’t even want to think
of. So, I wanted to fix that problem by these actions:

• I wake up early to work out and I complete all the things
I don’t like in the morning

• Before delaying things, I usually think that "Now or
never"

• Before going to bed, I reflect myself "What have I done
to make my day productive?"

•

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HOAI THU LE

When my plan was just coming to my head, it was beauti-
ful and it was HUGE. I asked myself “Is it achievable?”. I
told my partner “ There are too many thing we have to
do, but when we should get start?”…

We started from making plan will small steps, sharing
ideas with our teammates, friends, anyone we that care
about children, nature and collecting their recommenda-
tions. Those small things that we have done brings us to
experienced people, we get a lot helps and also a lot op-
portunities from them. By taking step by step, our plan is

Co-creation to take something done. 
My personal project is to organize a series of" creativity wo
ground for self- discovery and explore their crazy imagination
What I’ve learned from Knowmads so far that co-creation is
something done and produce a valued outcomes. It's amazin
resources and cheer up together when we can get somethin
workshop and my upcoming creative workshop. That's all mu

getting more and more clear. We believe in what we are
doing is leading us to the a goal of our project.

There is a big gap from A to Z, but from A to B, from B to
C ….from X to Z, it is much smaller and taking actions for
my project is the same. Small actions like those letters in
the alphabet. Just follow it letter by letter, we will get the
destination.

PHUONG LINH

orkshop" to unlock people's creativity and give people a play-
n. 
extremely helpful for us. It brings us together, in order to get
ng that we can combine and renew each others' abilities and
ng really done such as bread banana, women empowerment
utual sweet fruits that we want to enjoy together.

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QUANG PHAN

However, it was not until we experienced the challenges
of the weekend that I realized how valuable to me be-
cause it's time for me to face some obstacles.

When I'm sitting here writing these words, I still feel strug-
gling to figure out a way to combine ideas of people, to
make a team of talents and with different characteristics
work. Through out the weekends of discussions and team
works, I sometimes feel like stuck for every teams that I
joined to make some outcomes for the activities.

Though at the end of the day, all the teams have finished
with amazing results, I still questioned myself and thought
of a ultimate solution to make a team work.

Then the sharing section came, and I talked to Guus. He
just showed to me a introduction slide of Knowmads that
all of us might have seen but didn't pay attention to. It
wrote:

BUSINESS
“All business are created and run by people. Therefore,
being able to connect, to effectively communicate, to in-
spire and to collaborate with others is what we see as the
core of business"
The words definitely conclude the day. And I know that,
what I need to learn to answer the big question is still in
the upcoming days. Trust the process."

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DIEP HUONG

I signed up for Knowmads didn't know what to expect, or
if I spend my money and time at the right place, or if I
would be an outsider again. As Daniel said, I just follow
my intuition. I've had no idea this is even classified as a
business school. But that turned out to be a favor. If I
knew I wouldn't sign up, and I wouldn't know what I've
missed until the very end. And I feel thankful. I was dying
to find out what I am really passionate on, I still am. I was
not sure who I am and what I am here for, I still am. I was
curious and nervous about where I am heading to, I still
am. But now I know, it is ok. It is ok to be lost, it is ok to
be scared, it is ok to feel like an outsider, and the destina-
tion doesn't matter, it's the journey that counts. I still don't
know where I am heading to, or how will it ends, but I
know that I'm on my way. I don't know What yet, but I'm
clarifying the Why, and that's all that matter now.

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RYAN LLEWELYN-WILLIAMS

he stages of project learning have been an incredible
ourney. It doesn’t matter where you start; you may have
many ideas, no ideas or just one idea, the journey is pretty
milar. My journey started with many ideas, even though I
new that ‘Own your Brilliance’ was my passion project I
asn’t sure what it really was and so I subconsciously
ied to ignore it by generating multiple project ideas, all of
hich excited and interested me, none of which was my
ue personal.

knew Knowmads was my opportunity to bring my pas-
on to a realistic start. It would bring out all of my fears,
tumbling blocks and hang-ups, and ultimately lead me to
my strengths, interests and greatest personal develop-
ment.

roject learning looks like a dissociative disorder; multiple
ersonalities packed into the same project. You start off on
high of possibilities and connections. Everything seems
ossible; you’re set to change the entire World. This
hase is fantastic, a flood of positivity and joy pour forth to
nspire all those around you. Then comes a depressive-
uestioning-life phase, where you wander seemingly aim-

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lessly around your mind. At the depths of your depression
you seek the tools to help you climb your way out. You
know that without these tools you will go back to that dark
place and so you build a framework and a support net to
catch you whenever you fall. On the way back up, slowly
this time, you solve one problem at a time, one hand in
front of the other, until you start to reach the top. Hands
come from out of nowhere to help you along and you rise
to the heights you knew you were capable of.

In project form this is the brainstorming phase - where
there is no judgment, no bad ideas and no limitations.
Everything is accepted and anything is possible. Then
you link the ideas together and put them into clusters of
related information. You present this information to an at-
tentive audience who then asks questions you may have
missed and offers any advice they may have.

Following this explosion of energy comes a drought of
doubt. What if my project doesn’t work out?   What if it’s
not what I want to do with my life, what if it is? What’s my
first step? Will I have enough time, energy, money and in-
telligence to make this project really happen? These ques-
tions are vitally important; by asking yourself how to
achieve your project goals, you focus your subconscious
mind on acquiring the answers. This is where you need to

step back from your physical project and focus on your
personal blocks. Reminding yourself that life is just a
game and it doesn’t really matter what you do takes the
pressure off and allows you to enjoy the process a whole
lot more. Stop focusing on what other people are doing
and make sure you do what you have to do, that is all.
Having the right tools comes in handy here. Marketing,
personal branding and defining what you want and how it
links to your personal skills and passions is essential.
This allows you to connect to people who can help you
with your journey and your project. If you don’t know ex-
actly what you want, how can others help you get it?
What you put out is what you get back, and vice versa.
With the right tools you claw and bite your way back to
the top. So you set up a website and start to collect the
information you need and want. With this platform you
are able to reach out to others who can help you and
need help. Once you get your project off the ground,
where you go next is up to you.

35

YUKI PHAN

It's almost three in the morning and we will have a full
day in the morning with Knowmads, but for some rea-
sons I just cannot sleep, nor can I put out my urge to
write something. Anything.

It was deep into the night that I remembered a couplet
from a Dickinson's poem:

"That it will never come again
Is what makes life so sweet."

Every line describes exactly (what I think and believe)
the goals of Knowmads Hanoi and what I have learned
this afternoon after a meaningful conversation with the
wonderful Mercedes, along with our emotional checkout
session. Usually, I am extremely proud of myself to be a
fast learner; but it is embarrassing how long it took me
to realise this by myself.

1. Be passionate. Listen to your heart.

It does not matter how big or how small your project is,
as long as it speaks to you, it is close to your heart, it
can make your heart sing and it can make your blood
boil. It does not matter if language or culture is a barrier,
as long as you have the passion for what you are advo-
cating, people will sense it and they will listen to you.

2. Trust the process.

Your project is a goal, but it is not the long-term, nor is it
the biggest goal. The goal, to me, is to learn the process
so that you can take it and apply it to every other project
that you will want to start in the future, either by yourself
or with a group of people. The process itself is the most
important thing.

3. Live in the moment.

It is good to think about the future sometimes, like how
your project will turn out, what will come after that, etc.,
but when you get caught up in this web, it is quite easy
to forget the present. It is the sum of many many small
moments, like the checkin/checkout sessions, the small
conversations we have every weekend with each other,
a smoke break, a laugh, a tear, a massage, a hug, or
even better, a group hug, that makes up the essence of
Knowmads and very possible, even the essence of life.
Again: "That it will never come again / Is what makes life
so sweet."

And you, what will make your life so sweet?

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WORD

DS OF WISDOM

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PRECI

IOUS MOMENTS

We “w

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work”

We “p

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play”

We “

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“feel ”

FROM OUR MENT

TORS WITH LOVE



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KNOWMADS

IN OUR HEARTS

To  us,  
Knowmads  is  ...



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To  us,  
Knowmads  is  ...

To  us,  
Knowmads  is  ...

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