Discovering my goldmine, the perfect fit for my aspirations, took a willingness to admit what I didn’t know and accept failure and move on to the next step, no matter how challenging it was at the time.
When I arrived in America, I realized most people that grew up there took almost everything for granted. To me, everything was so remarkable and unfamiliar, especially the ease of getting ahead, which seemed ordinary for others. I had to learn everything, from the beautiful English
language to the advantages of having easily accessible supermarkets and sprawling shopping malls.
Because I came from another place, I could appreciate what others hardly noticed, which gave me the advantage of seeing and leveraging the life I wanted.
I had to be honest with myself and with what I didn’t know and then go out and learn it. And so do you. Assuming you already know everything out there is to accept that growth is limited.
If you are pursuing your dream, do your research or ask someone who knows.
Secondly, I needed to understand that every step of my journey was a gift. Helping my friend sell his knock-off handbags on the street was even worthwhile because I always enjoyed learning something new and unexpected.
Value, I had discovered, came from not just appreciating the things that others had. If you want to control your life, you must learn to see all your experiences, both good and bad, as learning opportunities and gifts. And you must be willing to work hard.
I often met young people who wanted to start their own companies, but they expressed their dream to conquer the world before explaining their business model or big idea. “I want to be the next Bill Gates,” they say, or “I’m going to build a company larger than Apple.” These dreamers don’t last long in the real world because they only know how to dream, and they don’t know how to devise and build a realistic plan.
What else is needed to be successful?
As you’ve seen in my own story, passion is essential, but a specific strategic plan is even more vital. For a business dream to work and a new venture to succeed, the dreamer must put their feet on the ground and do all the hard work of market research and competitive analysis.
By utilizing the skills, education, and lessons you learned while growing up, whatever they are, you will find a limitless toolbox catered for your unique path. Even your failures can be the tools of your future success if you start appreciating and learning from them.