This awesome topic is sponsored by AmBank TRUE Lab
When I look at my 18 month old son today I see innocence in his eyes and a big curiosity for the world. He wants to explore every place, touch and taste everything. That reminds me of how I was as a kid. My mind saw the things around me and I immediately formulated dreams.
Dreams of things I knew I wanted to do at some point in my life. Some of us want to travel for a year, some want to own a bar… my dream is to own a steamboat restaurant of my own (I can go on to a whole new article about why I want to do a steamboat restaurant but I’ll save that for another day).
The sad thing is that as we grow older in life we face more responsibilities. Students have tougher and tougher exams to sit for. Young working adults have to battle the struggles of the working world and parents have family commitments.
It’s because of this that we often put aside our dreams and eventually never pursue them. Thinking back today… I have my dreams too and I’ve never pursued them. In writing this article I wondered why and then I realized… it’s because of the following excuses we tell ourselves every now and then.
1) I don’t have the time
This is a common reason we give ourselves and is certainly the most common I give myself on why I still don’t own a steamboat restaurant today. I tell myself I’m already so busy with my current business, and with family commitments… man how do I even start?
But deep inside I know that if I wanted to bad enough, I could find the time for it. It’s just a matter of when and how.
2) I don’t have the skills necessary
Sometimes we worry we don’t have the skills we need to pursue that dream. For this though let me tell you an inspiring story.
I have a friend whom I had known since I was in college. His name is Bryan.
Bryan is a really smart guy. He graduated from an Ivy League College. When I met him, he was really really sold into the dream of China. He believed that China was going to be the new economic superpower of the world (back then it wasn’t yet the 2nd largest economy in the world). And he believed in the opportunities that existed there.
He wanted to start a life there right after graduation. There was one problem though. He didn’t speak a word of Chinese. The same reason that held back a lot of my other friends who too believed in the same China dream.
Bryan was different. He didn’t care. Shortly after he finished college he booked a plane ticket to Shanghai and never looked back since. Today he owns a business there, married a Chinese wife and speaks fluent Chinese.
3) I have commitments
This is another struggle we often face once we’re out in the working world. We have commitments. We have bills to pay, a lifestyle to maintain and so our dreams will have to wait.
For this I have another story, one that belongs to someone I met briefly once. Lets name him Jack.
Jack had always wanted to travel the world but he was tied down with commitments. He hadn’t had a family yet but he had bills to pay. Yet he knew that if he didn’t go on his trip around the world he would never be able to do it once he had started a family. So for years he worked his bank job and saved up as much money as he could. Then one day he quit.
He had parked aside enough money to pay all his bills and travel on a shoestring budget around the world for a year. He went backpacking everywhere. From Europe to Africa, South America and more. At the end of it he collected a passport with enough stamps to make a travel blogger proud. He came back and found another job. He was ready to go back to his usual routine life… because he had already lived his dream.
4) What if I fail?
Failure is a chain that holds us back. Because we fear failure, we fear even trying and if we don’t try, we don’t stand even a 1% chance of succeeding in living or achieving a dream.
History is full of presidents, entrepreneurs, inventors and great scientists that have failed many times before. Not being afraid of failure is tough. I know because I still have that fear. Know that fear is there, but don’t let it hold you down.
5) I don’t have the money
Of all the excuses we often tell ourselves, the biggest of them all is this: Money. You need money to do things. You need money to travel, you need money to start a steamboat restaurant, you need money to pursue a career as an artist. You need money.
The truth is there are many ways to get the money to fund your dreams. Whether it’s raising money from an investor for a business or saving money for a round-the-world trip.. but yes none of it is easy. That’s why we often give up on our dreams.
The purpose of this article is to tell you one other way and that’s in the crowd-sourcing platform called TRUE Lab by AmBank. It’s created for young professionals to get on there, voice their opinions, share their ideas and connect with other like-minded young people.
Financial solutions form the backbone of nearly every endeavor so naturally, TRUE Lab also hopes to listen to the upcoming generation about what would constitute their ideal banking and financial solution.
The TRUE Blog page will feature weekly tips and advice on life, realizing your potential and even success stories and tips from an individual who has ‘made it’ in their field.
But that’s just one part of it. TRUE Lab is asking us (well you guys, the young sparks with unlimited potential) to share own your ideas. It could be anything – a business idea, a secret dream you hope to fulfill someday, a hobby/passion that’s a huge part of your life. Each idea submitted will then be judged based on the number votes by fellow TRUE Lab users and a panel of judges.
Share your idea now and you could win the exciting grand prize of RM50,000 to make that idea come true!
You can read more about it here.
Sign up and share your ideas before 15th February 2015 and you stand a chance to win a pair of movie tickets to any movie of your choice for every original idea submitted! All you need to do is include the link to your idea and your email address in the comment box below.
PS: Tell you what. Once you share your idea leave a comment on my blog to tell me which one is yours. I’ll personally pick the best one and I’ll use my blog and/or maybe Dayre/Twitter to help promote your idea ok?
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space