In my early 20s, I decided to quit my first and only job because I thought I already knew the secret of success – that is to simply think and grow rich!
After quiting my job, I got really ‘busy’.
I was busy attending different seminars, from how to do business, how to be successful, how to invest to how to tap into the power of the subconscious mind.
I also tried different ways to make money. I sold land investment, traded stocks and options and involved in different MLMs.
When nothing worked, I started a brick and mortar retail business. But I lost $50k in just 6 months.
I was a top student in school, but I failed miserably in my career.
The reason?
I lacked a compelling reason to succeed.
In one of the success seminars that I went to, the coach asked us to write down the reason why we must succeed. Honestly, I had to think very hard to come out with a reason.
I can’t remember what reason I wrote.
Whatever reason I wrote, it was not compelling.
My real compelling reason came after I lost $50k in my first business.
That was the darkest moment of my life.
I not only used up my own money, but also depleted my wife’s savings.
To pay bills, I surrendered my insurance policy prematurely to take back $9000. That could last us for a while.
One Sunday afternoon, after my first business failure, I was in the living room with my wife, talking about our life.
Suddenly she burst into tears.
She felt miserable that we were back to square one after all those years, while our friends were all progressing well.
My wife had been very supportive of what I had been doing, so supportive that she would say ‘good’ to all my immature decisions and silly business ideas.
I felt indebted to her.
Since then, I told myself that I would never let her down again.
She was my compelling reason to succeed.
You know the rest of my story.
As what many self-help books say, once you have a compelling reason to succeed, everything else will fall into places.
