I shall name it lesson by lesson, as I learned all of these in different days, and I'm putting them altogether. So let's start!
Lesson 1 - How Long Can You Wait?
On 30th May 2009, It's a day of my Sundown Marathon. However, that event is at night. In the afternoon, I went to Riverwalk, for a Zone meeting, by Brother Darren. It has been so many months since the Zone gather again. Bro Darren shared a lot a lot with us. And that is what I want to share with you guys.
Before he started saying anything, he said that what he will share will be a turning point in our lives, sound something great yea. To me, Bro Darren is a great speaker, an interacting speaker on stage, someone who is enjoyable to be with. I always love and remember what he says, as I can say his words can Really change a person's life. He has spoken in prisons too.
That day, he spoke about this...
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr spoke in Washington D.C. and his speech titled,
"I have a Dream..."
This is a world-renowned speech as he is speaking in front of thousands and thousands of people. And in his speech, there's a famous quote from him...
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
A few years later in 1968, he was assassinated. America in that era is prejudiced against the blacks, and there were a lot of discrimination of the blacks. They were mistreated, they were not given the same respect as the whites. However, after 46 years Martin Luther King Jr made that speech, history changed. And his Dream come true.
On January 20 2009, Barack Obama, America's first black President sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. He has made history. Martin Luther King Jr's dream came through after 46 years, after he had made that speech.
So here's a question...
If you are given a chance, to stand in front of thousand and thousands of people, in front of the world camera, to give a speech of just 10 mins. yup. 10 mins will do. What will you say? What can you say to change the world, to change the lives of the people? An interesting food for thought...
Looking at today's era, people are becoming more and more oblivious of what is happening around the world. When Facebook changes its layout, many groups have been formed there to appeal against the changing of layout. These groups have gathered almost hundred thousands of people, to appeal against the changing of the layout. But what happen in the end? Facebook didn't change its layout. So what are these people doing? Is there a need for this? Another food for thought...
So what would you say? ... ...
Next, he mentioned about a research study that has been done.
"It has been studied that a person requires 17 years to become World-Class"
Yup. Tiger Woods started playing golf at the age of 2, and he turned professional in 1996, at age of 21 years old. It took him around 20 years, I would say, to be world-class, when he became world number one in 1997. 20 years, and he became world-class.
What everybody see, is his No.1 ranking, his titles, his almost-perfect golf swings, his happy marriage, the multi-million dollar endorsements he had signed... But who has seen what he has really gone through all these 20 years? Who has seen how much training he has gone through before he can become professional? Who has seen how many golf balls he has to hit a day? Who has seen how much pressure he has to undertake, the stress of becoming world no.1? Only a handful, probably his coaches has seen them all...
Life's like that, many people admire the success of others, love to be on the world stage one day, love to win titles, be world no.1, win endorsements, appear in world advertisements... but only few people are willing to do what it takes to get there.
Bro Darren talked about 17 years to become the world best. I would like to add something to it.
Maybe you would not like to be world best. So, 14 years to become best in your continent (Asia/Africa/Europe...) ? Alright, maybe you would not like to be your continent best. So I say, 10 years to become best in your region(Middle East, North Asia, SouthEast Asia...) ? Alright! maybe you would not like to be your region best, you just want to be your country best. 7 years? or your city best.5 years? or become your school/club/company best? Is 4 years enough?
So I have somehow shortened the number of years, to just 4 years. Yup. 4 years to be your company best or best in your school, or I just say achieve your dreams. 4 years. How many of us are willing to strive for 4 years to achieve what we wanted? If Tiger Woods can strive hard for 20 years, why can't we, just for 4 years?...
While achieving our dreams, we will definitely meet a lot of dream breakers. It's normal!
When you want to be a singer, someone will pop up and say you sound like a frog.
When you want to be a dancer, someone will pop up and say you are too fat for it.
When you want to be an artist, someone will say you are not artistic enough.
When you want to be a basketball player, someone will say you are too short for it.
When you want to be the next top model, people say you don't have the figure.
When you want to do whatever you want to do, there will always be a dream breaker.
No doubt, dream breakers are there. The point is, how should we react to these dream breakers? Let's see some examples...
-What if someone tells Barack Obama that he will lose the 44th Presidential Election, because he is a black, he is young, he has a strong opponent who is a white, with so much more experience than him, and there has never been a black president is the whole history of United States of America? If Obama listen to his 'someone', he would not have become the President.
-What if someone tells our Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew that, he has no point building up Singapore, as Singapore has a very small population, limited talents, and could not compete with many bigger countries around her? What if someone tells MM Lee that Singapore has many laws to follow, restricted many things, like chewing gums, protests, movements, riots and that will make Singapore a very 'Fine' country to live in? What if someone tells MM Lee that Singapore children had to study a lot of subjects, especially two languages, makes them very stressed, and he would not bring his students to Singapore to get 'stressed' by the education system?
If MM Lee listen to all these 'someones', Singapore would not have been one of the best liveable cities in Asia and in the World. If MM Lee did not set laws to restrict demonstrations, protests, and chewing gums, Singaporeans would not be a clean city, as compared to our neighbours. If MM Lee listens to people saying studying two languages is useless, Singapore would not have been a multi-racial country, which attracted many investors from big countries, like India and China. And if not for Singapore's bilingual policy, US multi-billionaire and commodity trader, Jim Rogers would not have moved to Singapore to settle, and allowed her daughter to grow up here and learn Chinese.
I hope this two examples speak alot about themselves. For one reason, they think of the Masses. They are focused on their dreams. They never let the 'someone' destroy their dreams. Obama plead for a Change in US, and he is not affected by what race he is, what his opponent is, and what other say about him being young, inexperienced or whatsoever. He kept his focus, and he did it.
MM Lee never care so much what other people talk of him. We Singaporeans know that there are many good things said about us, as much as bad things. Many overseas professors have often critised LKY of his ruling tatics, his control over the country, and the strict law and order. However, MM Lee onced said this, '' if you can't change a third world country to a first world county, you'd better....." That's roughly the sentence. What right has this professors got to say about what LKY is doing, when they themselves, only study a lot, but did not do what he has done.
To guys out there, if you have a dream, go achieve it. I would dare to say, many of the dream breakers are mostly your close ones, your family members, or good friends. If they are open-minded enough, they will allow you, or even support you along the way. But sadly, as you guys know, this does not happen often. We tend to let them 'pour the cold water' on us, and let them 'break our dreams'. In the end, for what they claim to 'protect' us from hurting, or choosing the wrong dream, we do what we don't like, and never achieve what we always wanted.
We live a life we want, and not a life what others want. YES! A life you want. We live for ourselves, we don't live for others. If you think something is right, is your passion, and you want to go for it, Just Do It! Why care so much about what other people say about you? Why care so much how people look at you? Remember, it's a life we live, for ourselves. We choose the path we want to walk, and with belief and faith, we walk all the way, and never let anyone, or obstacles hinder us from reaching our destiny.
Giving up? Oh! this should not have been one of your thoughts! People with beliefs and faiths of what they are doing, go all the way. 4 years to achieve what you wanted. Maybe, you would want to give up... but before you do that... let's read below...
- When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he failed 10,000 times, before he got it. 10,000 times, and he didn't give up. Why must you give up? How many times have you tried? 10? 100? 1000?. Remember. Thomas Edison- 10,000 times.
- When Donald Trump, from a billionaire to a bankrupt, with almost 900 million in debt, he didn't gave up. A few years later, he made a comeback, and he become a billionaire again. Bankrupt with over 900 million in debt, and he did not gave up. How much did you lose? $100?$1000?$10,000? $1 million? Remember, Donald Trump, $900 million.
-Colonel Sanders, the old man who created the receipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken, got his receipes rejected by many restaurants initially. However, he never lose faith in his receipe. He knew his fried chickens are the best. In 1955, at age of 65, he expanded his chicken franchise business. 10 years later at age of 75, he had more than 600 KFC franchises. Look, at age 75, he is still working hard to fulfill his dream.
-Sam Walton, opened his first Wal-mart supermarket at age of 44 years old. At age of 67, he became world richest man. His family occupies few of the top 10 places of the Forbes Rich List. At 67, he achieved his dream. So let's see. How old are you to give up? Colonel Sanders and Sam Walton never gave up, even though they can retire many years ago, but they continue to go for their dream. MM Lee is still building the country, at the ripe old age of 85, going 86 this year. He never gave up, how can we say 'give up'?
So before we ever thought of giving up our dreams, let's remind ourselves of the noble people above. They never gave up their dreams, why must we?
Just a last note... No one can say you are defeated, unless you give the permission.
So guys, give ourselves a time period to achieve our dreams. Wait for your efforts to bear fruits. Never gave up till the end.
Look out for lesson 2! :D
On January 20 2009, Barack Obama, America's first black President sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. He has made history. Martin Luther King Jr's dream came through after 46 years, after he had made that speech.
So here's a question...
If you are given a chance, to stand in front of thousand and thousands of people, in front of the world camera, to give a speech of just 10 mins. yup. 10 mins will do. What will you say? What can you say to change the world, to change the lives of the people? An interesting food for thought...
Looking at today's era, people are becoming more and more oblivious of what is happening around the world. When Facebook changes its layout, many groups have been formed there to appeal against the changing of layout. These groups have gathered almost hundred thousands of people, to appeal against the changing of the layout. But what happen in the end? Facebook didn't change its layout. So what are these people doing? Is there a need for this? Another food for thought...
So what would you say? ... ...
Next, he mentioned about a research study that has been done.
"It has been studied that a person requires 17 years to become World-Class"
Yup. Tiger Woods started playing golf at the age of 2, and he turned professional in 1996, at age of 21 years old. It took him around 20 years, I would say, to be world-class, when he became world number one in 1997. 20 years, and he became world-class.
What everybody see, is his No.1 ranking, his titles, his almost-perfect golf swings, his happy marriage, the multi-million dollar endorsements he had signed... But who has seen what he has really gone through all these 20 years? Who has seen how much training he has gone through before he can become professional? Who has seen how many golf balls he has to hit a day? Who has seen how much pressure he has to undertake, the stress of becoming world no.1? Only a handful, probably his coaches has seen them all...
Life's like that, many people admire the success of others, love to be on the world stage one day, love to win titles, be world no.1, win endorsements, appear in world advertisements... but only few people are willing to do what it takes to get there.
Bro Darren talked about 17 years to become the world best. I would like to add something to it.
Maybe you would not like to be world best. So, 14 years to become best in your continent (Asia/Africa/Europe...) ? Alright, maybe you would not like to be your continent best. So I say, 10 years to become best in your region(Middle East, North Asia, SouthEast Asia...) ? Alright! maybe you would not like to be your region best, you just want to be your country best. 7 years? or your city best.5 years? or become your school/club/company best? Is 4 years enough?
So I have somehow shortened the number of years, to just 4 years. Yup. 4 years to be your company best or best in your school, or I just say achieve your dreams. 4 years. How many of us are willing to strive for 4 years to achieve what we wanted? If Tiger Woods can strive hard for 20 years, why can't we, just for 4 years?...
While achieving our dreams, we will definitely meet a lot of dream breakers. It's normal!
When you want to be a singer, someone will pop up and say you sound like a frog.
When you want to be a dancer, someone will pop up and say you are too fat for it.
When you want to be an artist, someone will say you are not artistic enough.
When you want to be a basketball player, someone will say you are too short for it.
When you want to be the next top model, people say you don't have the figure.
When you want to do whatever you want to do, there will always be a dream breaker.
No doubt, dream breakers are there. The point is, how should we react to these dream breakers? Let's see some examples...
-What if someone tells Barack Obama that he will lose the 44th Presidential Election, because he is a black, he is young, he has a strong opponent who is a white, with so much more experience than him, and there has never been a black president is the whole history of United States of America? If Obama listen to his 'someone', he would not have become the President.
-What if someone tells our Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew that, he has no point building up Singapore, as Singapore has a very small population, limited talents, and could not compete with many bigger countries around her? What if someone tells MM Lee that Singapore has many laws to follow, restricted many things, like chewing gums, protests, movements, riots and that will make Singapore a very 'Fine' country to live in? What if someone tells MM Lee that Singapore children had to study a lot of subjects, especially two languages, makes them very stressed, and he would not bring his students to Singapore to get 'stressed' by the education system?
If MM Lee listen to all these 'someones', Singapore would not have been one of the best liveable cities in Asia and in the World. If MM Lee did not set laws to restrict demonstrations, protests, and chewing gums, Singaporeans would not be a clean city, as compared to our neighbours. If MM Lee listens to people saying studying two languages is useless, Singapore would not have been a multi-racial country, which attracted many investors from big countries, like India and China. And if not for Singapore's bilingual policy, US multi-billionaire and commodity trader, Jim Rogers would not have moved to Singapore to settle, and allowed her daughter to grow up here and learn Chinese.
I hope this two examples speak alot about themselves. For one reason, they think of the Masses. They are focused on their dreams. They never let the 'someone' destroy their dreams. Obama plead for a Change in US, and he is not affected by what race he is, what his opponent is, and what other say about him being young, inexperienced or whatsoever. He kept his focus, and he did it.
MM Lee never care so much what other people talk of him. We Singaporeans know that there are many good things said about us, as much as bad things. Many overseas professors have often critised LKY of his ruling tatics, his control over the country, and the strict law and order. However, MM Lee onced said this, '' if you can't change a third world country to a first world county, you'd better....." That's roughly the sentence. What right has this professors got to say about what LKY is doing, when they themselves, only study a lot, but did not do what he has done.
To guys out there, if you have a dream, go achieve it. I would dare to say, many of the dream breakers are mostly your close ones, your family members, or good friends. If they are open-minded enough, they will allow you, or even support you along the way. But sadly, as you guys know, this does not happen often. We tend to let them 'pour the cold water' on us, and let them 'break our dreams'. In the end, for what they claim to 'protect' us from hurting, or choosing the wrong dream, we do what we don't like, and never achieve what we always wanted.
We live a life we want, and not a life what others want. YES! A life you want. We live for ourselves, we don't live for others. If you think something is right, is your passion, and you want to go for it, Just Do It! Why care so much about what other people say about you? Why care so much how people look at you? Remember, it's a life we live, for ourselves. We choose the path we want to walk, and with belief and faith, we walk all the way, and never let anyone, or obstacles hinder us from reaching our destiny.
Giving up? Oh! this should not have been one of your thoughts! People with beliefs and faiths of what they are doing, go all the way. 4 years to achieve what you wanted. Maybe, you would want to give up... but before you do that... let's read below...
- When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he failed 10,000 times, before he got it. 10,000 times, and he didn't give up. Why must you give up? How many times have you tried? 10? 100? 1000?. Remember. Thomas Edison- 10,000 times.
- When Donald Trump, from a billionaire to a bankrupt, with almost 900 million in debt, he didn't gave up. A few years later, he made a comeback, and he become a billionaire again. Bankrupt with over 900 million in debt, and he did not gave up. How much did you lose? $100?$1000?$10,000? $1 million? Remember, Donald Trump, $900 million.
-Colonel Sanders, the old man who created the receipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken, got his receipes rejected by many restaurants initially. However, he never lose faith in his receipe. He knew his fried chickens are the best. In 1955, at age of 65, he expanded his chicken franchise business. 10 years later at age of 75, he had more than 600 KFC franchises. Look, at age 75, he is still working hard to fulfill his dream.
-Sam Walton, opened his first Wal-mart supermarket at age of 44 years old. At age of 67, he became world richest man. His family occupies few of the top 10 places of the Forbes Rich List. At 67, he achieved his dream. So let's see. How old are you to give up? Colonel Sanders and Sam Walton never gave up, even though they can retire many years ago, but they continue to go for their dream. MM Lee is still building the country, at the ripe old age of 85, going 86 this year. He never gave up, how can we say 'give up'?
So before we ever thought of giving up our dreams, let's remind ourselves of the noble people above. They never gave up their dreams, why must we?
Just a last note... No one can say you are defeated, unless you give the permission.
So guys, give ourselves a time period to achieve our dreams. Wait for your efforts to bear fruits. Never gave up till the end.
Look out for lesson 2! :D
Awesome post! So proud of you! :)
ReplyDeletehey thanks thanks! Share some of your thoughts with me too yea:D Maybe areas i can improve on too:D
ReplyDeleteHi Ding Neng! It is awesome, I can imagine Brother Darren preaching about some of those lines literally already even though I didn't go. Well, more of this part of you during our fellowship will be good to feed our souls. =)
ReplyDeleteHey thanks Joie! so great to hear comment from you:D. Yup. I will show the other part of me now. Haha :D
ReplyDelete