If you have ever been bullied, criticised, outcasted or misunderstood by the masses, I am here with you.
To start off, I am not a popular public figure. I am not an influencer. I am not a blogger.
I write articles because it is an outlet of expression for a usually emotionally detached person, me. I don’t always have the habit of sharing, but I’m here writing because over these few months of having this WordPress has proven to me that there are still ladies out there, people out there, who read my works and feel relatable. My articles make people feel better, and that’s the motivation I have every single time I pick my Macbook up and start typing.
And through writing these articles, doing stupid silly things online over the years have garnered a small but present following. People look at me, even my friends, think that I appear strong. I appear independent. I appear to be on the right track. But for you to truly understand me, I have to admit that my times are not great. My life isn’t perfect.
I wasn’t born the way I am today. I wasn’t born confident. I wasn’t born knowing I wanted to create relatable content. Through this post, I hope ladies, or even guys, going through a hard time, or have had a difficult past, can relate and understand (a quote that I recently came across and really love) that “As you think, so shall you become.”
You’ve Been Through More than Others Have
You’ve been bullied by mean school mates. You’ve been called names and labeled by others. You’ve been with a group of people who could never love you truly as a friend. You were taken advantage of. Friendships were not sincere. Family was a mess. Life was practically a mess as you struggled balancing life and academics.
You’ve been through so much in your younger years that you’re no longer surprised by what people can do in their adulthood.
But You Push Yourself and Stay Focused
It is not easy to stay focused on your goals and yourself with all these distractions in life. But it is also all these problems which surfaced that made it clear to you what your priorities were. I couldn’t afford to do badly in school because I knew I couldn’t afford another school term. I had to survive and with the expensive art projects I had to do, I knew I needed to work. While some of my friends were free to spend all of their time working on their projects and enjoying life, I knew I had to spend my Saturday afternoons working. I needed the money.
I never complained because I’ve met some of my closest friends from work. Working early has also forced me to pick up skills, know how to handle difficult customers, and most importantly, exposed me to how scary the world out there can be. I’ve met some of the worst bosses, and also some of the nicest. You get to know what to expect first-hand upon entering the society. You know money is hard to earn, so you’re not a spendthrift… Well, mostly because you can’t afford to be.
You Know Your Priorities
All these problems and situations made you wiser. They make you learn how to read people and first impressions. They force you to become observant and careful. They make you mature. They make you grow.
With personal problems being a constant, you start to learn to not let your priorities be affected by these problems. To me, work and family’s always gonna be priority. Mainly because I’m still young and like Jack Ma says,”If you’re still poor at 35, it’s your fault.” If you don’t work hard while you’re young, when else would you be able to?
I never let personal problems get to affecting my tasks and the delivering of work because I can’t afford to.
And You’re on the Right Track
Pushing myself thus far has forced me to be on the right track, at least as of now, I think I am. I’m in a company where I get to learn a lot that I can eventually apply. Opportunities other companies never offered me. Opportunities for me to expose myself to even more skill sets and learn. If I took my time, went for a grad trip, dilly dally and enjoyed life before I chose to start applying for a job, I’m probably still looking right now.
I gave up my holidays to start working asap upon finishing my FYP a year back. People asked me why I never took time to go for grad trips. Firstly, I don’t have the money. Secondly, I NEED the money. Thirdly, I didn’t think I had time to waste. It was a comparison between staying at home and wasting time away vs get to work asap and pick up skills as I go. I went with the latter. Sometimes I still feel really tired and felt that I could use a getaway, but I have never once regretted giving those time up and forced myself to start looking asap. My parents even asked me to just take a break before starting work, which I refused.
Desire for Success Becomes a Subconscious Constant
I really believe that once you set a goal that you truly believe in achieving, you will achieve it. It becomes a subconscious constant. It will be a value you stick to everyday. Every task that you perform and skills that you pick up, that goal sticks with you at the back of your mind. Without you even knowing, you are already working towards that. You may be performing one task and not realising that you’re thinking of working towards achieving your goal, but trust me, think positive for every opportunity and that very goal becomes your subconscious. When you’re not complaining about the things you’re doing, you’re on the right track.
Casey Neistat has also once mentioned on his vlogs that if you keep doing that very thing you love, you WILL be successful. The problem is many people give up and not stick to what they thought they’d want to do. Of course, not everyone is going to be that lucky to discover what they want to do at an early stage, but everyone knows that they want to achieve something in life. Doesn’t matter if you don’t know yet what that something is right now. The positive thought alone on success and the will to work hard are enough to put anyone on the right track. This applies to everything in life – career, family, building relationships and friendships.
And I think I’m on the right track.
Coke of All Trades 