February 14, 2014

A job is only a short-term solution to a long-term problem

I totally agree with Robert that lots of parents nowadays are teaching their kids to become an employee and make someone else's dream come true. I was born and raised in Vietnam and I had very low self-image. From the time I was a kid till I arrived in Canada to study, I have been constantly told by older generations that if I want to be rich and successful , I have to get good grades in school. They said if I got good grades, I would be able to work for big companies and earn lots of money. My parents recommended me to become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer and so on. I would consider none of these as my passion. See below for a fun video about Asian parents :))

When I came to Canada, I was lucky to meet an awesome friend. His name is Jersey. He helped me a lot with my self-image and helped me realize what I want to accomplish in future. He also recommended me several books to read. Rich Dad Poor Dad was one of them. Thanks to this book, I was able to open my mind to a whole new world. Why would I want to be an employee and live pay cheque by pay cheque? Most of the money I earn will go to the Government or the big boss of the company. Beside, I will never be able to make a big influence in the society if I don't have an organization of myself. Now, I have a clear vision that I want to be an entrepreneur and build my own organization, my own dreams. I want to make a great difference in other people's lives and serve the needs of the society.

Thinking back when I was a kid, I studied a few years of martial arts. I was a fan boy of Bruce Lee by the way. I usually tried to imitate him: "ahhhhhhhhh, waaaaaateeerrrrrr, huuuuu aaachaaaa!" Haha! Anyways, I had a thought of opening my own martial arts stadium which offers classes for all kinds of martial arts styles. I also thought about opening sparring tournaments for different styles to exchange techniques and learn from on other. Hey! That's an entrepreneurial mind. I already wanted to become an entrepreneur when I was a kid. I just didn't realize that until now!

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March 03, 2014

The statement "I can't afford it" shuts down your thinking. By asking the right question, your mind opens up and looks for answers

Why You Should NEVER Say: “I can’t do it”

When we face difficult challenges in life, we have a tendency to tell ourself: “I can’t do it”, isn’t that right? Like when somebody gives you a certain task that seems impossible to you, and you don’t know whether or not you can do it, so you might just deny the possibility. If you are a football player, your coach may tell you: “We are facing the best team in the country today, and I want you to win this match”. You might respond: “I don’t think we can win today, they are so much better than us!”. If somebody challenges you to lose weight, you might say: “I want to lose weight, but I can’t stop myself from eating fast foods, so I don’t think I can lose weight”. Or if somebody challenges you to earn 10,000$ within the next 4 months, you might say: “That’s ridiculous! I don’t even have a job now. There is no way I can earn 10,000$ within the next 4 months!”. The problem is: this way of thinking will prevent you from considering about possible alternatives that you might have, if you spend more time to think about it. My friend, don't be like the donkeys in the video below, ok? :)

Little known ways to open up your mind

I remember having a one vs one meeting with a banker from Thailand, who earns 10,000$ a month. He asked me this question: “If there is a land worth 100,000$ for sale right now, and you know that it will be very profitable in the future, would you buy this land?”. I answered: “No, even though it will be profitable in the future, I don’t have 100,000$ right now, there is no way I can buy this land!” Then he told me: “Instead of insisting on right away that you can’t, ask yourself: How can I do it? What are the possible things I can do to get 100,000$ to buy this land?” Then I started to think about some possibilities, such as asking my dad to borrow 100,000$ from the bank by using our house as a deposit – or I can borrow money from my friends and relatives – robbing a bank is another option too, lol! These alternatives aren’t easy to do either, but if I want the land bad enough, I should be able to do it with these alternatives. You see my point here? By asking myself how I can do it, I become more creative and I’m able to come up with brilliant solutions that might work. This allows me to turn impossibility into possibility. See the video for more insights from Les Brown: 

Here is a method that is helping me to achieve impossible things

Years ago, I used to think that I could never become a salesman, since I was an introverted guy and I didn’t know how to talk to people. I would prefer to sit in an office and do paper work, rather than to go out there and interact with people. Yet, life is surprising! I have been a salesman for more than a year now and I love this profession! About a year and a half ago, I needed a job so badly that I was willing to do anything, as long as they paid me enough money to pay for my tuition fee. Surprisingly, my friend referred me to a sale job in a bank, selling credit cards. Initially, I thought: “Oh my god, can I really do this? I hate talking to people. But whatever, I need a job now!” My first few weeks of selling, I was terrible at it. I tried my best but I was failing at reaching the target. I was really afraid of losing the job and being unable to pay for my tuition fee. So I was constantly asking myself: “How can I become better at this job? How can I deal with rejections? How can I reach the target? How…? How…? How…?” Then, I started to ask for more training from my company, I bought several books from the top salesman in the world, and I watched several sale tips on Youtube. Four months later, I became the top sale person in the program that I worked under, and I received a certificate of excellence from my manager. WOW! I never thought that I could become the top sale person! What’s the secret here? It’s very simple. No matter what kind of challenges you might face in the future, always ask yourself this question first: “How can I do it?”, instead of immediately assuming that you can’t do it, and say to yourself: "It's possible!". Watch the video to see people perform impossible actions!

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