Each time I have an interview, I am always asked how it all began and what I went through in my past. Many people think that I did not struggle at all but little do they know my struggles and poverty were my driving force.
This week I came across an article titled, ‘If you’re poor at 35, you deserve it? Painful isn’t it. I mean it’s not easy to accept that you are totally responsible for lacking sufficient money and being unable to afford a standard considerable life. What struck me was the advice the author was given by the only friend who believed in him and his idea. He was told, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before”.
This is what gave the author the urge to do it anyway because he knew he had nothing to lose but his pride and in any case if it failed he could always move on to something else.
This man, Jack Ma went ahead and founded China’s biggest online commerce company. He knew that regardless of failure or success, the experience in itself was a form of success. Now this is the same mindset I had when I was starting out. I was poor and knew that I had nothing to lose but to try my best because I was ready to rid myself off poverty and change my life. I was thirsty to make my life work, to experience luxury and become self sufficient, turning my struggles into a success.
I keep telling my followers that it is not where you are coming from but where you are going that matters and what you are doing with the experience you gain.
Take for example the story of the two chickens. One is pampered and lives a structured life yet the other one is let to be free and survive on its own. Their meat on the other hand is very different; one tastes of paper and almost has no taste while the other is sweet and tasty. The same logic applies to our lives…the bitter things are what makes life sweet. Every successful person has a story of how they endured hardships in order to get to where they are.
You cannot afford to sit and feel helpless because of your situation or what you have been through. The best thing you can do is to use your sufferings as your driving force. When you are poor you have an opportunity to gain lots of experience because you start struggling very early.
I am who I am today because of the struggles in my life. Have the desire and ambition to gain that experience and change your life otherwise you will continue sitting in poverty waiting for the Government to come to your aid. I have come to know that the struggles you are in today, develop the strength you need for tomorrow. Strength to endure tougher times and to create your success story.
