This is part of a series from my previous TRUE Labs sponsored article about chasing dreams.
I wrote recently about the things that stop us from chasing our TRUE Potential. The question now of course is how do we know what our TRUE Potential is? What do we know what we are good at and what we are capable of doing?
Here’s how:
1) Reflect on your past successes
Each one of us is good at something, sometimes we just forget what we’re good at or worse… we ignore it. The best way to remind ourselves of our talents is to look at the things we have been successful in the past.
Did we win a design project in school for the best design?
Did your piano teacher tell you that you seem to learn faster than any of her other students?
Were you the one who came up with a lot of brilliant ideas when brainstorming for a marketing plan for your college project?
We are all good in something and we have all achieved something we are proud of. Just try to remember what they are. Or better yet… If you always knew what they were then you don’t have to worry about this first part. You know what you’re good at.
2) Think about where you’re going to go with that talent
Growing up I always remember my Dad telling us one thing. He said
It doesn’t matter what you do. As long as people need it and you’re the best in it… you’ll make a lot of money.
Being a little boy trying to poke holes in my Daddy’s teachings I said “What if I’m just really good at cleaning toilets”.
And he said “Well there are these things called waste management companies. The bosses know all about waste management AND cleaning toilets. They’re also very successful and I’m sure they make a lot of money”.
So look at someone else who has this talent and see where they are right now. Make that your goal so you know where you’re going to be.
3) Talk to People and Discover
When I was in college, I had the honor to meet a successful entrepreneur that I referred to as Uncle Albert. I called him Uncle because he was my Dad’s friend from my Dad’s old hometown. Uncle Albert had a very interesting entrepreneurial story that I always remember till today.
Uncle Albert started off as an engineer. He worked really hard for a few years to an engineering company (I don’t recall now what it was called). Then one day in the course of his work he met someone who had told him of one problem the oil and gas industry often faced:
When oil tankers shipped oil around the world, one problem they always faced was theft. Many people in the transit process have opportunities to syphon oil out of the tankers and it’s very very hard to know if they did it especially if they took out a bit at a time.
Uncle Albert had a light bulb moment. What if he could develop a sort of security cap that seals the oil tanks and when tampered with would leave some sort of a mark so that the person on the receiving end would know someone had opened it in transit. Some sort like how you would know if someone opened your important document from your bank.
I don’t know if the idea existed overseas yet but Uncle Albert went ahead to do it. He got help from his brother in law in designing and manufacturing this cap. After he did it, sales took off and he listed his company.
Why I thought this story of Uncle Albert was interesting was that he didn’t necessarily set out to be an entrepreneur right after graduation. I’m not sure if he even knew he wanted to be one. But during the process… while talking to people he found a problem and more importantly a solution to that problem. He was then able to make lots of money off it.
Once we know these 3 things of course the next thing is how do we know what we’re capable of?
Well this is a personal story I can share. When I first started Netccentric back in 2007 I had just graduated. My only goal was for the company to be able to give me a salary equivalent to what my friends were earning at that time. About RM2,000 – RM2,500. After the first initial 9 months of no pay I achieved that. The company could afford to pay me a small salary. But that was my only goal. I figured that I love what I did and if I could just do that and earn the same amount of money my peers earned I’ll be happy.
I never expected the company to grow to what it is today. To a company with offices in 7 different countries and about 200 full-time employees. If you told me then what Netccentric would turn out to be I’d say you’re crazy.
That proves one thing.. is that sometimes we just don’t know what we’re capable of.
If you have any interesting stories or experiences to share, head over to now and start inspiring others. More importantly, submit your idea of your dream and you might just get RM50,000 to pursue it.
Be sure to tell me which is your idea by leaving me a comment (and your email address) here so that you can win a pair of movie tickets.
Good luck!
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space