From Zero to Hero

by: Lance Ong

There are many distractions is the world nowadays... we have tons of books to read, endless movies to watch, cable TV, never-ending email, the Internet, newspaper, magazines, and games. Then there is the survival stuff you've got to do if you live by yourself – cooking, laundry, buying groceries, cleaning house, washing dishes, ironing, scrubbing the toilet (at least once in a while), making your bed, and even feeding the cat! And let's not forget that we still have to maintain our social relationships (friends), romantic relationships, children (if you have any), and go to work at the same time. By the way, if you're still a student then your job is studying.

Amidst all this confusion, it's easy to lose your purpose; easy to forget your goals and where you want to go. Let me tell you about a little trap people get stuck in when they're young.... In certain western countries, the children move out of the house to live by themselves around 17 or 18 years of age. They rent a room or apartment, get a job, buy their own groceries, study part or full-time, and rock their socks off on weekends. Actually, this may have positive effects. Living on their own forces them to learn how to take care of themselves, and studies also show that people with their own places, have more romantic encounters than those who live with their parents. But the problem I see here is that young people get caught up in the earning-spending cycle – they spend whatever they earn – and every year, you'll see them working behind the same counter, doing the same job, just surviving but not thriving. They've become too comfortable with their lifestyle of working and partying – they are in a state of limbo.

I admit that here I am making a value judgment; as if to say that this state of limbo is a bad thing. This may or may not be true; it really depends on which culture you are brought up in. Certain societies are upwardly mobile – the people are enculturated to be Yuppies. They want to be young and rich, so everything about them is business, image, reputation; sports car, flash cash, credit cards etc. On the other hand we have societies which are relaxed, the people do not make as much money, but are more attuned to their own interests and actively engage with what they like to do. Which lifestyle delivers greater happiness to the individual? Which path should a person pursue to live a significant life?

I have a friend who faced this dilemma. Her passion is cooking and she wants to be a caterer or restaurant owner. She even took a degree program in culinary arts. But her problem was that she did not have enough money to start a catering business or restaurant, and neither did she want to borrow from family or friends. So where does that leave her? Working as a chef, it would take several years to accumulate enough capital to start a business of her own. She owned no property to mortgage for a loan and no valuables to pawn off for cash. Her solution was to join a multi-level marketing company, believing it was the Holy Grail of fast cash. She urged me to join her network, but I told her that my past experience with MLM was difficult, and that she should not spend her time on it. Not because it can’t work, but because it’s one of the hardest ways to earn a living if you’re not a born salesperson. Every time you approach someone, you are met with a scowl of skepticism. The only people who respond positively are those who either never heard of it, or who are already in it. I really have to salute those who are still persisting in this industry. I told her that if her passion was in cooking, she should immediately go to work in the culinary field and ignore all alternative money-making plans. I told her that she could make all the money she needed doing what she loved to do… but alas she didn’t believe me.

Should a person chase the money or chase their passion? My suggestion is that if you know what you want, then make a beeline for it. Life is short; too short to spend meandering towards your goals. Many people spend their entire lives doing what they don’t like, in the hope that one day, they can finally start doing what they do like. The sad thing is, if you don’t start on your chosen direction early, the day of arrival may never come because you could get washed off course by the sea of life.

It doesn't matter where you are now – dead-end job, still in school, or broke without a penny – what matters is that you have a goal in mind, and are actively completing the next task to get you closer to your dreams. Sometimes our paths are not so straightforward, the road twists and obstacles may appear. But as long as you keep working on solutions, you can hop around obstacles, and maybe even blaze a new trail. The problem comes when you have no goal – no vision of a better future. That's when the distractions (TV, partying, and routine work) come in to fill the boredom and lack of forward focus. So keep your eyes on the target my friend, and avoid complacency. If you’re not clear on what you want to do, then you’ve got to take a time-out and think about it. Otherwise, you risk running for causes which take your time and energy, but ultimately leave you no lasting fulfillment.