Growing up in a traditional Asian family, my parents made a bold move by forbidding us from speaking English at home EVER.
Their belief was that I would eventually learn English at school but if I didn’t speak our mother tongue at home then I would lose my heritage FOREVER.
Looking back, I understand their reasoning, but it came at a cost.
My first day of school was painful and despite all the kindness I received from teachers, I couldn’t communicate with anyone.
I felt so alone that I cried.
Remember, this was back in the mid-1980s when there was only a handful of other Asian kids at school and China wasn’t rich, and when you are a 6-year-old who can’t communicate, making friends is not easy.
Slowly but surely, I started to pick up a few words here and there, finding “please” and “thank you” by far the most powerful.
In year 3, I remember being told by the teacher that I had been selected to join a “special class” and that this was my home every Wednesday afternoon.
I was led into a classroom full of ethnic students who were learning English as a second language (ESL).
It felt uncomfortable to be singled out, but I dutifully learned my ABCs anyway.
This is one of my earliest memories of how important it was to step outside of my comfort zone, learn something new, and invest in myself.
Which led to a lifelong drive to invest in myself and ultimately invest in my own business.
When you can’t speak English, powerful things happen.
You grow more intuitive, you become more insightful and you value words.
Change your words, change your life.
Change your thoughts, change your destiny.
Never be afraid to make decisions, reach out when you’re fearful, or jump into the unknown.
In fact, that moment when it seems scariest to jump is the exact moment when you MUST jump.
When there is blood on the street, I learned from my business mentors to double down and pull the trigger.
My biggest clients are those who are fearless.
Last week, I met with another developer who was facing intense pressure from lack of sales.
I was in awe of his calm approach to decisions.
I asked him how he managed his emotions whilst continuing to invest heavily in sales and marketing.
His response was simple: whilst he was hurting, he knew his competitors were doing the same.
His goal was to make sure he didn’t bleed out first.
Are you ready to jump?
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