My Secret to Success

The key is understanding and determination.

Understand myself and realize what I am after in life. Be determined to achieve it. Simple, obvious, stark is the road to success. Everyone is aware of it, but so few take time off their ‘busy’ lives to reflect what the answers are.

I find myself in a quiet room with a clean piece of paper and a wooden pencil, neat. Rid my mind of all distractions and really think about what I want to achieve out of life. When you are moments away from dying and you find yourself lying in your death bed, which are the memories you would choose to take pride in, and which are the ones you would rather had not happened.

I am surprised how little I have jolted down after what seems like hours of contemplation. I stare down at my feeble list of what I had once imagined to be filled with glamorous ambitions and exciting activities and sigh at my ignorance for the past 19 years.

“I want to be a respectable, loving and healthy guy.”

This straightforward sentence ultimately summarises the person I see myself becoming and everything I see myself achieving.

What follows the set target is the discipline to work towards it. Determination comes easy when you are striving for the things you want in life, it shouldn’t feel tough to work towards what you yearn for.

A wise friend once told me he ‘feels excited to plan for his life.’ I wonder where had that motivation once ignited so fierce in me gone. Now that I have discovered it yet again, I swear I would hold on to it very dear.