Quit NOW, or never!

Whenever you go out there and try to achieve something worthwhile, something or someone (or maybe a whole bunch of someones) will stand in your way. What happens then?

You can either:
a) quit.
b) carry on doing what you are doing, regardless.

Nobody can tell you what’s going to work and what’s not. Never.

Even the holiest of holy men or the smartest of smart men cannot predict the future. Many predicted the world would end in December 2012. It didn’t, did it?

So why do you have to listen to anyone who tells you to do something, or not to do something that you set out to do? Very simply, you don’t have to.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer than you.”
~ Dr Seuss

That sounds almost nonsensical, maybe it does. But look deep into these words, and you will see a whole new dimension to it.

My brother is a great guy, he really is. He is a caring person. He donates blood every other month (I don’t think I know anyone else who donates blood as regularly as he does). The first thing he did on his birthday this year was to head to the National Blood Centre to donate blood. What a guy, right?

Then again, he has his weaknesses. He has a low self-esteem and does not see himself more than what he is today. He may always feel that he is underachieving but he does not see the way out. He puts himself down, and he is put down by others around him. As his elder brother, I always want to find ways to help him. I lend him books, I share audios with him, I tell him my thoughts and try to tap his. But I can never move him to do what he does not want to do. I am me, he is him.

Even when others see the potential in him, what good is potential, that is not brought to the light and used by the man himself?

Imagine a durian that fell from the tree. Even if it is a D24 or Maoshanwang, as long as the shell remains unopened, no one can enjoy the delicious fruit within. And when it’s left too long, the fruit will just rot away and die. What good is that fruit then? The potential was there. But what good is it when it is not full utilized?

Deep within, I want to help him. Help him grow as a person, help him reach his potential. But I can’t. He is the only one who can choose his path. I can’t walk the path on his behalf.

Much like many of the people out there, they know deep within themselves that they have much, much more to offer to the world. Do you sometimes or often feel this way?

If you’ve ever felt this way, please follow your instinct. For it will guide you. Let it be a beacon to your success. Fear not of mistakes, everyone makes them. The more mistakes you make, the faster you’ll learn. Draw me a perfect egg and I’ll show you a person who makes no mistakes in his life.

The only way to make no mistakes is to do nothing at all. Then again, that would be a mistake in itself. Don’t you see?

Babies don’t learn to walk by lying on the bed. They learn to walk by trying to take steps and not being afraid of falling. The more they fall, the faster they learn to walk.

My 3-year old daughter Nicole is an early walker. She could walk at 6 months without learning how to crawl. That was amazing. Every day I watched her trying to stand up with the support of the bed railings and she sometimes tumbled but she got up quickly to try again. With enough tumbling, she learnt how to walk quickly. She didn’t want to crawl. She wanted to walk like all of us. She’s such an inspiration.

Have you heard of the secret formula of success? It goes like this:

Failure + Growth + Mistakes + Failure + Learning + More mistakes + More Growth = Success

If you’ve never failed, you’ve never tried either.

The only true failure comes when you quit. You give up. You surrender your right to succeed. That’s when you really fail.

So, when you’ve decided… Quit NOW, or never!