I Should Be A Failure

My school grades, since primary school, is nothing to be proud of.

My secondary school grades are same same but different. Same red colours with more subject.

I did not come from a wealthy family bloodline.

I grew up in a tiny rental flat with ten people.

I have worked part-time since Primary school. At night I would sell snacks and drinks in National Stadium while Quah Kim Song, Dollah Kassim kicked the ball. Imagine a small boy carrying big bags of snacks and baskets of drinks, running up and down the stairs. Not something I want my children to do.

I have sold butter cookies during school holidays when there was no football match, door to door, sometimes to strangers on the streets. I saw people crossing the road quickly as I approached them.

I almost sold rainbow vacuum cleaners but did not when I realize that they want me to sell to my relatives. At $2,000 a piece in the 80’s, I did not have rich relatives to buy.

I almost sold home telephones with smart functions. Not believing that I could be rich like the chap said, I did not move forward. The item did not get popular.

I have worked hard. So what ?

I have worked smart. So what ?

Whatever someone told me to do, I would try. So what ?

I grew up thinking adults were smart. So what ?

I started a company making machines. It went bankrupt. So what ?

I started two retail shops selling body care products. It wiped out my savings and in debts of $200,000. So what ?

After doing so many things, my bank account was still zero. Like my Report Card in School. So what ?

With all these past, today I should be suffering, accepting a lesser pay job or no job and crying in a corner quietly.

Been there, done that.

Spending all my negative energy pounding and kicking sandbags in Thailand and in Singapore.

Fortunately, I am living my dream life now. I do not have to work hard. I have businesses and properties giving me free cash every day, moment. I have a choice of cars and motorcycles to go out with. I can walk into any restaurant and eat without worrying about the bills.

Fortune favors the bold.

Bold? Courageous ? Brave ? Can this word accurately describe me ? Don’t think so.

Many of you who have seen me in action, will know that I use a very conservative calculator to decide the acquisition price of the properties or businesses. I am not bold at all. Very careful before the dollar is out.

Perhaps the only bold thing I have done recently was to jump out of the plane during this time in Brisbane last year.

Everything else I have done, is always carried out in a calculated manner.

How did I come to be so successful despite being labelled “a failure”, “a good for nothing”, “a useless piece of shit”… etc.

There are two key words that took me out of all these life lessons .

Can you guess?

Yes, its “so what”?

SO WHAT if I was not born in a rich family.

SO WHAT if I did not top the schools.

SO WHAT when I failed in business several times.

SO WHAT when one time I could not afford to buy milk powder for my toddlers.

SO WHAT if I am tall, dark and handsome.

I do not have six packs, so what?

I was retrenched twice despite topping world sales, so what ?

I sued people and got sued, so what ?

All the above tantamount to nothing.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

It’s the past.

The past does not mean anything today.

What counts is what you are doing today for a better tomorrow.

If I spend today crying over my failures … tomorrow will be an equally sad day.

If I spend today blaming others for my failures …. Tomorrow I will still be blaming.

All I know, since a child, is I want a better tomorrow. As a child, that meant big houses, nice cars, kids, wife, dogs, holidays, freedom. I have all these today, and more.

I do not let the past define me.

Today I am reading a new book, giving me new ideas, and I will be implementing them, so I can have a bigger tomorrow.

As long as my brains is still capable, I will continue to do this.

Tomorrow will be more beautiful than Today.

What happened Yesterday is swept under a carpet called “So What”.

So, if someone ever asked questions like “why were you retrenched”, how will you answer them?

Please share with me your reply by typing into the “comment” box below.

Love, Marko
Investor, Practitioner and Full-Time Coach