I bet you are also looking ways to become successful in whatever field you are in, so that’s why you are reading this. We share a common goal for it.
These days I’ve been switching work and personal agenda from time to time. Yesterday I thought that I needed some inspiration to move forward as I feel stuck and not moving forward with the plans I have for my company. There are just so many challenges in the past 8 months so I though I needed some advice from people who were not successful in the beginning but getting better through time.
My bet is Jack Ma today. He is a Chinese national and the founder of Alibaba. He came from a poor family who can barely afford to eat a good meal. He did not have a good education either but his choice to learn English was the best decision he made early on in his life. I’d like to believe it gave him more opportunities to widen his network. He earned a degree in English and several years after, in 2017, Jack Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Technopreneurship from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines.
So here, you can see that education at a later stage of your life is also possible, but make money first while you are still young, and perhaps you might even forget about getting an education after. I was told this couple of times by different people who are financially successful now but never had the right education that we think is mandatory to financial independence, but this is another story for next time.
Anyhow, I am always fascinated by Jack Ma’s strong will and determination to succeed regardless of the challenges and the risks he had to take along the way. So here are my take away from the video which you can also find here.
SO, HOW WILL YOU BECOME SUCCESSFUL?
The business tycoon said:
- Learn from other people’s mistakes. Don’t listen to successful stories, often times there are many stories behind, but learn from what they did wrong and make your way through it.
- In life its not how much you achieved, rather how much you went through the tough days and the mistakes your made that measures your success.
- Learn from the mistakes you made and make use of them to become a better version of yourself. Once a friend told me, “its okay to make mistakes” but learn from it and don’t do the same mistake again, otherwise its called stupidity. By not being afraid to making mistakes, you are opening your door for learning.
- Strive for quality over quantity. Quality brings in more repeat clients that lasts, but quantity is a short term goal and can ruin your long term reputation. Now, I am talking from experience. So keeping few good ones are worth your time and effort as they will become your loyal clients.
- Don’t aim to be the best, aim to be the first. Be the first to offer a solution to an existing problem. If your product or services can solve people’s problem, then you are trekking the right path.
- Prepare for the future.Have long term plans. See the future ahead than others. You can work slowly but be sure that what you are doing now prepares you for the next couple of years. Seeing the big picture thinking is what makes great leaders as J. Maxwell explained in his book – How Successful People Think.
- Respect your competitors. Just as you want to be recognized or gain something from what you are working hard to do, so are your competitors. My take on this is- do your best but mind your own business and concentrate on your goals.
- Take challenges as opportunities. Problems need a solution and people will be willing to pay for something that can solve their problems.Many times, businesses fail due to overwhelming challenges but I personally believe that in every challenge lies an opportunity-again, see the big picture thinking and never give up.
- Believe. Believe that there is something greater ahead and continue to work your way through it. I always have this and so you do. It doesn’t matter if you get rejected, in fact, Jack Ma said that he has had many rejections before he succeeded. Few months ago, I met an author of the book Conquering Your Stage Fright through secrets and The 90 Day Book Writing Challenge said ” you don’t need many people to approve of your ideas or yourself even, you only need one and your belief in yourself”.
- Surround yourself with great people. Indeed, it is hard to encourage negative people. The last thing you would want to hear is complains from people who believe less in themselves. Jack Ma also mentioned that culture in his management is important. It is important that all the people are seeing the same goal and working towards it.
- Live healthy. Simply said, if you are healthy, you can live happily but you cannot be happy if you are unhealthy. Take a break, reward yourself at times by going to places you’ve never been, meet people you can talk to nicely or eat your favorite blueberry cheesecake.
