That epiphany moment when you realize your dreams as a kid followed you through to a point in the future where you realize you have been born to fulfill it all along. I was born to inspire and teach others. This moment of realization came to me out of nowhere as I was thinking about something else. My childhood memories as a kid appeared. The image of me playing teacher and writing things on my mini chalkboard while talking to an empty room. I even made my own little exams and corrected them in red pen like teachers normally do. I imagined a classroom full of students and pretended. I also had moments where I also pretended I was a hairdresser. Cutting up long vertical lines on a loose leaf paper and cutting it horizontally as if it were real hair. I also loved to draw. My entire room and drawers were stuffed with my art. Papers with little drawings on them were everywhere. I liked to create and I liked to customize. I had dreams. Dreams I never pursued because I never saw opportunity in them.
My vision has broadened. Even if I see no opportunity in it, I can make it an opportunity by being creative. Doing what I did as a child made me happy. Inspiring others today makes me happy. Why did I stop? Because the ideas instilled in me as a child prevented me from pursuing my passion. Going to school, getting a good education and getting a stable, high paying job with good benefits was conventional wisdom. So I went with what opportunities the economy opened to me. Whatever jobs that were in demand, I would pursue my education in it and at the time, it was business. That is the exact reason why halfway throughout my University years, I completely lost motivation because I didn’t know what I was doing and what I wanted to do with my life. I only went into the program because my mom told me to go into business for bigger job prospects once I graduated. But after speaking to her, I decided I would continue to stay in school until I graduated in order to make her happy. I only had 2 more years left. Why stop now?
I’ve always wanted to be a teacher as a kid and teaching to help others and inspire people to grow today makes me feel alive. I feel like this is what I was born to do. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe education is important and all of the experience I obtained throughout my educational years were worth it. Somewhere along the way, my way of thinking changed. I started to look at the bright side of everything and be optimistic. I saw everything as an opportunity. My education allowed me to work at jobs I would never had had the chance to work at had I not graduated University. It opened many doors for me to be able to gain real life experience in different fields. With this experience, I can apply it to be able to open my own business.
My life just seemed to work out in my favor since I had loving parents and grandparents who supported my every decision. They weren’t the typical old-fashioned Asian parents who forced me to pursue a degree in the medical or business field against my own free will. The only reason I went into Business was because I didn’t know what else to do so I went into a field where there would always be opportunity. I am glad I went into Business Management because without realizing it I took the path that focuses on the importance of human resources. Good managers are team leaders that motivate their team to be efficient to increase bottom-line results. They teach and inspire others and guess what? That was my dream as a kid.
Reflect on your past. Reminisce your childhood memories. What did you used to do as a child? The little things you never thought about could help you to find the answer to what you want to do with your life. It could remind you what you used to be good at or always wanted to do as a child. Nothing is stopping you from pursuing your passion. Even if your dream as a child may or may not be directly related, it could provide you with new insight to a new potential project or even a new business idea.
Amplify your strengths, not your weaknesses.
X.O.X.O.
-Fifster
