Alan Chikin Chow: Creating My Own Destiny
We all have asked ourselves at least once: is there more to me than what I can perceive with my physical senses? This question often opens the doorway to experiencing the answers that lead us to discover more of who we are. From a physical standpoint, we are all born with a unique vantage point through which we experience our physical realm. Our perspective of Self is incomparable to anyone else’s because we are a compilation of unique physical attributes and experiences. From a broader view, we are all spirit embodied, energy densified in physicality, slower vibrational frequencies expressing the Divine. Our Divine perspective is One with everything that exists. Looking outwardly, we perceive separation. Looking within, we perceive Oneness. We are a blend of One and Self, continually dancing between both perspectives, in and out, within and without, the energies that create worlds becoming physical.
Artist, uplifter, and storyteller Alan Chikin Chow says, “I would describe myself as a spirit with a mission who wants to show the world that we have so much that connects us.”
“The breath you take was someone else’s exhalation. Your exhalation becomes someone else’s inhalation, and so, everything is at all times interconnected,” extracted from the book We All Are One: The Essence of Everything That Exists, written by Kosta Trifunovic.
“We’re all more connected than ever because of technological advancements and innovations. I can see more people who can create their destinies and change their lives inspired by having access to success stories on the internet. I grew up as a Gen Z and was exposed to those stories online. I would love to impart to all the subscribers watching my videos the ability to believe they can create their own destiny. I would love people who watch my content to be inspired. No matter your background or identity, we can all come together for laughter and a good story. There’s something that relates all of us to each other, no matter how different we seem to be. There’s so much conflict in the world. If we can dive deep into stories that connect us, we can see how much more love we have for one another. I want people to realize that we are more connected than different,” shares Alan.
The stories we tell to ourselves, and others are always following the mood we associate with the events we are sharing. How we feel in the moment telling a story about what happened in the past or what might happen in the future is how we remember it into being. We are feeling organisms. Emotions tell us in which direction we are focused, wanted, or unwanted. When we are aware and care about the way we feel, we are taking the reins of our life into our hands; we are consciously creating our destiny. Being unconditional is becoming the feeling of the life we consider is best for us regardless of the conditions we are living. It’s our state of being that brings the conditions we want to experience. Being lighthearted, expecting good things to happen to us and others, is most beneficial to being happily ever now. The late artist Matthew Perry said, “There is nothing better than a world where everybody’s just trying to make each other laugh.” Laughter is contagious. Laughter is life. Laughter feels good.
About the art of storytelling and his relationship with the audience, Alan expresses, “I connect with my audience through entertainment that has a positive message. Whether it’s a dramatic story or a comedy, we always try to embed a positive, inspiring message. I view the content I make as my relationship with the audience. We view ourselves as creating the next Disney Channel, creating uplifting and positive content for the next generation of human beings. We connect people across different backgrounds and identities, and our channel has an amazing range of demographics. It’s so amazing that a nine-year-old girl in India and a 58-year-old man in Nebraska are both subscribers of the channel, and they can find the same video funny, relatable, and engaging. That’s what we strive for. People seek to be inspired and have entertainment and comedy in their lives, leading them to feel better. There’s a lot of content out there that uses negative messaging in comedy, like roasting or mindless entertainment that’s challenge-based. But what we do is we create positive, loving, uplifting, entertaining stories so that audiences can have a fun watch, something that’s relaxing but teaches them a positive lesson.”
When we genuinely thrive and enjoy creating our own destiny, we want to include others in that experience. We are born uplifters. Since where we place our attention is where we direct our energies, we can connect the dots between predominantly focusing on the positive or negative. No age or physical identity separates us from wanting to be happy. The way we uplift others is by becoming the leading example of that which we want to inspire others to be uplifted by us.
“I just got back from a retreat with MrBeast’s team. I learned a lot from their strategy team. One of the main things is that they make very strategic database decisions. Every word, number, and video idea is deeply researched with YouTube data to ensure that their business is running well, their time is spent in the right direction, and they’re building videos and ideas that they have the most guarantee will be successful. I believe in strategy to set up an idea for a business. For example, you use strategy to pick three ideas that you know will resonate well with your audience because you’ve researched them within the execution of those ideas. Then, that’s where creativity comes into play. You make it fun. That’s what makes Alan Chikin Chow videos: the creativity within those bounds of strategy that my team and I put into them. Having a box you can play makes you more creative because you have to hit certain things and make the most exciting box you play in. I love creating so much. I can’t wait to get back into it. I’ve been traveling for a little bit. I’ve not been filming as much. I want to be home creating content until the end of the year and not even leaving my house,” excitedly says Alan.
There is no physical action that can compensate for a fearful or self-doubtful state of being. But when we align with the creation of our dreams, wild horses can’t stop us from being inspired to act on it. Motivation comes from outer observation. Inspiration comes from being within.
“I am a true embodiment of my mission. My team comprises people of all backgrounds and identities. We have a team from Russia, Mongolia, Malaysia, and Korea. All of us come together to make this work. We don’t all speak English. We translate to communicate with each other. Every morning, I am learning Russian and relearning Mandarin Chinese. I am determined to create global content with a global mission and live that mission in my daily life. It brings me so much joy to be able to connect with people all around the world. It’s unique to everyone’s culture, and I love it. We are trying our best to not only work with people from all around the world but create and share stories that resonate with people no matter where they come from. Diversity and inclusion start with yourself, opening your mind to all types of stories, pop culture references, and people. Then, that can pass through in the creativity and stories we tell. With our new series, Alan’s Universe, we want it to feel like this global prep school from people with students from all over the world who attend a magical prep school where everything is colorful and pop. I think we’ve achieved that. A lot of our comments are: ‘Where’s this school? We want to go to that school!’ And so I think that’s a huge and intentional part of what we create,” says Alan.
We live in a diverse world that allows us to make our own preferences. We don’t have to push against anyone else’s preferences but clarify ours to expand into embodying and becoming what we want to experience. Without variety, there is no expansion. To be inclusive, start by including yourself in being who you prefer to be and, therefore, who you are meant to become.
Alan shares his inspirations: “Why is the new generation so much more open to making decisions, believing in themselves in trying new things? And I think it starts with being inspired by others. So, one of the biggest highlights of my career this year was that I grew up watching this career creator named Lilly Singh. She is someone who tribalized and did so many things that people like her haven’t done before. She was the first woman, queer person of color, who led a late-night talk show—seeing her go from YouTube to breaking down many barriers was inspiring. And, you know, making history that way made me believe I could do so much more. Creating your destiny is not being afraid to trailblaze a path no one has ever taken and show that someone like you can do it. Exemplifying that, to your fans and followers, that if I can do it, you can do it. Another creative who I love is Mindy Kaling, and her book, Why Not Me, is amazing. It starts with including herself. It’s like, why not me? Why can’t I have all these things that other people have that, historically, someone like me didn’t or was not permitted to ask? But why not? You have to start with yourself, and then you can show others that you can create your own destiny.”
Every new generation comes upgraded under the expansion of previous generations. Although there are things in the world to be improved, compared to the past, all contemporary living is becoming fuller and fuller. There is more awareness. The information now comes at lightning speed around the world. People are more keen to consciously be in charge of creating their lives. Conventional living shifts, new opportunities arise, and more people are seeing and experiencing being on the leading edge of deliberate creation.
“Ironically, it was more about me viewing myself as a vessel for this mission that I want to impart worldwide. It’s not about me wanting to feel like a star, or me wanting to have subscribers, or anything like that. I truly believe in my mission statement and in bringing people worldwide together for these stories and laughs, and I view myself as a vessel for this idea that I believe to be true. So, I ask this question: ‘How can we impart that mission and idea through the content of our stories?’ Changing my mindset around myself, putting aside my ego, and saying, ‘How can I create? How can I be a vessel for this mission and for creative people to use me for this mission?’ That’s the biggest mindset change I’ve had in this past year. I think that sense of flow is super important for every creative person, and I feel that so much when I’m doing what I love. When I’m surrounded by people who are also doing what they love, time passes by super quickly, and we’re bouncing ideas off of each other. In creating the best, most excellent stories that we feel our audience will love, we feel super aligned with each other, my team, and me. I think that state of flow is something I love and strive towards,” says Alan.
Being the vessel of love is an unnoticeable invitation for others to be in love. Who doesn’t want to be in love with life? Who doesn’t want to be satisfied and eager for more? Who doesn’t want to laugh more? Who doesn’t want to be in joy? Who doesn’t want to feel good?
We all do! Because being in harmony with who we are is co-creation at its best, between both, the Self and the Divine!
“Empathy is super important. Even from a story perspective with our series Alan’s Universe, often, we go into the background of the bullies and why they’re bullying to create that full story and sense of empathy. We shouldn’t justify anybody’s actions if they’re causing harm to anybody else, but it’s easy to fight fire with fire. I think the solutions usually come from trying to understand why people are doing what they’re doing and coming to a different solution and compromise from a place of love rather than aggression,” says Alan candidly.
Focusing on the problem and fighting against it activates more of the problem. Focusing on the solution with love amplifies the love we are.
Like Alan, are you giving your attention to being in the state of love while carving your own destiny?
Photography // Reinhardt Kenneth