I know it. You know it. It’s obvious.
When I was still living in the province, times were tough. There were so many instances when I desperately wanted this or that toy but I simply couldn’t have them. I just didn’t have the money.
In school, I’d envy some of my classmates. They would have great sets of crayons and could make such beautiful drawing projects. I never had those “sophisticated” tools myself, and I would think that those classmates of mine were able to produce better results than mine because of those tools rather than their innate creativity.
My parents were great providers in those days. By this I mean that they made it possible for us to eat three to five times a day, and they were loving, kind, and supportive. But I really never asked why they weren’t able to satisfy my natural obsession for toys and fancy school supplies. This didn’t make them wrong, and this didn’t make them bad either. It was just the way they were.
As I grew up, however, I began to ask some questions about life.
What makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives? Why are some people rich? Why are some people poor? Why isn’t everybody given such riches? Are some people rich because they are born rich? Or perhaps they were just lucky to have an expensive education? And I would also ask: Are they rich because God simply wants them to be rich and wants other people like us to be poor?
And then, why are some given more while some are given less? Is it their material resources that make some people more handsome and outstanding? Am I born in an unlikely time of history? Is there any way to figure out what makes a person rich?
If there is, I decided, I would do everything to find out.
Notice that I used the term “rich.” In my childhood, I thought that money was everything. If you aren’t rich, you’re poor. Obviously, you can’t be rich and poor at the same time.
But at that time, I really didn’t know what success means. And I wasn’t sure either if people really knew how to define it. In fact, I didn’t have a concept of success and failure until I went to school and got three correct answers out of five questions.
I discovered that if I’d give a wrong answer, I’d fail. Conversely, if for whatever reason I’d be able to give a correct answer, I’d be successful.
I eventually got tired trying to find answers or even clues, so as I was growing up, those questions in my mind became declarative sentences.
I used to believe that someone who was successful just got lucky. That’s all there was to it: luck.
But we all know that this idea is absurd. We are simply fooling ourselves every time we say that luck is everything. We all know by heart that this isn’t true.
This is the easiest, no-sweat scapegoat for a great number of people: to simply say they’re unlucky when they fail. Sometimes, we even tell ourselves that God didn’t want this and that thing to happen yet. We’d say, “I’d wait until I’m 40 before I force myself to get up and strategically make things work.” But there’s just no l-u-c-k. So, after some little failure comes, we just don’t do again what we are doing—end of story.
Until I was a sophomore in college, in fact, I had always looked for fast answers, quick fixes, and elevators to success. And I have to admit that several times, I’d give up and shelve the idea to turn my life around for the better. Shelving it somewhere in my heart was one quick solution to cover my frustrations and disappointments.
When I was 17, in particular, I’d spend most of my time with “friends.” These people were either jobless, gamblers, heavy drinkers, or drug addicts. I assure you, though, that they weren’t bad people. They were kind and supportive. They had their vices but they were dependable. Yes, they didn’t have a direction or plan in life but they were nice and witty people. If I needed someone to confide my problems with, they were always there.
After school, I’d go home and drink with them until dawn. I’d spend every remaining penny in my pocket just to belong to my group. The following day, however, I’d mess up in school. In fact, in my five-year stay in the College of Engineering of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, I got a failing grade of 5.0 twice.
After a year, I realized that my life was getting nowhere. I looked back and saw a total systems failure. I was taking an engineering degree even though I loved writing rather than numbers. Although I had been very active in joining competitions back in high school, I wasn’t even joining organizations in college. I wasn’t performing well in my mathematics subjects even if I believed that I could do much better if only I could put some time and effort to it.
My whole life got messed up at this point. I didn’t know what to do.
It then occurred to me that I had shelved something important I was doing in the past. It came back in a flash that I was on my way to finding the reasons why some people are happy and successful, and why others are sad and unsuccessful. It seemed like I got lost in the crossroads. So I asked myself: Do I retrace my steps and resume my quest to find the answers to my questions about life and about success and failure?
Well, obviously, if you’re a loser, you don’t have anything to lose, right?
Maybe. But the most important question I asked at the time had something to do with living and dying. I’d say, ten years after, if I’m not dead, I’d be alive. And if I’m still alive by then, what kind of life would I have?
I therefore decided to get myself back on track, looking for clues and reasons that would lead to the answers to my questions. I started joining student organizations and got myself involved in community and political work. I enjoyed my next four years in college doing what I loved to do, harnessing more of my skills, developing relationships with people I got in touch with, creating my own path.
I was able to define success in this more personal and obvious statement: “Success is making things happen.”
Before I started my business in 2005, I never had the opportunity to take any business class or attend any seminar. I simply didn’t have the money to pay for a seat. I just decided to register a business of my own because I was inspired by two books: Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Donald Trump’s How To Get Rich. I just thought I should try, thinking that if you’re a loser anyway, you don’t have anything to lose.
During my first six months in the business, it was hell. I wasn’t earning. I was starving. I thought all the while that if you’re stuck at the bottom, there’s no way but up. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In the process, however, I’d somehow get involved in the business community. I’d meet CEOs and business owners, and during that time I’d think that it was the closest I could get to being a big name in the industry. I couldn’t explain exactly that feeling when you are with successful people; it’s kind of interesting sometimes, challenging sometimes, nerve-racking sometimes, easy sometimes, frustrating sometimes. It all depends on the “video” or “imagination” you play in your mind.
It could be interesting if you’re playing a movie in your head where you are the director of your own business; challenging if you are the lead actor; nerve-wracking if you’re doing every work yourself and you are your own secretary, you are your own delivery boy, you are your own accountant, you are your own sales and marketing force, and you are your own CEO simply because you don’t have the resources to hire someone else to do that for you; and frustrating if you’re a spectator and you’re not pleased with your own movie.
Nonetheless, I got what I needed in my start-up days as an entrepreneur. I was able to study how successful people really become successful, how they turn failures into overwhelming monetary value, how they make the most out of life’s givens. It didn’t take me long to get the message and I didn’t have a hard time observing, learning, and applying their wisdom.
What makes it possible for someone to succeed? After years of living my life in the gutter, I finally found an answer. And that, to me, is a reason to celebrate.
I discovered that what separates successful people from the rest of the population is action. Successful people act on their ideas. They believe in their thoughts. They trust that the future belongs to them.
Think about this for a moment. Rich or poor, young or old, black or white, tall or short, we all have 24 hours a day. All of us. Now, that’s another obvious statement. But why is it that some of us are rich and others are poor? Why is there a gap between the rich and the poor, and what is it that makes that gap?
I think it’s because only a few people are willing to do what majority of the population wouldn’t want to do.
Only a few people get the fruits of success, and it’s not because they are luckier than the rest but simply because they do what majority of the population refuses to do. In other words, they do what many people hate to do.
Now, what is it that many people hate doing?
Many things. They hate to wake up early in the morning especially during weekends. At those times their bodies get so heavy that they just don’t feel like getting up. Their spirit may be willing to work, but their body simply doesn’t want to respond. “Five more minutes,” they say.
What about daily alarms? Well, we set our alarm clocks. Many of us do. But do we really wake up when the clock sounds the alarm? We do, but only to turn it off and snooze again, to go back to sweet sleep. So guess what? You and I are late for work again.
You come to work late several times and you’re fired. Of course, when this happens, you’d like to think that you’ve been fired because of the bad economy or because the government is corrupt or your neighbor’s dog barks too loud every night.
We look for excuses. We blame other people or certain unrelated events for our misfortunes. Well, we all know that passing the blame makes us feel comfortable. It allows us to say that we’re not responsible for our failure. But we all know as well that this isn’t true.
